Boot jack

1800-1900

Measurements

3-1/4 in x 18-1/4 in x 5-1/8 in

Materials

Hard pine and ash (supporting block)

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation

Accession Number

1971.18

Inscription

The Label of “G. W. Thomas / Antiques / Middletown, Del.” is applied to the front of the supporting block.

Provenance

The boot jack was purchased by Winterthur from antiques dealer George W. Thomas of Middletown, Delaware.  Reportedly, it came from a farmhouse near Newark, Delaware.

Comments

The boot jack is made of a wood board, notched at one end, and raised by a block of wood to an incline to allow the user to stand on the low end while slipping a boot into the notch.  The pine board was re-used, as indicated by an extraneous drilled hole and several nails drive into various places.  It is unfinished, although the surfaces hqve now darkened with age and use.