Bringing the Shine Back: Uncovering a Whittemore Shoe Polish Bottle (Archaeological Find)

Bringing the Shine Back: Uncovering a Whittemore Shoe Polish Bottle

26 August, 1909
Sitting at the counter, the shopkeep was dozing as the airy chatter of students passing by outside lulled him to sleep. A clear bottle sits poised on the highest shelf, catching the warm afternoon light that filled Keezer’s Clothier. The door chimes signaling the arrival of a customer and startling Max Keezer awake.
A young man enters the shop. He is the servant of Thomas Sterns Eliot, an incoming first-year student at the College. Thomas is a young man moving into Apley Court, the illustrious dorm on the famed “Gold Coast” built twelve years prior by John Howe. He is preparing the room for Eliot’s arrival later this week and is hoping to buy some Gilt Edge Dressing so he can shine his shoes before he arrives. Max Keezer nods sagely and reaches behind the counter for the bottle carefully embossed with WHITTEMORE BOSTON. The servant accepts the bottle gratefully, years of service seemingly fused in his bones. Eliot is unlikely to even notice when his shoes are shined, but he will certainly notice when they are not. He relishes this unspoken marker of his prestige above the boys in the yard, men of a different life.
As he left with a wave, Mr. Keezer is left to ponder the life of a servant amidst the wealth and entitlement that dominates life less than a mile down the road from his very shop. He thinks about the cramped rooms and poor meals that define life as a student’s servant. This unspoken relationship between the bubbling to the top of the champagne glass for one party and the scalded and stained hands that clean that very glass at the end of the night when the toasts are over.

Sources:

Cambridge Chronicle Article:

“Cambridge Chronicle, 2 October 1897.” Cambridge Chronicle 2 October 1897 - Cambridge Public Library, 2 Oct. 1897, cambridge.dlconsulting.com/cgi-bin/cambridge?a=d&d=Chronicle18971002-01.2.118&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------.

This article heralds the 1897 opening of Apley Court, the only freshman dormitory on the so-called “Gold Coast”.  Students of Apley Court were wealthier and often had servants who lived with them.

Article on Student Life at 1900s Harvard

“Harvard 1900 – Student Life – FDR Foundation.” FDR Foundation, fdrfoundation.org/the-fdr-suite/harvard-1900-student-life/.

This source explicates the divide between the wealthy students who lived on the “Gold Coast” and those who lived in the yard. The more privileged students often came to Harvard with servants who would assist them with more menial tasks.

Cambridge Timeline:

Timeline of Cambridge, Massachusetts Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.

https://kids.kiddle.co/Timeline_of_Cambridge,_Massachusetts

This source provides a date for the 1895 establishment of the longstanding clothing store, Keezer’s Clothier in Cambridge. This store was and continues to be a regular haunt for students.

Images:

Photo and article on Whittemore Glass bottles:

“Whittemore Boston U.S.A. Shoe Polish Bottles.” GLASS BOTTLE MARKS, www.glassbottlemarks.com/whittemore-boston-antique-bottles/.

Whittemore Bottle, dated between 1870 and 1930. According to the site, these bottles were most often used to house shoe polish. This provides context for who would have been buying/using the bottle. Also, gives reason for the bottle to be in Keezer’s, a store that sold luxury clothes.

Keezer’s Advertisement in Lampoon

Keezer, Max. “Keezer's Advertisement.” The Harvard Lampoon, 20 Mar. 1905.
https://books.google.com/books?id=RAUTAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19&dq=harvard+lampoon+keezers&source=bl&ots=gMYJ4bSNWB&sig=ACfU3U3q-1EYBBhqwLOekF3br2iH2s_5YA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiegOSo1rnhAhVodt8KHQ4-BGQQ6AEwAnoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=harvard%20lampoon%20keezers&f=false

This advertisement from a 1904 issue of the Harvard Lampoon depicts Max Keezer asking for old clothes for his storefront on Bow Street. Keezer was likely to also have been selling shoe polish for the shoes he peddled.

“Whittemore, Boston, French Gloss,”

https://baybottles.com/2018/04/01/whittemore-boston-french-gloss/

This website provides an amazing image of an intact Whittemore bottle. It also gives an example of Whittemore Shoe Polish ads, which is what the bottles were used for.

Clear glass bottle fragment

Clear glass fragment, probable sherd from Whittemore Boston bottle given letter font and placement.

2018.24.796

H961, Level 1

0-59cm

Glass

Bottle glass

Clear bottle glass

1

3.6cm

2.8

.4cm

There is a slight curve to the fragment, as well as a raising where the lettering is. Only the letters "O" and "N" are visible.