Mason's Improved Fruit Jar
A product of the Consolidated Fruit Jar Company in late 1870s, this Mason’s Improved Jar proved to be popular and accessible to many people in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A common household item, the jar helped housewives during the time-consuming process of canning and changed the way people viewed food preservation. The storage and protection these jars provided helped mothers achieve their goals of maintaining a healthy household. These jars were mass produced until the twentieth century, which causes their abundance today.
The inventor of the Mason jar, John Landis Mason, was born in Vineland, N.J., in 1832. He patented his jar in 1858.
Recovered from excavation prior to construction of Rutgers-Camden dormitory at 330 Cooper Street, Camden, N.J.
Rutgers University-Camden
Late nineteenth century; photograph, April 2018
Ashley Angelucci; photograph by Jacob Lechner
Collection of Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts
Affleck, Richard, George Cress, Ingrid Weubber, Rebecca White, Kimberly Morrell, and Thomas Kutys. Phase II and Data-Recovery Archaeological Excavations of the Smith-Maskell Site Cooper Street Development Camden, New Jersey. Archaeological Excavation Report, Burlington: URS Corporation.
Reconstructed glass jar, 7 inches tall and 4.5 inches wide.
Linden Terrace Residents Database (Linden Street, Fourth to Fifth Streets)
Data about past residents of the 400 block of Linden Street in Camden, NJ. Developed in 1871, this block known as Linden Terrace was a distinctive development of 34 stone-facade row houses on a widened street landscaped with three oval parks with fountains. The block began to lose its coherence in the 1920s and 1930s when some houses on the north side were demolished for construction of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and light rail to Philadelphia. Urban renewal to create the Rutgers-Camden campus took down the rest of the block in 1962-66. The site is now occupied by Armitage Hall and its adjacent parking lot.
Camden, NJ, City Directories, U.S. and New Jersey Census; property deeds, Camden newspapers.
Rutgers University-Camden
1871-1960s
Compiled by students and faculty at Rutgers-Camden: Edward Cassidy, John Coon, Joseph Del Percio, Elizabeth Eimer, Kieran Garrity, Connor Kelly, Andrea Macho, Charlene Mires, Jonathan Pustylnik, Malcom Rambert, Johanna Rudel, and Nia Stewart.
Compiled from public sources.
<strong>North side of street, Google Sheets database: <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1s_axB2bM0YjItiXkXNHMaqzihDLPQq4IsSaDBO73DTM/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Link here to view</a>.<br /><br />South side of street, Google Sheets database: <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19Rq4Oi_xXsGzUbq9XxXKJMr48YLkvEIUziZf-szA7oo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Link here to view</a>.<br /></strong>
Lawrence Street Residents Database
Data about past residents of Lawrence Street, which lies within the Cooper Street Historic District in Camden, N.J. (<a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oOkUYd5Qa7w5M0Ga0vWhq9evz980wMElF8jhPuw3GHM/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><strong>Link here to view</strong></a>.)
Camden, N.J. City Directories; U.S. and New Jersey Census; Camden newspapers.
Rutgers University-Camden
c. 1850-c.2010
Compiled by Kaya Durkee and Charlene Mires
Data compiled from public sources.
Also see: <a href="https://omeka.camden.rutgers.edu/items/show/62"><strong>Lawrence Street by Block, 1854-1860 (before house numbering).</strong></a>
<strong>Google Sheets database: <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oOkUYd5Qa7w5M0Ga0vWhq9evz980wMElF8jhPuw3GHM/edit?usp=sharing">Link here to data</a></strong>
Lawrence Street by Block, 1854-1860 (before house numbering)
Data about residents on Lawrence Street in Camden, New Jersey.
Philadelphia city directories (Camden listings) and the U.S. and New Jersey censuses.
Rutgers University-Camden
1854-1860.
Compiled by Charlene Mires.
Compiled from public sources.
For later years also see <a href="https://omeka.camden.rutgers.edu/items/show/15"><strong>Lawrence Street Residents Database</strong></a>.
Google Sheets database: <strong><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1cI-_IVB-ei-no50oQzzTn36wz6gTgtHiIXCxq8_s9Rw/edit?usp=sharing">Link here to view</a>.</strong>
Lawrence Street (400 Block)
Nineteenth-century, working-class rowhouses and twentieth-century garages.
Homan, Amos C.
A Civil War veteran, Amos Homan operated a cigar stand at 37 Cooper Street and eventually bought the building.
Helene Apartments (Castle Apartments, 232 Cooper Street / 125 N. Third Street)
Contributing structure, Cooper Street Historic District.
Hanmore, John
John Hanmore, a Philadelphia manufacturer, moved his family to a new home on Cooper Street during the 1880s. His death changed the family's fortunes.
Hand-Painted Sugar Box
Sugar boxes held sugar to sweeten tea and coffee or to make unpalatable wine drinkable. This nearly-intact pearlware example from the early 1800s has a hand-painted garland design.
Recovered from excavation prior to construction of Rutgers-Camden dormitory at 330 Cooper Street, Camden, N.J.
Rutgers University-Camden
c. 1815-1830; photograph July 2018.
Lucy Davis (Graduate Student, American Material Culture, Spring 2018); photograph by Jacob Lechner.
Collection of Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts
Affleck, Richard, George Cress, Ingrid Weubber, Rebecca White, Kimberly Morrell, and Thomas Kutys. <em>Phase II and Data-Recovery Archaeological Excavations of the Smith-Maskell Site Cooper Street Development Camden, New Jersey</em>. Archaeological Excavation Report, Burlington: URS Corporation.
Ceramic vessel approximately 4" tall and 5" wide.
Glass Syringe
<p>In the second half of the nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century, doctors and patients at home relied on glass syringes to treat various conditions, including venereal diseases. Unlike hypodermic needles, these artifacts, also called “male” syringes, did not inject medicine subcutaneously. Instead, these syringes irrigated or flushed the visibly infected parts of the body. The “male” syringe entered the tip of the penis to flush the symptoms from the urethra. In addition to the discomfort, these treatments failed to cure the venereal diseases and only masked the symptoms for periods of time.<br /><br />Read more about this object: <a href="https://omeka.camden.rutgers.edu/items/show/16">https://omeka.camden.rutgers.edu/items/show/16</a></p>
Recovered from excavation prior to construction of Rutgers-Camden dormitory at 330 Cooper Street, Camden, N.J.
Rutgers University-Camden
c. 1840-1900; photographed April 2018.
TJ Potero (Graduate Student, American Material Culture, Spring 2018); photograph by Jacob Lechner.
Collection of Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts
Affleck, Richard, George Cress, Ingrid Weubber, Rebecca White, Kimberly Morrell, and Thomas Kutys. Phase II and Data-Recovery Archaeological Excavations of the Smith-Maskell Site Cooper Street Development Camden, New Jersey. Archaeological Excavation Report, Burlington: URS Corporation.
Hand-blown glass syringes.
Syringe #1, Barrel: 5 ½ in (L) (13.97 cm (L), Plunging Rod: 3 ½ in (L).
Syringe #2. Barrel 3 ½ in (L) (13.97 cm (L), Plunging Rod: 3 ¼ in (L).