An evening to support history

Join us June 21: A Date with History is the History Center’s largest annual fundraiser, planned each year with a different theme. This year’s elegant evening, with the theme Lafayette’s Bicentennial Ball, is set for Saturday, June 21, and will feature a live auction, music and a lot of generosity from York County’s most passionate history supporters. We’d love for it to also include you. Learn more here.

Skip to content

Cabinet of Curiosities, Ep. 9: Tortoiseshell vs. Celluloid

September 16, 2024
2024 09 CoC Tortoiseshell

The Case of the Tortoiseshell Comb

We take a look at another item that came to the Historical Society from the family of Elizabeth Bonham. This video, the latest in the Cabinet of Curiosities video series, explores the story of the tortoiseshell comb from the History Center’s collection. What is tortoiseshell? Where does it come from? Why was it popular in furniture and other decorative pieces? A member of the Collections team answers those questions, and a few more.

Watch all the episodes on our YouTube channel:

Episode 9: Tortoiseshell vs. Celluloid

Episode 8: The Lincoln Cane

Episode 7: Bird of Paradise Hat

Episode 6: Santons

Episode 5: Scott Tissue Dress

Episode 4: Boiler Bolt and Lantern Ring

Episode 3: Plaster Fruits and Vegetables

Episode 2: Ebony and Ivory Elephants

Episode 1: The Colobus Monkey Fur Cape

About the Series

With close to 90,000 artifacts in our collection, the York County History Center has many items that are seldom or never on public display. In this video series, Cabinets of Curiosities, we introduce you to some of the oddities in our vast collection.

Watch the video here.

Sign up for our newsletter.
Sign Up