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Before Amazon: Mail Order in Appalachia

A virtual exhibit exploring mail order in Appalachia through the Artifacts in the Appalachian Artifacts Teaching Collection

In rural Appalachia, like all of rural America, the advent of mail order shopping was hugely impactful.  Evidence is found in the array of things people owned and used—the material culture of Appalachia.  Below is a selection of mail order objects found in our Appalachian Artifacts Teaching Collection.

Visual Index - Click on an Artifact



About this Virtual Exhibit

This virtual exhibit is based on the curatorial work of Student Curatorial Associates Shadia Prater ('17) and Kathryn Dunn ('17) with assistance from Leander Keim ('19), Magenta Palo ('20), and Aero Erwin. Significant revisions were made during spring 2020 by supervisory curator Christopher Miller. 

LJAC Artifacts, Exhibits & Studio

This guide is maintained by the Loyal Jones Appalachian Center's Artifacts, Exhibits & Media Studio. 

The studio curates and provides access to the 3D artifact collections, produces exhibitions, and creates media to support the work of LJAC. To learn more about the studio, experience more of our creations, and explore the artifact collections, use the links below. Much of the work is done by Berea College students. The supervisory curator is Christopher Miller.