Skip to Main Content

Before Amazon: Mail Order in Appalachia

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

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 Virtual Exhibits & Artifact Collections

The Appalachian Artifacts Teaching Collection is held by the Loyal Jones Appalachian Center at Berea College. For additional information or to access the collection contact Curator Christopher Miller.  Explore more of our virtual exhibits and collections using the links below.

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