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A poplar jewelry case from Sabbathday Lake. Strawberry emeries in silk satin with velvet caps and filled Heart-shaped poplarware box
Interior is sectioned and lined in green velvet. with emery powder, were included in sewing carriers, boxes, circa 1875-1900. Photo: shakermuseum.us
and spool stands, and also sold separately.
The Mount Lebanon Shakers first created woven poplar cloth in the but replaced the poplar cloth with other fabrics, such as upholstery
1860s, and the poplarware industry continued well into the 1900s in fabric and leatherette.
several communities. Poplarware was primarily produced at Mount
Lebanon in New York, Sabbathday Lake and Alfred in Maine, and Sewing Carriers
Canterbury in New Hampshire. The Enfield, New Hampshire, and
Hancock, Massachusetts communities also produced poplarware, but An extremely popular sewing-related item was oval sewing carriers:
in limited volume. The Sisters would produce thousands of poplarware wooden carriers resembling traditional Shaker oval boxes with fine,
items during the winter months for sale in the coming tourist season. elongated fingers, but with added swing handles. The Sisters lined these
To make poplarware, poplar wood was shaved into paper-thin, with colored cloth—usually satin or brocade—and outfitted them with
narrow strips of only 1/16th of an inch wide. These strips were woven matching pincushions, needlebooks, emeries, and waxers.
with thread into sheets, which were then applied to a paper backing for Sabbathday Lake was the
stability. Several communities created their own unique weaving primary producer of sewing carriers.
patterns, and some makers incorporated dyed poplar, ash, or sweetgrass Brother Delmer Wilson began
for a striping effect. The resulting “poplar cloth” was then applied to producing sewing carriers in the
paper board or wood, and constructed into poplarware items.
Poplar boxes featured woven poplar exteriors, finished with white
kid leather edging and ribbons, and were usually lined with colorful silk
satin, although occasionally with velvet or other material. They were
produced in a wide array of shapes, sizes, and intended uses, from small,

Three sisters (l to r) – Sister Mary Hazard, Sister Emma Neale, Mount Lebanon sewing carrier, made of brown-stained & varnished
and Eldress Augusta Stone in a sisters’ sewing room, probably located in gumwood, 1920s-40s. Inset: Interior of Mount Lebanon carrier is
the Church Family Office. Photo: Shakermuseum.us purple brocade, with matching pincushion.
square “handkerchief” boxes, to half-moon-shaped jewelry cases, to
diamond-shaped “card trays.” Sewing boxes came in many shapes, from
octagonal, square, and clam-shell shaped, to elaborate sewing “work
boxes,” also called “caskets,” which resembled fancy handled baskets
and were decorated with sewing accessories on the lids. The sewing
boxes were fitted with small accessories such as pincushions, needle-
books, molded wax thread waxers, and strawberry-shaped emeries.
Poplarware pincushions were also produced. They consisted of a
woven poplar “basket” base, fitted with a velvet tomato-shaped
pincushion. Most poplar pincushions are round, but other shapes were
produced, including square and clamshell-shaped. Small poplar
needlebooks had woven poplar covers and contained woolen “pages”
inside to hold needles.
As the availability and ability to produce poplar cloth declined
by the mid-1900s, the two remaining communities, Sabbathday
Lake and Canterbury, continued to produce similar sewing items, Sabbathday Lake sewing carrier, ca. mid-late 1900s.

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