Cap box
Lewiston, Maine
1863
Maker
Longley & Co.
Measurements
3-3/4 in x 3-3/4 in x 2 in
Materials
Leather
Credit Line
Historic Odessa Foundation
Accession Number
2013.10
Inscription
“LONGLEY & CO / LEWISTON. ME / 1863” is stamped onto the inside leather flap.
Condition Notes
The leather is deteriorating. The end of the flap has torn off.
Provenance
Found in collections.
Comments
The leather box has an outer and an inner flap, as well as two loops in the back to allow it to be attached to a belt. It was made to hold percussion caps, which when struck with a firearm hammer created a spark that ignited the gunpowder in a firearm, thus dispensing with the less reliable and more cumbersome flint and steel ignition. Most Civil War firearms used percussion caps. A fragment of wool cloth remains attached to the inside of the box.
The 1863 date on the flap may have represented a beginning time of production, as with a model date for a firearm. Regardless, production of cap boxes ceased with the end of the Civil War in 1865.
