Antique Collar and Cuff Box

The newest addition to my collection. It's a collar and cuff travel box that was used back in the day when men's collars and cuffs were accessories to their shirts and not already sewn own, like they are today. Check out the shirt collars and cuffs that were worn back then. The box is made of leather and still in really nice condition for it's age, as are the collars and cuffs.

This leather box was used for storage of the collars and cuffs, as well as for travel. As you can see in the photos, the collars were stored in one end and the cuffs in the other.

I do not know what the logo stamped on the end represents. But, I was told by someone that it is the State of Massachusetts seal. If so, could this have belonged to a Massachusetts state official (Senator, Congressman, etc..)?

This would date back to the late 1800's or very early 1900's. Here is a little bit of history behind the collars and cuffs.

Men's historical fashion albeit is not as familiar to most folks as women's fashion of the last 1800's to early 1900's.
Clothing was hand made back then, which included men's shirts, collars and cuffs. Because clothing was hand made, that made it more expensive.Men would wear undershirts to protect their dress shirts, however the places that had the most body contact in a shirt were at the collar and cuff.
Thus these were added to preserve a shirt in the places that an undershirt did not protect. It was much more cost efficient to purchase just a collar and a set of cuffs then to purchase the entire shirt with them on. Thus the need for the collar box.
By removing the collar and cuffs to wash the shirt, made it possible to save on the expense of buying these items because all you had to do was to purchase a new shirt and re-button the collar and cuffs to the new shirt.
Collar Boxes were used to keep the collar and cuffs from getting dirty when not being used.
These boxes were invented around the 1860's. Once factories were able to mass produce clothing, shirts were less expensive and more available. Thus it was no longer necessary to separate the collar and cuffs anymore, and by the 1930's these types of shirts were no longer made.... neither were the collar boxes.
We take so many things for granted nowadays. Washing machines, dry cleaners... these are just a few of the things that our fore-fathers and fore-mothers did not have.

Thanks for stopping by!!
Scott