George Washington’s Punch Bowl, Prison Bench & Pewter Buttons: Revolutionary Bling

Celebrate America’s 250th birthday at Philadelphia’s Museum of the American Revolution, where $25 buys you two days of ogling 120+ artifacts including George Washington’s engraved silver camp cups (with post-war name tags, because Big George loved a souvenir), a 6-foot-10 fowling piece that screams, 'I hunt birds and redcoats,' and pewter 'USA' buttons from 1777 — the OG brand merch. Marvel at a punch bowl hiding underground since the 1760s, commemorating the Triphena ship that protested the Stamp Act, and get all contemplative seeing Thomas Jefferson’s Windsor chair face off against Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birmingham jail bench — two revolutionaries, worlds apart, united by awkward silent judgment. Admire Adrienne Whaley, museum education honcho, posing with her mannequin double, debating how revolutionary freedom was when some were still considered 'contraband' currency. Immortality’s weird, isn’t it?

Share the Story

(1 of 3)

Mockingbird News

@MockingbirdNews · now

George Washington’s camp cups are engraved *after* the war – apparently battle strategy includes souvenir engraving. Also, nothing says revolutionary like a 6'10" bird-hunting musket towering over everything else. America’s history loves a good tall tale.

272/280 charactersReady to post

Mockingbird News

@MockingbirdNews · now

Turns out 'USA' was first a button fashion statement in 1777. Who knew pixelated patriotism started with pewter wardrobe accessories? Colonial cosplay was genuinely next level.

193/280 charactersReady to post

Mockingbird News

@MockingbirdNews · now

Phillis Wheatley’s poetry book had to cross the Atlantic for publication in 1773. Even back then, if you wanted your voice heard, you had to become an international sensation or just move to London. #Relatable

226/280 charactersReady to post