Object of the Week - Diamond Dye Cabinet

Exterior, SOHS cabinet

Interior, SOHS cabinet

This dye cabinet boasts that "It's easy to dye with Diamond Dyes." An image of a woman cleanly and gracefully dyeing brilliantly colored fabric supports this claim. Another dye cabinet, made by the same company, instead featured an image of girls, boys, and women dancing with brightly colored fabrics. [1] What do these two images say about advertising techniques and class differences?

From Cowan Auctions

Diamond Dye cabinet
Wood, paint, tin
Museum Purchase
1982.4.19

[1] "Diamond Dye, Chromolithographed & Oak Cabinet" from Cowan Auctions, http://www.cowanauctions.com/auctions/item.aspx?ItemId=19192, accessed September 7, 2011.