Celebrating 100 Years of the Sandwich Home Industries

Old Sandwich Home Industries sign.

Story and photos by Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

This summer’s exhibit at the Sandwich Historical Society is a nod to the people – mostly women – who started a handicraft shop to sell their creations.

Old photographs, information peppered throughout the gallery, and many beautiful handmade items, from hooked rugs to pottery, baskets, woven items, and more, comprise the exhibit. The display offers a fascinating look back at the Sandwich Home Industries, an organization that led to the founding of the statewide, respected League of New Hampshire Craftsmen.

Titled “Beauty and Utility: A Century of the Sandwich Home Industries,” the exhibit will be on view until Sept. 5, 2026. Housed within the Sandwich Historical Society, the exhibit fills the gallery space with wonderful old photos of early members and events, how the Industries formed, such things as a tea room and committees that oversaw the workings of the group, and images of the (mostly) women who ran the first shops each summer.

None of this would have happened without the support and vision of a Sandwich area summer resident, Mary Coolidge. Although well off, Mary and her husband, J. Randolph Coolidge, respected the talents of local people and recognized that some were struggling economically, through no fault of their own. They wanted to help, and they did so in a way that would bring positive change to the tiny town of Sandwich in the 1920s.

Born in 1862 into a wealthy family in Boston, Mary wed architect J. Randolph Coolidge, Jr., and the couple summered in the Sandwich area. The Coolidges became year-round residents of Sandwich after 1924, but they did not sit quietly in their later years. Mr. Coolidge represented the town in the state legislature, and Mary was drawn to the craftwork of local women.

Mary felt passionate about the quality arts and crafts she saw Sandwich area women producing. She knew their work was worthy of display, and she wanted to find a way for the women to sell the work to the outside world.

Mary encouraged them to sew, to make baskets and hooks, and to also braid and weave rugs that could be marketed. With this goal in mind, she undertook a huge project in 1926. With a local committee’s help, Mary arranged an exhibit of 100 local antique and modern rugs in the Wentworth Library.

A portion of this summer’s exhibit focused on the Sandwich Home Industries, on view at the Sandwich Historical Society.

Summer resident Carl Beede was the editor in 1926 of a weekly section in the Christian Science Monitor. He had friends in high places, and persuaded Mr. Chandler of Boston’s Jordan Marsh Store to attend the exhibit. Chandler headed the store’s rug department and brought samples of fine rugs for Sandwich women to see, and he judged the rugs in the exhibit.

One article in a local paper explained that the rug exhibit was the beginning of a new cooperative industry “using wool produced and grown on Sandwich hillsides, spun and dyed in Sandwich homes and worked into original Sandwich designs.”

Mary had a larger goal in mind than just an exhibit: to make the new group successful financially. The goal was to open a shop where the fine, handmade articles from the area would be sold. Mary also wanted to offer refreshments at a tearoom to visitors.

The group of women leased a local building, the Heard store, for a salesroom. The Baptist Ladies Aid allowed the group to use the Christian Endeavor Hall as a tearoom. Old photos of these early buildings are shown at the start of the exhibit.

The newly formed Sandwich Home Industries sold many things in their shop, including baskets, woodwork, rugs, children’s clothing, ironwork, knitted goods and candles. Soon local men who were handy and artistic also became consignors for the shop, offering handmade baskets and fireplace tools. Some of these items have survived and are owned by local families; the items are part of the Historical Society exhibit.

Early crafting demonstrations showed the public what the creative Sandwich people were doing. It was a great way to educate the public, while also selling wares to eager buyers.

Lauren Hansen, museum and collections coordinator for the Sandwich Historical Society, says that while many area residents at that time did not have a great deal of money to buy the crafted items, tourists certainly did. They vacationed in the Sandwich area and bought rugs, woven items, woodworking, and much more.

A cornerstone of the exhibit is a large portrait painting of a young Mary Coolidge with her son, which is on loan from the New Hampshire Historical Society. It was painted by Anna Elizabeth Klumpke, who had it exhibited in Paris.

Information in the Historical Society’s large exhibit room traces the story of how the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen was formed. A large sign advertising the League of N.H. Craftsmen Sandwich Home Industries Craft Shop is an older piece and interesting to those who know the story of the League’s beginnings.

A particular old photo shows an early Industries crafter, Lillian Heard, leading a needlework gathering. The women look to be having fun as they learn a craft that required skill. It is just such images that bring the exhibit to life and trace the works of the group, from selling their wares to sharing their knowledge via craft classes.

Beautiful handmade items fill the walls and display areas and tell the unique and incredible story of creativity, dedication, and fortitude.

Says Lauren, “The exhibit was put together with the help of Franz Nicolay, Nancy Hansen, and our exhibit committee. Our goal was to focus on the Sandwich Home Industry’s 100th anniversary. We could not do such an exhibit without the help of exhibit committee members.”

The exhibit is one to see and well worth the trip to peaceful and bucolic Sandwich. While at the Historical Society, take a look around the original home at the site, where each room is set up much as it was as a private residence long ago.

A second-story space in the barn houses items such as Tappan Chairs and many historical things from the area. Some are donations from Sandwich-area families; everything at the Society are must-sees for those who appreciate history.

The exhibit is open Thursday through Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm until Sept. 5. The gallery, offices, house, barn, and gift shop are located at 4 Maple St. in Center Sandwich, New Hampshire.

Visit www.sandwichhistorical.org or call 603-284-6269.

The Center Sandwich Fine Craft Gallery & Sandwich Home Industries is located at 32 Main St. (on the Green) in Center Sandwich. Visit www.nhcrafts.org or call 603-284-6831 for hours and information.