Over 10,000 estate inventories, dating from 1682 to 1850, were examined to produce this record of possessions in an early rural county. The author provides lists of possessions broken down by type and by decade. For instance, the section on CLOTHING is broken down into 71 separate items, e.g. Pantalets, Pantaloons, Pants, Pelisse, Petticoat, Pocket, Pocket-book, Purse, Robe, Safe guard, Scarf, Shawl, Shift, etc. Within the tables for each item, the author may break down the item by color or type. For instance, in the CLOTHING>Apron table, there is a breakdown which includes the following: green, flowered muslin, green grazet silk, blue, blue holland, checked, white, leather, etc. The breakdown of possessions by decades can provide a general idea of when certain possessions were popular in Chester County. For instance, in the section TEXTILES> Velvet, velvet doesn't begin to appear until 1740 and becomes more popular from 1780-1810; but it becomes less popular in the period from 1820-1849. Each section begins with a dictionary with definitions of the separate items; for example a "safe guard" is "a sort of Dust-Gown, or Riding Garment, worn by Women; also a coloured Stuff Apron; also a swathing Bond for Children". Overall, this book is a unique compilation of local government records being used to understand patterns of ownership of household items.
