Welcome to the HIST*1200, History of Stuff, site! 

In this class, a group of curious and industrious first-year students drawn from a variety of disciplines at the University of Guelph cut their teeth in archival research, exploring the extraordinary history of 'ordinary stuff'.

This is the result of our tireless work -- an exhibit highlighting the disparate materials that we have explored. In researching their origins, historical contexts and uses, we have underscored the incedible history that lies, often hidden, behind everyday materials.  In addition reading to the class's insights into the individual archived object, you can click on each main object image to reveal more details about it!

We invite you to explore the site -- and to remember, as you consider discarding items that may seem to have outlived their usefulness, that those items may be in fact beginning a new life, which makes them a source of incredible value to historians.  Everyday 'ephemera' -- the cast-offds and disposables that lie hidden in attics, and the botttom of drawers -- tell incredible stories about our past.