Ribbons can be seen as just something small and meaningless, causing people to treat them as though they are garbage. In this case, these ribbons can tell us something about the way the wealthy were treated back in 1856. 

This ribbon can be linked to the Sleeman family, seeing as though it is part of their collection, but more importantly tied to John H. Sleeman, the man who created the Sleeman company himself. During this time, the Sleeman family were at a peak when they just started their new business and a new hotel had just opened. This hotel is assumed to be "royal", seeing as though it is named the Royal Hotel, and it was presented to the Sleeman family by Wm. Mcfarlane as a token for attending the dinner held at the hotel which was opened by the Smith brothers. 

The production of this ribbon is not easy to find, as the ribbon only tells us who, where, and when the ribbon was given to Mr. Sleeman.