This sidewall, now on view in The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s, is an excellent example of historicist tendencies in Art Deco design.

Innovations in transportation and mobility were to become a common theme in wallpaper design. Similar images frequently appeared on bandboxes and hat boxes starting in the 1830’s. A sign of mobility themselves, these boxes were used for the safe transport and storage of men’s removable collars and hats. Early designs include historic hot air balloon...