Homemakers used cake boxes to keep baked goods fresh and to keep bugs and other pests out. They were also used in bakeries as ornate store displays. From where it sits in the kitchen of the jail, it certainly is an eye-catching piece. Donated by G.H. Betz, this tin cake box has breathing holes on the back to maintain pastry freshness, and was manufactured by Schepp’s sometime between 1890 and 1930. It features detailed lithographs of classical artwork and poetry by famous German poets Goethe and Schiller. 

The son of poor German immigrants, the creator of this cake box, Leopold Schepp, was born in 1841. With the help of his friends, he began selling matches, shoe polish, shoestrings, and pins-and later tea, spices, and unexpectedly - coconuts. In fact, an advertisement for “Schepp’s cocoanut“ can be found on the inside of this intricately detailed box.