When Thomas Mount first advertised in an 1809 edition of the Alexandria Gazette, he had recently "purchased the stock and store of goods of Mr. Duffey and [was] carrying on the comb-making in its various branches, in the same established stand in Royal Street near the City Hotel" [i.e., Gadsby's Tavern]. John Duffey, who had been in business for at least ten years, opened a new King Street shop in competition with Mount. In 1816 Mount also moved to King Street. He remained in business until 1838.

Advertisements in 1810 and 1826 issues of the Alexandria Gazette offered cash for tortoise shell and horn from which the combs were manufactured. Often a hornsmith made horn blanks to sell to combmakers. He would remove the sheath from a cow horn soak it and boil or roast it until soft. Then the horn would be slit and flattened between heated iron plates, and tempered with cold water.

The cores of several cow horns were found in a privy behind Mount's first shop. This discovery indicates that hornsmithing was done on the premises.

Mount employed skilled craftsmen to work in the shop. Samuel Hills manufactured combs for Mount until 1826, and also cemented broken combs. Another craftsmen manufactured and repaired trunks for Mount's shop.

Fancy goods and hardware which were sold at Mount's shop, along with items of bone, horn, ivory and tortoiseshell, were enumerated both in Alexandria Gazette advertisements and in an extensive court inventory from 1820. Artifacts displayed in this exhibition are among the merchandise which was listed.