Clothing & Accessories

Work, play, fashion, economic class, religious faith, even politics—all these aspects of American life and more are woven into clothing. The Museum cares for one of the nation's foremost collections of men's, women's, and children's garments and accessories—from wedding gowns and military uniforms to Halloween costumes and bathing suits.

The collections include work uniforms, academic gowns, clothing of presidents and first ladies, T-shirts bearing protest slogans, and a clean-room "bunny suit" from a manufacturer of computer microchips. Beyond garments, the collections encompass jewelry, handbags, hair dryers, dress forms, hatboxes, suitcases, salesmen's samples, and thousands of fashion prints, photographs, and original illustrations. The more than 30,000 artifacts here represent the changing appearance of Americans from the 1700s to the present day.

Colored print; landscape scene showing small town on a harbor with two steam ships on the water. Large mountain looms in right background. Several people stroll on a dirt road in right and left foreground. Palm trees at left and in foreground indicate a tropical climate.
Description (Brief)
Colored print; landscape scene showing small town on a harbor with two steam ships on the water. Large mountain looms in right background. Several people stroll on a dirt road in right and left foreground. Palm trees at left and in foreground indicate a tropical climate. Proof before letters.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870
maker
Schile, Henry
ID Number
DL.60.2468
catalog number
60.2468
accession number
228146
Colored print of a forest scene. Two hunters at right shoot at running deer at left, but, instead, hit another hunter who is standing between them and the deer. A dog strains at a leash that is tied to a tree.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Colored print of a forest scene. Two hunters at right shoot at running deer at left, but, instead, hit another hunter who is standing between them and the deer. A dog strains at a leash that is tied to a tree.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1874
maker
Schile, Henry
ID Number
DL.60.2471
catalog number
60.2471
accession number
228146
This print is one of fifteen chromolithographs that were included in the 1889-1890 folio "Sport or Fishing and Shooting" published by Bradlee Whidden of Boston and edited by A.C. Gould.
Description (Brief)
This print is one of fifteen chromolithographs that were included in the 1889-1890 folio "Sport or Fishing and Shooting" published by Bradlee Whidden of Boston and edited by A.C. Gould. These prints are based on watercolors that were commissioned for the publication, and illustrated by prominent American artists. Each folio illustration was accompanied by a single leaf of descriptive text followed by an account of the depicted sporting scene. The publication was advertised as having been reviewed for accuracy by a renowned group of anglers and hunters prior to printing.
This print was originally titled and numbered on the text page as 7. Mallard Shooting. S.F. Denton. It depicts two men in a boat in a marsh. One man is shooting at mallard ducks while the other is paddling.
The artist was Sherman Foote Denton (1856-1937), a naturalist and noted illustrator of drawings of fish. Denton also invented a method of mounting fish that preserved their colors as in life. His work was frequently commissioned by the U.S. Fish Commision, forerunner of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890
publisher; copywriter
Bradlee Whidden
lithographer
Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Company
artist
Denton, Sherman Foote
ID Number
DL.60.2722
catalog number
60.2722
accession number
228146
Colored print of a little girl seated on a pillow which is on a rug. Next to her is a toy sheep, around which she is placing a garland of flowers.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Colored print of a little girl seated on a pillow which is on a rug. Next to her is a toy sheep, around which she is placing a garland of flowers.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870
maker
Schile, Henry
ID Number
DL.60.2477
catalog number
60.2477
accession number
228146
Color print of a wagon train descending a mountain road to a central level area beside a river. A wooden fenced structure is located to the left with tents and a number of parked wagons across from it.
Description (Brief)
Color print of a wagon train descending a mountain road to a central level area beside a river. A wooden fenced structure is located to the left with tents and a number of parked wagons across from it. This is an advertisement for Peter Schuttler, a prominent manufacturer of the wagons out of Chicago. Peter Schuttler was a German immigrant who learned his craft by working for a wagon maker in Sandusky, Ohio. In 1843 he moved to Chicago to start his own business by producing wagons for both the city and for Western travellers. By the 1850's, he had become a leading manufacturer of wagons partially due to the California Gold Rush, producing up to 1800 wagons a year. His son Peter took over the business when he died in 1865.
This image was a copy of a 1875-1880 stereo viewby Thurlow of Manitou Springs.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
date made
ca 1885
maker
Clay & Company
ID Number
DL.60.3753
catalog number
60.3753
Colored print; outdoor scene of a woman and two children near a lake. The boy is harnessing a goat to a small carriage in which the girl, who is holding a whip, is sitting. The woman, who is seated on a stone balustrade, supervises from the right.
Description (Brief)
Colored print; outdoor scene of a woman and two children near a lake. The boy is harnessing a goat to a small carriage in which the girl, who is holding a whip, is sitting. The woman, who is seated on a stone balustrade, supervises from the right. Swans and a boat appear on the lake in the background.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1874
maker
Schile, Henry
ID Number
DL.60.2466
catalog number
60.2466
accession number
228146
Colored print of a 19th Century schoolroom scene.
Description (Brief)
Colored print of a 19th Century schoolroom scene. The schoolmaster is asleep at his desk while the students are engaged in a variety of misdeeds: fighting with each other, turning the clock ahead, drawing a caricature of the teacher, etc.
The lithograph was produced circa 1870 by Burrow-Giles Lithography Company in New York. The company is most noted as the defendant in a noted 1874 Supreme Court case, Burrow-Giles Lithographic Company v. Napoleon Sarony, concerning photographic copyright..
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870
maker
Burrow-Giles Lith. Company
ID Number
DL.60.2423
catalog number
60.2423
accession number
228146
This print is one of fifteen chromolithographs that were included in the 1889-1890 folio "Sport or Fishing and Shooting" published by Bradlee Whidden of Boston and edited by A.C. Gould.
Description (Brief)
This print is one of fifteen chromolithographs that were included in the 1889-1890 folio "Sport or Fishing and Shooting" published by Bradlee Whidden of Boston and edited by A.C. Gould. These prints are based on watercolors that were commissioned for the publication, and illustrated by prominent American artists. Each folio illustration was accompanied by a single leaf of descriptive text followed by an account of the depicted sporting scene. The publication was advertised as having been reviewed for accuracy by a renowned group of anglers and hunters prior to printing.
This print was originally titled and numbered on the text page as 1. Killing Salmon. Henry Sandham. Two fishermen are depicted standing on a boulder beside a stream. They are bringing in a large salmon on a fishing line and a metal hook. A large fish lies behind them, already landed.
The artist was Henry Sandham (1842-1910), a Canadian born illustrator and artist of hunting and fishing scenes.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1889
publisher; copywriter
Bradlee Whidden
lithographer
Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Company
artist
Sandham, Henry
ID Number
DL.60.2733
catalog number
60.2733
accession number
228146
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1877
maker
Clay, Cosack & Co.
artist
Mulvany, John
ID Number
DL.60.2376
catalog number
60.2376
accession number
228146
Colored print of a forest scene. In center foreground a hunter struggles with a fox that is suspended from a stick carried over the hunter's shoulder.
Description (Brief)
Colored print of a forest scene. In center foreground a hunter struggles with a fox that is suspended from a stick carried over the hunter's shoulder. Two other hunters appear at left; one has fallen while struggling with a dog that has broken loose from its leash, the other holds a bleeding knee. Other hunters stand in groups, conversing, at right. River in right background.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1874
maker
Schile, Henry
ID Number
DL.60.2472
catalog number
60.2472
accession number
228146
Colored print of a woman watching a young girl harness a large dog to a small open carriage. The woman is seated on a stone ledge. A lake and mountains appear in the background. A large ornamental urn sits on stone balustrade near the carriage.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Colored print of a woman watching a young girl harness a large dog to a small open carriage. The woman is seated on a stone ledge. A lake and mountains appear in the background. A large ornamental urn sits on stone balustrade near the carriage.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870
maker
Edmund Foerster and Company
Silber, F.
ID Number
DL.60.2473
catalog number
60.2473
accession number
228146
Color print, half length portrait of a seated man (Reverend Francis William Pitt Greenwood). The signature of the sitter serves as the title.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Color print, half length portrait of a seated man (Reverend Francis William Pitt Greenwood). The signature of the sitter serves as the title.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1840
depicted
Greenwood, F.W.P.
maker
Sharp, William
ID Number
DL.60.3100
catalog number
60.3100
accession number
228146
Colored print; outdoor scene of a genteel lady with a little girl and boy feeding swans beside a lake. Beyond the lake, a formal fountain, a staircase, and colonade are visible in right background.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Colored print; outdoor scene of a genteel lady with a little girl and boy feeding swans beside a lake. Beyond the lake, a formal fountain, a staircase, and colonade are visible in right background.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1874
maker
Schile, Henry
ID Number
DL.60.2467
catalog number
60.2467
accession number
228146
Color print of a bay trotting horse pulling sulky and driver.A color print of a bay horse pulling a sulky and jockey on a track. His equipment is designed for speed. The jockey wears a jacket, white shirt, long pants, and billed cap.
Description (Brief)
Color print of a bay trotting horse pulling sulky and driver.
Description
A color print of a bay horse pulling a sulky and jockey on a track. His equipment is designed for speed. The jockey wears a jacket, white shirt, long pants, and billed cap. A grassy pasture with pond and trees borders the track, with low hills in the distance.
Rarus was bred by R.B. Conklin upon his retirement in New York in the early 1800s. His dam was called Nancy Awful because she had terrible tantrums, but Conklin bred her to Rysdyk’s Hambletonian to produce a stunning bay trotting prospect. Rarus was marked as a future champion from birth, and Conklin gave him an over-abundance of attention compared to the other horses on the farm. In his first practice race at age three, Rarus trotted the mile in three minutes. Rarus won his first scrub race at age six under the training of James Meade on August 21, 1874 in Long Island, winning a purse of $800. He was then transferred to Brooklyn to train under James Page and lowered his record to 2:28 ½ in one season. His early rival, Kansas Chief, was a former cowpony, and the two went back and forth in winnings for two seasons before Conklin changed Rarus’ driver to John Splan. Rarus was then entered in the Grand Circuit, where he won continuously for two years. Conklin continually turned down offers for the horse up to $45,000 because he believed the same amount of money could be won in purses. Rarus was hailed as “King of the Turf” for a short time after beating Goldsmith Maid’s on August 3, 1878 in Buffalo. His time, 2:13 1/4, was promoted as the “Greatest Achievement on Record.” Z.E. Simmons finally purchased Rarus for $36,000, but the sale was poorly timed. Because it was to take place before an exhibition, track officials were furious and banned both Rarus and Conklin from all tracks forever. With no choice, Simmons sent Rarus to Robert Bonner’s farm. Rarus was eventually inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1978 as an “Immortal.”
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1878
maker
F. M. Haskell & Co.
ID Number
DL.60.3535
catalog number
60.3535
Colored print of a young girl holding a kitten in a yellow shawl that is also wrapped around her shoulders. A dove sits on her right forefinger.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Colored print of a young girl holding a kitten in a yellow shawl that is also wrapped around her shoulders. A dove sits on her right forefinger.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1871
maker
Schile, Henry
ID Number
DL.60.2479
catalog number
60.2479
accession number
228146
Colored print of a little boy in a sailor suit and wide-brimmed hat, carrying a large net in one hand and a ring with fresh fish in the other, standing on a dock. A dog at his feet leaps toward him. A sailing ship, the "Columbia," flying an American flag is in left background.
Description (Brief)
Colored print of a little boy in a sailor suit and wide-brimmed hat, carrying a large net in one hand and a ring with fresh fish in the other, standing on a dock. A dog at his feet leaps toward him. A sailing ship, the "Columbia," flying an American flag is in left background. A bucket of fish is in left foreground.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1874
maker
Schile, Henry
Breul, H.
ID Number
DL.60.2476
catalog number
60.2476
accession number
228146
This colorful chromolithograph contains an animated scene of the Union volunteer refreshment saloon located near the Navy Yard at Swanson and Washington Avenues in Philadelphia, as it appeared in November of 1863.
Description
This colorful chromolithograph contains an animated scene of the Union volunteer refreshment saloon located near the Navy Yard at Swanson and Washington Avenues in Philadelphia, as it appeared in November of 1863. Located on a railroad hub linking the North and the South, the saloon was staffed by volunteers and provided relief for Union troops to soldiers on their way to or returning from battlefields in the South. Its services included warm meals, temporary housing, medical services, and washing facilities. From its opening on May 27, 1861, to its closing on December 1, 1865, over 800,000 men were assisted in this saloon and served over 1,025,000 meals. In the print, a crowd of civilians and a few wounded soldiers line the street to welcome a formation of soldiers who parade down the road towards the saloon. At the right, men another unit depart the saloon and board a Philadelphia, Wilmington, & Baltimore railroad car, bound for the battlefront. A band dressed in road uniforms performs patriotic songs while American flags are waved in the crowd and dot the skyline of the scene. The names of men who were involved in collecting donations for the saloon are listed in the lower margin along with the names of its committee members.
The Philadelphia saloons received support from the United States Sanitary Commission, a relief agency approved by the War Department on June 18, 1861 to provide assistance to sick, wounded, and travelling Union soldiers. Although the leaders of the Commission were men, the agency depended on thousands of women, who collected donations, volunteered as nurses in hospitals, and offered assistance at rest stations and refreshment saloons. They also sponsored Sanitary Fairs in Northern cities, raising millions of dollars used to send food, clothing, and medicine to Union soldiers.
The print was created by James Fuller Queen, a pioneering chromolithographer active in Philadelphia, who served in a Civil War militia between 1862 and 1863. Its printer, Thomas S. Sinclair, was a Scottish immigrant to Philadelphia who worked in the lithographic shop of John Collins, before taking over the business the next year. His firm was profitable into the 1880s, producing maps, city views, certificates, book illustrations, political cartoons, sheet music covers, and fashion advertisements.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1861
lithographer
Sinclair, Thomas
artist
Queen, James
ID Number
DL.60.3799
catalog number
60.3799
Colored print of a little boy in a blue sailor suit and yellow brimmed hat, hoisting an American flag from the deck of an ocean ship. An anchor and an axe lie at his feet.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Colored print of a little boy in a blue sailor suit and yellow brimmed hat, hoisting an American flag from the deck of an ocean ship. An anchor and an axe lie at his feet.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1874
maker
Schile, Henry
Breul, H.
ID Number
DL.60.2475
catalog number
60.2475
accession number
228146
This print is one of fifteen chromolithographs that were included in the 1889-1890 folio "Sport or Fishing and Shooting" published by Bradlee Whidden of Boston and edited by A.C. Gould.
Description (Brief)
This print is one of fifteen chromolithographs that were included in the 1889-1890 folio "Sport or Fishing and Shooting" published by Bradlee Whidden of Boston and edited by A.C. Gould. These prints are based on watercolors that were commissioned for the publication, and illustrated by prominent American artists. Each folio illustration was accompanied by a single leaf of descriptive text followed by an account of the depicted sporting scene. The publication was advertised as having been reviewed for accuracy by a renowned group of anglers and hunters prior to printing.
This print was originally titled and numbered on the text page as 8. Catching a Mascalonge. Frank H. Taylor. It depicts three men in a boat pulling in a fish identified as a mascalong or musky.
The artist, Frank H. Taylor (1846-1927), was an illustrator, author, and photographer based in Philadelphia.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890
publisher; copywriter
Bradlee Whidden
lithographer
Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Company
artist
Taylor, Frank Hamilton
ID Number
DL.60.2724
catalog number
60.2724
accession number
228146
Colored print; country scene with Dutch-colonial farm houses along a country lane with picket and split rail fences, and a church with cupola in the background. Lane is filled with school children and some adults.
Description (Brief)
Colored print; country scene with Dutch-colonial farm houses along a country lane with picket and split rail fences, and a church with cupola in the background. Lane is filled with school children and some adults. Four children are swinging on a gate at right, a girl sits pensively under a tree at center. Text beginning "How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood," appears below the image on either side of the title.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1860
maker
Kelly, Thomas
ID Number
DL.60.2455
catalog number
60.2455
accession number
228146
Colored print; outdoor winter scene depicting children skating on frozen lake. In foreground a man and woman ride in a two-horse open sleigh. At right, a girl descends stone steps with a small dog on a leash.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Colored print; outdoor winter scene depicting children skating on frozen lake. In foreground a man and woman ride in a two-horse open sleigh. At right, a girl descends stone steps with a small dog on a leash.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870
maker
Schile, Henry
ID Number
DL.60.2465
catalog number
60.2465
accession number
228146
This colored print is a full-length portrait of a man in riding attire standing in the woods with two horses. His name, “Jas. H.
Description
This colored print is a full-length portrait of a man in riding attire standing in the woods with two horses. His name, “Jas. H. Wallick,” appears at the top of the print and at the bottom are the words, “And His Famous Acting Horses / Road Charger and Bay Raider / in The New Bandit King.”
James H. Wallick (ca 1839-1908) was born in Hurley, New York. Sources have suggested varying possibilities for his birth name, including Patrick J. Fubbins, James Henry Wheeler, or James H. Fubbins Wallick. There has also been speculation that he took the last name Wallick to link himself to the actor James William Wallack, Sr. James Wallick appeared in melodramas and circuses before achieving his best-known success in The Bandit King, a touring Wild West show loosely based on the life of outlaw Jesse James, recast as an anti- hero named Joe Howard. After the death of James in 1882, Wallick created, produced, and starred in the drama, originally titled Jesse James, The Bandit King,. The production featured the typical Wild West genre like horses, buffalo, trick riding and an impressive sharpshooting demonstration. The show was comprised of 6 acts and 8 tableaux and sometimes featured Robert J. Ford, James's real-life killer. The Bandit King made several tours across the country from 1882 to about 1902. Wallick’s other productions included The Cattle King and The Mountain King. He made and lost several fortunes over the course of his career and suffered from heavy debt. He committed suicide in 1908.
This chromolithograph was produced by the Great Western Printing Company, which was possibly based in St. Louis, Missouri.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
depicted
Wallick, James H.
maker
Great Western Printing Company
ID Number
DL.60.3055
catalog number
60.3055
accession number
228146
Colored print of a two-horse sleigh dashing along a snowy road. One of the two occupants is paying a toll taker as they pass a little clapboard toll house. Another sleigh approaches in the background.
Description (Brief)
Colored print of a two-horse sleigh dashing along a snowy road. One of the two occupants is paying a toll taker as they pass a little clapboard toll house. Another sleigh approaches in the background. Distributed as a seasonal promotional by Putnum's(?) Clothing House, Chicago.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
n.d.
maker
Hughes and Johnson
ID Number
DL.60.2646
catalog number
60.2646
accession number
228146
Colored print of a large band performing on the steps of the Capitol (south wing), during the inauguration of the president. A row of Honor Guards stands at attention on the steps, to either side of the band. A large crowd looks on.
Description
Colored print of a large band performing on the steps of the Capitol (south wing), during the inauguration of the president. A row of Honor Guards stands at attention on the steps, to either side of the band. A large crowd looks on. Haverly's United Mastodon Minstrels was a blackface performers created in 1877, when J. H. Haverly merged four of his companies. The group included a brass band and a drum corp. The shows included lavish scenery and often a circus act.
Entertainment entrepreneur J. H. (Jack) Haverly (1837-1901) was born Christopher Haverly near Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. He launched his show business career in 1864 in Toledo, Ohio, where he purchased a variety theater. Inspired by entrepreneurs like P. T. Barnum, Haverly went on to manage other theaters, and he created minstrel and comic performance groups on the East Coast and in the Middle West. In the late 1870s he consolidated his troupes into a single company called the United Mastodon Minstrels which included forty performers, along with a brass band and drum corps. The group continued to grow and at one point had more than a hundred members. Around the same time, Haverly took control of a black performing group called Charles Callender's Original Georgia Minstrels, which he renamed Haverly’s Colored Minstrels. He promoted their performances as authentic depictions of black life, even creating a mock plantation with costumed actors portraying slaves and overseers. Haverly’s troupes toured the United States, usually appearing at his own theaters in cities like New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and San Francisco. They also traveled to England and Scotland. Featuring lavish stage sets, extravagant special effects, and performers in blackface makeup and exotic costumes, his innovations inspired the creation of smaller minstrel shows during the late nineteenth century.
This chromolithograph was produced by the Strobridge Lithographing Company. The Strobridge firm was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio ca 1847 by lithographer Elijah J. Middleton (cited in some sources as Elijah C. Middleton). Middleton was known as one of the pioneers of chromolithography in the United States. By 1854 another lithographer, W. R. Wallace, along with the bookseller Hines Strobridge (1823-1909) had joined the firm as partners. After the Civil War, Strobridge acquired sole ownership of the company and renamed it after himself. Strobridge and Company became especially well known for circus, theater, and movie posters. After leaving the company, Elijah Middleton established a reputation as a portrait publisher, producing prints of George and Martha Washington, Daniel Webster, and other American historical figures.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880
maker
Strobridge Lithographing Company
ID Number
DL.60.2482
catalog number
60.2482
accession number
228146

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