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.

Black and white print; bust portrait of a man (James Fenimore Cooper).Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Black and white print; bust portrait of a man (James Fenimore Cooper).
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
depicted
Cooper, James Fenimore
publisher
Peabody & Co.
Childs & Inman
maker
Pendleton's Lithography
ID Number
DL.60.3130
catalog number
60.3130
accession number
228146
Black and white print, half length portrait of a man (Timothy Cole) at a pulpit. He has one hand raised and another on a book, which is resting on the pulpit.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Black and white print, half length portrait of a man (Timothy Cole) at a pulpit. He has one hand raised and another on a book, which is resting on the pulpit.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
depicted
Cole, Timothy
maker
Moore, Thomas
original artist
Howes, S.P.
ID Number
DL.60.3206
catalog number
60.3206
The first firm to mass-produce watches by machine was the American Watch Company of Massachusetts. Oliver B.
Description
The first firm to mass-produce watches by machine was the American Watch Company of Massachusetts. Oliver B. Marsh, one of the firm's earliest watchmakers, designed and made this watch as a prototype.
The appetite for watches in the United States in the early part of the 19th century was huge; about $46 million worth were imported between 1825 and 1858, especially from England Switzerland. To tap into this market, a few Americans attempted to develop watches domestically, but probably no more than two thousand watches were made in the United States before the 1850s.
In that decade, watchmakers at what would become the American Watch Company of Waltham, Massachusetts, developed the world's first machine-made watches. They completely redesigned the watch so that its movement could be assembled from interchangeable parts made on specialized machines they invented just for that purpose. They also developed a highly organized factory-based work system to speed production and cut costs.
The firm was launched in 1849 in a corner of the Howard & Davis clock factory in Roxbury, near Boston, where Edward Howard and Aaron Dennison experimented with completely new designs for watches and the machines to make them. With expert help from a cadre of experienced mechanicians and funding from Howard's father-in-law, the Boston mirror maker Samuel Curtis, the enterprise got under way.
Dennison had absorbed techniques for the mass production of firearms with interchangeable parts during a visit at the Springfield Armory. The primary measures the new firm adopted from arms making were a tight organization, a critically important machine shop, and a manufacturing system that relied on models. Waltham designers made a model watch and a master set of gauges to fit it, and every watch part made thereafter was measured against the corresponding model part.
In its first decade, the firm's work was largely experimental, but by late in 1852, Howard and Dennison finally had products-seventeen watches, made mostly by hand by brothers Oliver and David Marsh. One of these prototypes, a watch made by Oliver Marsh, survives in the collections of the museum.
O. B. Marsh's watch was large compared to other pocket watches of the time. The white- enamel dial indicated minutes around the rim and featured four smaller dials indicating hours (at 6:00) seconds (at 12:00), days of the week (at 9:00) and date (at 3:00).
The design of these first watches, eight-day movements with two mainsprings, gave way to a simpler one, a watch that ran on one mainspring for a little more than a day. Although superficially similar to English watches of the time, the new American watch featured a mainspring in a "going barrel." This meant a watch without the traditional fusee and chain to equalize the force of the unwinding spring. This was a watch with fewer parts to make.
The next hundred Waltham watches, built on the new model, took until the fall of 1853. The third batch of nine hundred sold for just $40 each, cased. An imported movement of the same quality cost twice as much.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1849-1851
Date made
ca 1852
manufacturer
Waltham Watch Company
maker
American Waltham Watch Co.
Oliver B. Marsh
Oliver B. Marsh, for American Watch Co.
ID Number
ME.334625
accession number
310796
catalog number
334625
Black and white print; bust portrait of a man in clerical garb (the Reverend Edward Sprague).Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Black and white print; bust portrait of a man in clerical garb (the Reverend Edward Sprague).
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
depicted
Sprague, Edward
maker
Pendleton's Lithography
original artist
Belknap, Zedekiah
ID Number
DL.60.3129
catalog number
60.3129
accession number
228146
A stamp holder and pocket calendar of cream celluloid. The inside contains a calendar for 1900. A promotional novelty, it advertises Oak Hall Clothing Co. of Boston.
Description (Brief)
A stamp holder and pocket calendar of cream celluloid. The inside contains a calendar for 1900. A promotional novelty, it advertises Oak Hall Clothing Co. of Boston. The front resembles a stamped envelope.
Oak Hall was a well-known men’s clothing retailer in Boston started by George W. Simmons. The name derives from the new woodwork in the store following an 1842 renovation—a look that became synonymous with high-end men’s clothing stores. Thanks to Simmons's aggressive marketing campaigns, the store was familiar to most residents of New England in the mid-19th century. It is mentioned in works by Nathaniel Hawthorne (“Main Street”) and derisively by Henry David Thoreau (“Ktaadn”), as well as in correspondence by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who was incensed at the store’s use of advertising poems (written by “Professor Goodfellow”), and patterned on Longfellow's style.
Source: “Oak Hall in American Literature” by Steven Allaback, in American Literature Vol. 46 No.4 Jan. 1975, p. 545-549.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1900
maker
Whitehead & Hoag Company
ID Number
2006.0098.0980
accession number
2006.0098
catalog number
2006.0098.0980
The frontpiece (also known as shield or badge) of firefighting helmets has been a distinctive part of the American firefighter’s helmet since it was developed by Henry Gratacap in the early 19th century. These frontpieces displayed a variety of information.
Description (Brief)
The frontpiece (also known as shield or badge) of firefighting helmets has been a distinctive part of the American firefighter’s helmet since it was developed by Henry Gratacap in the early 19th century. These frontpieces displayed a variety of information. The fire company's name and number appeared, often alongside the city or town where it was based. The frontpiece could also include the owner's initials and rank. Most fire helmets had leather frontpieces, but frontpieces could also be made of metal, especially on presentation helmets or those worn in parades.
This leather frontpiece was made by Joseph Cogan of Boston, Massachusetts between 1865 and 1871. The white frontpiece has white leather letters on red banners that read “NORTHERN/LIBERTY.” A large white number “8” is on a red background, encircled by a black hose with two nozzles.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
before 1871
maker
Cogan, Joseph
ID Number
2005.0233.1439
accession number
2005.0233
catalog number
2005.0233.1439
While leg makeup has been commercially available since the 1920s, it wasn't until rationing was introduced during the World War II that the product became an essential commodity for many American women.
Description
While leg makeup has been commercially available since the 1920s, it wasn't until rationing was introduced during the World War II that the product became an essential commodity for many American women. Unable to procure silk or nylon hose, many women resorted to painting their legs with products such as Leg Silque Liquid Stockings, made in Boston, Mass., by the Langlois Company. Some industrious users even drew black lines down the backs of their legs to simulate the seams.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1943
maker
Langlois Inc.
ID Number
1985.0481.002
accession number
1985.0481
catalog number
1985.0481.002
maker number
P244
This 1850 print offers a defense of slavery in America by satirically comparing it with a perceived system of “wage slavery” in England.
Description
This 1850 print offers a defense of slavery in America by satirically comparing it with a perceived system of “wage slavery” in England. In the top panel, two Northern men and two Southern men look upon a group of seemingly content slaves who are shown dancing, playing music, and smiling. The Northerners are surprised at this scene, amazed to find that popular assumptions at home about slavery were unfounded. The Southerners hope that the Northerners will return home with a new perspective on slavery, but demonstrate their readiness to fight for their rights if necessary. The lower panel shows a gathering of people outside of a cloth factory in England. On the side of the factory, a sign reads, “Sale / A Wife to be Sold.” On the left, a young farmer talks to his childhood friend, who appears as an old man. The older figure explains that life in a British factory producing cloth ages one more quickly, and that the workers die of old age at 40. To their right, a mother looks down upon her three children, lamenting “What wretched slaves, this factory life makes me & my children. Continuing right, two factory workers contemplate running away to the coal mines, where they would only work for 14 hours instead of their current 17. On the far right, two rotund men, a priest and a tax collector, approach the workers with books labeled “Tythes” and “Taxes.” In the right corner, a man thanks God that he will soon die and be free of his “factory slavery.” Below the panels is included a portrait of the bust of George Thompson, a Scottish abolitionist. An accompanying quote from Thompson reads, “I am proud to boast that Slavery does not breathe in England,” although the creators of this print would argue otherwise. It was printed by British born John Haven ( born ca 1817), who was active in New York City at 3 Broad Street 1846-1848. He then moved to 86 State Street, Boston where he was active 1848-1850. He is known for designing maps as well as for prints on Manifest Destiny and prints with political commentary.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1850
depicted
Thompson, George
maker
Haven, Joshua P.
ID Number
DL.60.3490
catalog number
60.3490
This black and white allegorical print depicts the course of destruction through drinking. A train with its engine labeled "Distillery" is stopped at "Drunkard's Curve Station".
Description
This black and white allegorical print depicts the course of destruction through drinking. A train with its engine labeled "Distillery" is stopped at "Drunkard's Curve Station". The train is leaving a tranquil valley and heading toward doom with skeletons and snakes in the background. The print has a considerable amount of descriptive and interpretive text.
This print was created by the artist Emil F. Ackermann, who was born in Dresden, Germany in 1840 and came to the United States in 1848. Ackermann eventually went to work for the lithography firm of J.H. Bufford and Sons, which produced the lithograph in the 1860s.
It was issued by the Massachusetts Temperance Alliance and published by Reverend Steadman Wright Hanks in his book The Crystal River Turned Upon the Black Valley Railroad and Black Valley Country -- A Temperance Allegory (also known as The Black Valley: The Railroad and the Country). Hanks called the print "probably the most successful temperance lecture in the country." Stedman Wright Hanks (1811-1889) was a Congregational minister in Lowell, Massachusetts, as well as an author, artist, and fervent supporter of both the temperance and anti-slavery movements. Hanks spoke to audiences around the United States about the evils of overindulging in alcohol. In addition to his book about the Black Valley Railroad, his published works included Sailor Boys, or, Light on the Seaand Mutineers of the "Bounty and compiled a temperance song book and served as a representative in the Massachusetts General Court. He is also noted for performing the sermon commemorating John Quincy Adams death at the St. John Street Congregational Church.
This print was produced by J. Mayer and Company. Julius Mayer was a lithographer in Boston from 1857-1872. He was associated with Prang & Mayer (1857-1860), Mayer & Stetfield (1861-1862), and J. Mayer & Co. (1863-1872). His prints included scenes of Boston and Portland, Maine.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1863
copyright holder
Hanks, S. W.
artist; engraver
Ackermann, Emil
lithographer
J. Mayer and Company
ID Number
DL.60.2890
catalog number
60.2890
accession number
228146
Color print of a dark brown trotting horse pulling a sulky and driver. White picket fence in background.A color print of a dark brown stallion pulling a sulky and driver on a race track. The equipment is streamlined and colorful.
Description (Brief)
Color print of a dark brown trotting horse pulling a sulky and driver. White picket fence in background.
Description
A color print of a dark brown stallion pulling a sulky and driver on a race track. The equipment is streamlined and colorful. The driver wears a maroon jacket, white shirt, purple pants, a blue cap and yellow gloves. The track is enclosed by a white picket fence.
Ben Morrill was foaled in 1868 from Winthrop Morrill and the Harrison Ames Mare in Winthrop, Maine. He was owned by T.B. Williams. His career ran from 1872-79. Ben Morrill never reached the level of the Grand Circuit horses, but he was well loved throughout New England and Canada and a particular favorite in Boston. On October 29, 1874 Ben Morrill, driven by J.J. Bowen, won two out of nine heats at Prospect Park Fairgrounds in a race for trotters that had never raced under 2:30. Ben Morrill sired seven trotters that reached the under 2:30 achievement.
Haskell and Allen’s most memorable productions were their horse prints. A Boston based publisher of lithographs, the firm seems to have issued more large folio images than small. Haskell began as a print seller with Haskell and Ripley (1868) but in 1869 he began a partnership with George Allen. In 1873 they moved to 61 Hanover St in Boston where they prospered for a few years. They went bankrupt in 1878.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1875
maker
Haskell & Allen
artist
Howe, E.R.
original artist
Leighton, Scott
ID Number
DL.60.3538
catalog number
60.3538
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
Black and white print of forty-two bust portraits; each is in an oval frame containing the person's name.
Description (Brief)
Black and white print of forty-two bust portraits; each is in an oval frame containing the person's name. The portraits are arranged in two concentric ovals around a title and a small scene of Boston across the Charles River with the state capitol building in the background.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1856
lithographer
Homer, Winslow
artist
Bufford, John Henry
publisher
Usher, James M.
ID Number
DL.60.2583
catalog number
60.2583
accession number
228146
Black & white print; full length portrait of a man holding a hat and cane in an outdoor setting (Andrew Jackson at his home, The Hermitage). Facsimilie of sitter's signature serves as the title.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Black & white print; full length portrait of a man holding a hat and cane in an outdoor setting (Andrew Jackson at his home, The Hermitage). Facsimilie of sitter's signature serves as the title.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1832
depicted
Jackson, Andrew
maker
Pendleton's Lithography
Pendleton, William S.
Bufford, John Henry
original artist
Earle, Ralph Eleaser Whiteside
ID Number
DL.60.3116
catalog number
60.3116
accession number
228146
Color print of a trotting horse (Capt. McGowan) pulling a sulky on a racetrack. A white picket fence borders the track. The caption indicates that this is River Side Park, Brighton, Mass. on Oct.
Description (Brief)
Color print of a trotting horse (Capt. McGowan) pulling a sulky on a racetrack. A white picket fence borders the track. The caption indicates that this is River Side Park, Brighton, Mass. on Oct. 31, 1865.
Description
A color print of a brown horse attached by a light harness to a sulky with a driver who is intent on holding the reins. The driver wears a heavy red sweater and beaked cap. The sulky is red and highly polished. A picket fence borders the track. Pretentious country homes are in the wooded area beyond the park. It is a scene of River Side Park, Brighton, Mass. on Oct. 31, 1865.
Captain McGowan was bred in 1857 by Sovereign and Sally Miller, but his pedigree is debated. It is believed that he was born in Kentucky and owned by Samuel Emerson of Boston. He set a record in 1865 of trotting 20 miles in one hour (56 minutes, 25 seconds).
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1865
maker
J. H. Bufford and Sons
ID Number
DL.60.3595
catalog number
60.3595
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
Sentimental genre prints documented the social image of Victorian virtue through domestic scenes of courtship, family, home life, and images of the “genteel female.” Children are depicted studying nature or caring for their obedient pets as they learn their place in the greater w
Description
Sentimental genre prints documented the social image of Victorian virtue through domestic scenes of courtship, family, home life, and images of the “genteel female.” Children are depicted studying nature or caring for their obedient pets as they learn their place in the greater world. Romantic scenes picture devoted husbands with their contented, dutiful wives. In these prints, young women educated in reading, music, needlework, the arts, the language of flowers, basic math and science are subjugated to their family’s needs.
These prints became popular as lithography was introduced to 19th Century Americans. As a new art form, it was affordable for the masses and provided a means to share visual information by crossing the barriers of race, class and language. Sentimental prints encouraged the artistic endeavors of schoolgirls and promoted the ambitions of amateur artists, while serving as both moral instruction and home or business decoration. They are a pictorial record of our romanticized past.
This full length colored print is a rear view of a young woman lifting her skirt as she climbs into a coach. She wears a long dress and shawl. Her petticoat and hoop are both visible beneath her dress. A small dog watches her climb into the coach. The coach driver carries a crop and wears a top hat.
This lithograph was printed by John Henry Bufford (1810-1870), from Portsmouth, Massachusetts. Prior to moving to New York in 1835, Bufford apprenticed under William S. Pendleton. In New York, he worked for George Endicott and later Nathaniel Currier. In 1840, Bufford moved back to Boston and started work for another lithography firm. By 1844 the firm and shop name had changed to J.H. Bufford & Co. In 1867, Bufford became the manager of the New England Steam Lithographic Printing Company. He died three years later Boston.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1856-1864
maker
Bufford, John Henry
ID Number
DL.60.2288
catalog number
60.2288
accession number
228146
This black and white print is a three-quarter length portrait of Gus Williams wearing a dress coat and hat and carrying a walking stick. Beneath the portrait are the words “American Star Comique.” The left side of the poster appears to have been cut off.
Description
This black and white print is a three-quarter length portrait of Gus Williams wearing a dress coat and hat and carrying a walking stick. Beneath the portrait are the words “American Star Comique.” The left side of the poster appears to have been cut off. A portion of the title (the letter "S") and the edge of another image are still visible. The Opera House performance dates are advertised on an affixed datebill that is pasted on the bottom margin. A torn fragment of a small oval portrait of Williams is affixed to the upper right corner.
Gus Williams (1848-1915) was an American comedian and songwriter. He was born Gustave Wilhelm Leweck, Jr., in New York City, the son of a German American furrier. Leweck set out for the American West in his early teens but got only as far as Indiana, where he went to work as a farmhand. In 1862, Leweck joined Union troops fighting the Civil War as part of the 48th Indiana Infantry. He apparently got his start as an entertainer putting on shows as a drummer boy for his fellow soldiers. He first appeared on stage in 1864 during the Union Army’s occupation of Huntsville, Alabama, where he performed in The Pirate’s Legacy: The Wrecker’s Fate by Charles H. Saunders. After the war, Leweck toured with Tony Pastor's vaudeville group and became known for singing and performing comic skits with a German accent. He appeared in a number of German farce comedies, including Our German Senator and One of the Finest . He was known for writing his own songs, both comic and sentimental. In 1885 Leweck took the stage name Gus Williams. He also worked to secure better wages for vaudeville performers and was said to have been the first to earn 500 dollars a week for doing stage monologues. Williams committed suicide in his sixties, possibly because of health concerns and his declining career.
This lithograph was produced by Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Company. The Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Company was founded by William H. Forbes (ca 1836-1915), who immigrated to the United States from Liverpool, England in 1848. Forbes became an apprentice in the lithography business while still a boy and established William H. Forbes and Company in Boston in 1861. The firm expanded to become Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Company in 1875 with hundreds of employees and offices in Boston, New York, Chicago, and London. During World War II, the company became a major printer of allied military currency but went out of business later in the 20th Century.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
depicted
Williams, Gus
maker
Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Company
ID Number
DL.60.3059
catalog number
60.3059
accession number
228146
A color print of a galloping horse and jockey. It is black with a white nose and rear stockings.Longfellow was bred in 1867 by John Harper on Nantura Stock Farm in Midway, Kentucky. Harper also owned the famous sires Lexington and Glencoe.
Description
A color print of a galloping horse and jockey. It is black with a white nose and rear stockings.
Longfellow was bred in 1867 by John Harper on Nantura Stock Farm in Midway, Kentucky. Harper also owned the famous sires Lexington and Glencoe. Longfellow’s sire was Leamington and his dam was Nantura. At 17.0 hands, he was an above-average height for a racer, so Harper had to postpone his training until the colt grew into his size. Harper claimed he named the horse after his long legs. His racing career began when Longfellow turned 3. The beginning of Longfellow’s racing career was marked by several unfortunate events. He lost his first race, and then in 1871 before a match Harper’s siblings were murdered at his estate by a jealous nephew. Harper would have been killed as well, had he not been sleeping in Longfellow’s stall. After this event, Longfellow’s career began to accelerate, and he won 13 of his 16 starts in 1871, frequenting the tracks at Monmouth and Saratoga. Longfellow eventually earned the name “King of the Turf.” The match against Harry Bassett took place in Longfellow’s last season in the Monmouth Cup of 1872 where they were the only two horses entered. Longfellow beat Harry Bassett by over 100 yards. They met again in the Saratoga Cup, but at the start Longfellow twisted his foot. He managed to catch up to Harry Bassett and only lost by a length, but it was the last race of his racing career. His total earnings amounted to $11,200. At stud, Longfellow sired two Kentucky Derby winners and became the leading sire of 1891. Longfellow died on November 5, 1893 at age 26 and his grave was the second grave in Kentucky to be erected for a racehorse. Longfellow was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 1971.
Haskell and Allen’s most memorable productions were their horse prints. A Boston based lithograph publisher, the firm seems to have issued more large folio images than small. Haskell began as a print seller with Haskell and Ripley (1868) but a year later in 1869 he began a partnership with George Allen. In 1873 they moved to 61 Hanover St in Boston where they did well until they went bankrupt in 1878.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
maker
Haskell & Allen
ID Number
DL.60.3612
catalog number
60.3612
Color print of a dark brown trotting horse pulling a sulky and driver.A color print of a dark brown stallion with white nose and stockings on his back feet, and a black mane, tail, and legs. He is pulling a jockey on sulky.
Description (Brief)
Color print of a dark brown trotting horse pulling a sulky and driver.
Description
A color print of a dark brown stallion with white nose and stockings on his back feet, and a black mane, tail, and legs. He is pulling a jockey on sulky. His equipment is light weight and designed to promote speed. The jockey wears a white shirt, long pants, and a billed cap. The track is bordered by grassy fields and woods. Low hills are in the distance.
Great Eastern was a descendant of Hambletonian bred in New York. He was one of Smuggler’s principle rivals. They faced off at Mystic Park on October 16, 1876 to a crowd of 3000 people, where Great Eastern was beaten. In the rematch scheduled for October 20, Great Eastern, driven by A.J. Feek beat Smuggler with a time of 2:21. He went on to win thirteen more times between 1875 and 1883, traveling as far as Illinois.
Haskell and Allen’s most memorable productions were their horse prints. A Boston based publisher of lithographs, the firm seems to have issued more large folio images than small. Haskell began as a print seller with Haskell and Ripley (1868) but in 1869 he began a partnership with George Allen. In 1873 they moved to 61 Hanover St in Boston where they prospered for a few years. They went bankrupt in 1878.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1877
maker
Haskell & Allen
Howe, E.R.
ID Number
DL.60.3537
catalog number
60.3537
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
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
Sentimental genre prints documented the social image of Victorian virtue through domestic scenes of courtship, family, home life, and images of the “genteel female.” Children are depicted studying nature or caring for their obedient pets as they learn their place in the greater w
Description
Sentimental genre prints documented the social image of Victorian virtue through domestic scenes of courtship, family, home life, and images of the “genteel female.” Children are depicted studying nature or caring for their obedient pets as they learn their place in the greater world. Romantic scenes picture devoted husbands with their contented, dutiful wives. In these prints, young women educated in reading, music, needlework, the arts, the language of flowers, basic math and science are subjugated to their family’s needs.
These prints became popular as lithography was introduced to 19th Century Americans. As a new art form, it was affordable for the masses and provided a means to share visual information by crossing the barriers of race, class and language. Sentimental prints encouraged the artistic endeavors of schoolgirls and promoted the ambitions of amateur artists, while serving as both moral instruction and home or business decoration. They are a pictorial record of our romanticized past.
This colored print is a full length view of a woman lifting her skirt as she steps from a curb to the street. The woman is wearing a fancy bonnet with a veil, a loose fitting jacket, a long flowing skirt over a striped petticoat and hoop and high button shoes. A man is watching her over her right shoulder; over her left shoulder a man is driving a carriage or a wagon.
This lithograph was printed by John Henry Bufford (1810-1870), from Portsmouth, Massachusetts. Prior to moving to New York in 1835, Bufford apprenticed under William S. Pendleton. In New York, he worked for George Endicott and later Nathaniel Currier. In 1840, Bufford moved back to Boston and started work for another lithography firm. By 1844 the firm and shop name had changed to J.H. Bufford & Co. In 1867, Bufford became the manager of the New England Steam Lithographic Printing Company. He died three years later Boston.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1856-1864
maker
Bufford, John Henry
ID Number
DL.60.2287
catalog number
60.2287
accession number
228146
This colored print depicts a teacher named John Pounds repairing a shoe and listening to a boy standing next to him reading aloud from a book. Many other children line the schoolroom. Bird cages, shoe forms, books, shoes, boots, and a stack of slates decorate the wall.
Description
This colored print depicts a teacher named John Pounds repairing a shoe and listening to a boy standing next to him reading aloud from a book. Many other children line the schoolroom. Bird cages, shoe forms, books, shoes, boots, and a stack of slates decorate the wall. Two birds sit on the shelf and a cat stands by Pounds' feet. John Pounds (1766-1839) taught impoverished children in Portsmouth, England. His innovative teaching methods and philanthropic aims have been celebrated in publications, paintings, and memorials in his honor.
This print was created by William Sharp (artist) and produced by the lithographic firm of Bouve and Sharp. William Sharp (1803-1875) was an English-born lithographer and painter who arrived in Boston, Massachusetts around 1839-1840. He was credited with introducing chromolithography to America after his arrival. Sharp worked with the lithographer Francis Michelin (1809/10-1878) and with lithographer and engraver Ephraim Bouve (1817-1897) from 1843-44. He established his own business in New York in 1844. Ephraim W. Bouve (1817-1897) was a lithographer and engraver. The firm of Bouve and Sharp produced city scenes, book illustrations and portraits.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1843-1844
depicted
Pounds, John
lithographer
Bouve & Sharp
artist
Sharp, William
ID Number
DL.60.2830
catalog number
60.2830
accession number
228146
Color print of a race between three trotting horses; Dexter, pulling one sulky, and Ethan Allen and his mate pulling a second sulky, at Fashion Course, Long Island, on June 21,1867.A color print of a race in progress between Ethan Allen and a stable mate pulling one sulky and Dex
Description (Brief)
Color print of a race between three trotting horses; Dexter, pulling one sulky, and Ethan Allen and his mate pulling a second sulky, at Fashion Course, Long Island, on June 21,1867.
Description
A color print of a race in progress between Ethan Allen and a stable mate pulling one sulky and Dexter pulling the other. The team is ahead. The jockeys wear jackets, bow ties, close fitting pants, and caps. A line of trees and billowy clouds against a blue sky are in the background. It takes place at Fashion Course, LI on June 21, 1867.
Dexter was foaled in Walden, Orange County, New York in 1858 by Jonathan Hawkins. His sire was Hambletonian and his dam was Clara. Dexter had four white stockings, which was traditionally considered unlucky in a racing horse, but it was superstition he proved to be worthless. In 1862 he was sold for $400 to George B. Alley, who broke him into racing. In 1863 he was sent to Hiram Woodruff and showed 2:42 pulling a wagon. George Trussel paid $14,000 for him in 1866 and placed him in the hands of Budd Doble. Dexter followed Flora Temple as the world’s premier trotter, dominating races between 1864 and 1867. His fastest time was 2:17 1/2, recorded in Buffalo on August 14, 1867. Following this record, he was purchased by Robert Bonner for $35,000. His versatility made him very desired, as Dexter could trot under saddle, in harness, and hitched to a wagon. Dexter’s main rival was Ethan Allen, and on June 21, 1867 on Long Island he raced Ethan Allen and his mate, Charlotte, F. Dexter lost the race but his performance was still considered impressive since he raced the pair alone. Dexter died in 1888 at thirty years old and was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame as an “Immortal” in 1956,
Ethan Allen was foaled on June 18, 1849 by Joel W.Holcomb of Ticonderoga, NY. He was sired by Vermont Black Hawk, a distant descendant of the thoroughbred Messenger, and birthed by Poll. On the Holcomb farm, he was treated as a family pet, admiration that continued through his public career. Orville S. Roe of Shoreham, Vermont, bought half an interest in the colt, so during his earlier years, he was owned jointly by Holcomb and Roe. That was the beginning of his many owners. In 1862 he was sold to Frank Baker, who, after a time, sold him to Dan Mace and I. D. Walton. In 1866 he was purchased by J. E. Maynard of Boston, who sold him to Eph. Simmons, but afterwards bought him back, and again sold him, November 5th, 1868, to Wesley P. Balch of Boston, who in turn sold him to Col. H. S. Russell of Milton, Massachusetts. Ethan Allen was known for being the most handsome trotter in the races and had one of the longest racing careers, spanning 18 seasons. In 1853 he set the 4-year-old record of 2:36. In 1858 he reduced the stallion record to 2:28 for the mile. The great achievement of his life occurred on June 21, 1867, when, at age eighteen, and hitched with a running mate, he defeated Dexter, at the Fashion Course in Long Island in 2:15, 2:16 and 2:19. He won a total of 33 races, 22 in a single harness. His titles included Champion Trotting Stallion of the World, Champion of the World at Four Years of Age, and Champion of the World to Pole, with a best time of 2:25 ½. Ethan Allen was highly popular at stud, with his fees reaching $500. He produced six under 2:30 trotters. Ethan Allen died at Sprague and Akers Farm, owned by Colonel Amasa in Lawrence Kansas on September 10, 1876 at age 27 and was buried at the entrance of the trotting course in Kansas, with a monument to commemorate his career. Later, his skeleton was exhumed and displayed at the Museum of Natural History in Lawrence. He was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1999 as an “Immortal.” The popular trotting horse weather vane was based upon his silhouette.
Charlotte F., Ethan Allen’s running mate, was the thoroughbred progeny of Scythian and Sally Polk.
Haskell and Allen’s most memorable productions were their horse prints. A Boston based lithograph publisher, the firm seems to have issued more large folio images than small. Haskell began as a print seller with Haskell and Ripley (1868) but a year later in 1869 he began a partnership with George Allen. In 1873 they moved to 61 Hanover St in Boston where they did well until they went bankrupt in 1878.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1872
maker
Haskell & Allen
ID Number
DL.60.3530
catalog number
60.3530

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