Family & Social Life

Donations to the Museum have preserved irreplaceable evidence about generations of ordinary Americans. Objects from the Copp household of Stonington, Connecticut, include many items used by a single family from 1740 to 1850. Other donations have brought treasured family artifacts from jewelry to prom gowns. These gifts and many others are all part of the Museum's family and social life collections.

Children's books and Sunday school lessons, tea sets and family portraits also mark the connections between members of a family and between families and the larger society. Prints, advertisements, and artifacts offer nostalgic or idealized images of family life and society in times past. And the collections include a few modern conveniences that have had profound effects on American families and social life, such as televisions, video games, and personal computers.

White; made from parachute; fitted bodice with left side metal zipper; shirred at center front from waist to bust; shirred at side seams at bust; net yoke inset that also forms upper portion of sleeves; opening in yoke at center back, fastened with eight buttons and loops; wide r
Description

White; made from parachute; fitted bodice with left side metal zipper; shirred at center front from waist to bust; shirred at side seams at bust; net yoke inset that also forms upper portion of sleeves; opening in yoke at center back, fastened with eight buttons and loops; wide ruffle of lace and net sewn to bottom of yoke; two darts in back bodice; long sleeves; skirt portion of eight panels of parachute; parachute cord in casings placed vertically and drawn up to form poufs; cords pulled up to make skirt shorter in front and create train in back; skirt lightly gathered onto bodice; parachute cord casings, without cords, used as decorative band around bottom of skirt.

This wedding dress was made from a nylon parachute that saved the groom's life during World War II. Maj. Claude Hensinger, a B-29 pilot, and his crew, were returning from a bombing raid over Yowata, Japan, in August 1944 when their engine caught fire. The crew was forced to bail out. It was night and Major Hensinger landed on some rocks and suffered some minor injuries. During the night he used the parachute both as a pillow and a blanket. In the morning the crew was able to reassemble and were taken in by some friendly Chinese. He kept the parachute and used it as a way to propose to Ruth in 1947. He presented it to her and suggested she make a gown out of it for their wedding.

She wondered how she was going to make "this voluminuous item" into a dress. Seeing a dress in a store window that was based on one that appeared in the movie Gone with the Wind, she patterned her dress after that. She hired a local seamstress, Hilda Buck, to make the bodice and veil. She made the skirt herself; she pulled up the strings on the parachute so that the dress would be shorter in the front and have a train in the back. The couple were married in the Neffs Lutheran Church in Neffs, Pennslyvania, July 19, 1947. Their daughter and their son's bride also wore the dress for their weddings.

Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1947
used by
Hensinger, Ruth Louise
maker
Hensinger, Ruth Louise
ID Number
1992.0236.001
accession number
1992.0236
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c. 1990-1995
ca 1990-1995
ID Number
2009.0177.01
accession number
2009.0177
catalog number
2009.0177.01
One of the Lee daughters wore this casual Chinese-style outfit on special occasions, for none of the children wore Chinese dress for every day wear.
Description (Brief)
One of the Lee daughters wore this casual Chinese-style outfit on special occasions, for none of the children wore Chinese dress for every day wear. The trouser band or fu tau , translated as the “head of the trousers,” was folded over and secured with a belt or cord and covered by the vest.
Lee B. Lok, his wife Ng Shee, and their seven children lived above the Quong Yuen Shing & Co. store in New York City's Chinatown. Though the children wore Western clothes and participated in the local Scout troop and other clubs, their parents required them to attend Chinese school each day, from 4-7 PM.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1920
maker
unknown
ID Number
1992.0620.11
catalog number
1992.0620.11
accession number
1992.0620
Ng Shee (1874 - ?) had this two paneled skirt as well as trousers made in Hong Kong at the time of her marriage to Mr. Lee B. Lok in China around 1900. After the marriage Ng Shee lived with her mother in law in China until she joined Mr.
Description (Brief)
Ng Shee (1874 - ?) had this two paneled skirt as well as trousers made in Hong Kong at the time of her marriage to Mr. Lee B. Lok in China around 1900. After the marriage Ng Shee lived with her mother in law in China until she joined Mr. Lee in New York City in 1906.
The pleated skirt was often worn with a rectangular apron or wei chu’u over a pair of matching trousers.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900
maker
unknown
ID Number
1992.0620.20
accession number
1992.0620
catalog number
1992.0620.20
One of the Lee daughters wore this casual Chinese-style outfit on special occasions, for none of the children wore Chinese dress for every day wear.
Description (Brief)
One of the Lee daughters wore this casual Chinese-style outfit on special occasions, for none of the children wore Chinese dress for every day wear. The trouser band or fu tau , translated as the “head of the trousers,” was folded over and secured with a belt or cord and covered by the vest.
Lee B. Lok, his wife Ng Shee, and their seven children lived above the Quong Yuen Shing & Co. store in New York City's Chinatown. Though the children wore Western clothes and participated in the local Scout troop and other clubs, their parents required them to attend Chinese school each day, from 4-7 PM.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1920
maker
unknown
ID Number
1992.0620.10
catalog number
1992.0620.10
accession number
1992.0620
Ng Shee (1874 - ?) had this two paneled skirt as well as trousers made in Hong Kong at the time of her marriage to Mr. Lee B. Lok in China around 1900. After the marriage Ng Shee lived with her mother in law in China until she joined Mr.
Description (Brief)
Ng Shee (1874 - ?) had this two paneled skirt as well as trousers made in Hong Kong at the time of her marriage to Mr. Lee B. Lok in China around 1900. After the marriage Ng Shee lived with her mother in law in China until she joined Mr. Lee in New York City in 1906.
The pair of matching trousers was often worn under the pleated skirt with a rectangular apron or wei chu’u.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900
maker
unknown
ID Number
1992.0620.21
catalog number
1992.0620.21
accession number
1992.0620
Mrs. Lee ordered this skirt from China to wear on formal occasions, such as weddings. The waistband, of a different fabric, was covered by a blouse.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Mrs. Lee ordered this skirt from China to wear on formal occasions, such as weddings. The waistband, of a different fabric, was covered by a blouse.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930
maker
unknown
ID Number
2000.0274.02
accession number
2000.0274
catalog number
2000.0274.02
In America, Mrs. Lee wore this tunic-length satin blouse with side buttons made from 1890 Hong Kong coins. The generously cut blouse or sam, often reaching the calf, was worn over trousers.Mrs.
Description (Brief)
In America, Mrs. Lee wore this tunic-length satin blouse with side buttons made from 1890 Hong Kong coins. The generously cut blouse or sam, often reaching the calf, was worn over trousers.
Mrs. Lee wore traditional Chinese clothes when she occasionally accompanied her children to the local movie houses. According to her daughter Grace, since she did not understand English she made up her own storyline to accompany the films’ images.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1905
maker
unknown
ID Number
1992.0620.08
catalog number
1992.0620.08
accession number
1992.0620
The donor, Virginia Lee, posed in a similar cheong sam for a US World War II poster and for the "Miss China" contest in New York.
Description
The donor, Virginia Lee, posed in a similar cheong sam for a US World War II poster and for the "Miss China" contest in New York. Also known as a qu pao, the Chinese traditional loose dress shape was modified by Western designers in the 1920's to be more close-fitting to accentuate a woman's figure. The altered dress form became broadly popular in the United States as evening wear in the late 1950's and 1960's.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930
user
Mead, Virginia Lee
maker
unknown
ID Number
1992.0620.16
catalog number
1992.0620.16
accession number
1992.0620
Lee B. Lok (1869-1942) immigrated to San Francisco from Guangdong Province, China in 1881 and soon after moved to New York City's Chinatown where he worked in the Quong Yuen Shing & Co. store.Lee B.
Description (Brief)
Lee B. Lok (1869-1942) immigrated to San Francisco from Guangdong Province, China in 1881 and soon after moved to New York City's Chinatown where he worked in the Quong Yuen Shing & Co. store.
Lee B. Lok ordered this gown from China to wear at the 1896 arrival ceremony in New York of Li Hongzhang, emissary of the Empress Dowager of China. Soon after Lee came to America he abandoned Chinese clothes for daily use and cut his queue. However on special occasions Lee wore clothing that identified him as Chinese. This Manchu style gown splits at the back, front, and both sides to allow for easy movement on horseback – a reflection of the Manchu people’s equestrian background.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1896
maker
unknown
ID Number
1992.0620.24
catalog number
1992.0620.24
accession number
1992.0620
Natalia Flores wore this pink silver-embroidered evening gown for her Quinceanera held in Chicago in 2006. Quinceaneras are a Latina religious tradition that celebrate the maturing of a girl into a woman.
Description
Natalia Flores wore this pink silver-embroidered evening gown for her Quinceanera held in Chicago in 2006. Quinceaneras are a Latina religious tradition that celebrate the maturing of a girl into a woman. Traditionally, the celebration takes place on the girl's fifteenth birthday, is religious in nature, and involves her dressing in a formal gown.
American immigrants have strived to preserve their cultural identities through performing these traditions. Although Natalia's mother did not have a Quinceanera in Mexico, she thought it was important for her daughter to experience this custom in America.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2006
distributor
P.C. Mary's Inc.
wearer
Flores, Natalia
maker
unknown
ID Number
2009.0169.001
accession number
2009.0169
catalog number
2009.0169.001

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