Clothing & Accessories - Overview
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.
"Clothing & Accessories - Overview" showing 16 items.
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Leg Silque Liquid Stockings
- 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 Langlors Company. Some industrious users even drew black lines down the backs of their legs to simulate the seams.
- Location
- Currently on loan
- Date made
- ca 1942
- maker
- Langlors, Inc.
- ID Number
- 1985.0481.002
- accession number
- 1985.0481
- catalog number
- 1985.0481.002
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
William Ellery model Pocketwatch
- Description
- During the Civil War Army physician Dr. G. D. O'Farrell received this watch as a gift from grateful patients.
- In the 1850s 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 invented just for that purpose. They also developed a highly organized factory-based work system to speed production and cut costs.
- In its first decade, the firm's work was largely experimental and the firm's finances were unsteady. The name of the company changed repeatedly as investors came and went. Operations moved from Roxbury to Waltham in 1854, and the Panic of 1857 brought bankruptcy and a new owner, Royal Robbins. Reorganization and recovery began, and output reached fourteen thousand watches in 1858.
- Renamed the American Watch Company the next year, the firm was on the brink of success from an unexpected quarter. During the Civil War, Waltham's watch factory designed and mass-produced a low-cost watch, the William Ellery model. Selling for an unbelievable $13.00, these watches became a fad with Union soldiers. Just as itinerant peddlers had aroused the desire for inexpensive clocks, roving merchants sold thousands of cheap watches to eager customers in wartime encampments. By 1865, the year the war ended, William Ellery movements represented almost 45 per cent of Waltham's unit sales.
- This William Ellery model watch was a gift to Army surgeon G. D. O'Farrell from his patients at White Hall, a Civil War hospital near Philadelphia. The inscription on the dust cover of O'Farrell's watch reads: "White Hall USA Gen'l Hospital, Feb. 15, 1865 Presented to Dr. G. D. O'Farrell, USA by the patients of Ward C as a token of regard & respect for his ability as a surgeon and unswerving integrity as a man."
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1864
- presentation
- 1865
- maker
- American Waltham Watch Co.
- ID Number
- 1987.0853.01
- catalog number
- 1987.0853.01
- accession number
- 1987.0853
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
American Watch Company Prototype
- 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 Co.
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Oak Hall Clothing Co.
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Helmet Frontpiece, "Northern Liberty 8"
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Helmet Frontpiece, "Yankee Worcester 5"
- 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 black leather frontpiece dates to the second half of the 19th century. It has raised golden leather lettering that reads “YANKEE/5/WORCHESTER.” The faded painted gold word “EX” can be seen above the number “5.” Yankee Engine Company No. 5 operated in Worchester, Massachusetts.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- after 1854
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- 2005.0233.1454
- accession number
- 2005.0233
- catalog number
- 2005.0233.1454
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Fisherman’s Oilskin Hat
- Description
- Gloucester fishermen working on the North Atlantic were exposed to harsh weather conditions. Waves and freezing rain splashed over the decks and into the dories while the men worked. For some measure of protection, fishermen in the 19th century wore oiled clothes, the precursors to today’s waterproof foul weather gear.
- This hat, referred to as a “Cape Ann sou’wester” because of its wide use in the fisheries around Cape Ann, Mass., is made of soft oiled canvas and lined with flannel. It has an elongated brim in the back to keep water from running down the wearer’s neck and inside his clothing. Ear flaps for warmth are also part of the hat’s design.
- A catalog from the 1883 International Fisheries Exhibition in London claimed that with the sou’wester, “no class of seamen were so comfortably clothed as the New England fishermen.” At the time of the exhibition’s opening, sou’westers cost about $6.50 per dozen.
- This Cape Ann sou’wester was displayed at the London exhibition, courtesy of its manufacturer, A. J. Tower of Boston, Mass. It was part of a display of the latest gear used and worn by American fishermen.
- date made
- early 1880s
- used
- late 19th century
- on exhibit
- 1883
- ID Number
- 2009.0157.03
- catalog number
- 102126
- accession number
- 2009.0157
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Catching a Mascalonge
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Killing Salmon
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Whaler's Monkey Belt
- Description
- After a whale was captured and killed, its carcass was towed by the whaleboat to the side of the mother ship for processing. Cutting up the whale was done by crewmen standing on a wooden plank, or cutting stage, rigged out over the side of the ship so that they could stand directly over the body. Crewmen used this canvas “monkey belt” to secure themselves while they stripped the whale of its blubber. It was dangerous and slippery work. If a sailor slid into the water he risked drowning or being attacked by sharks looking for an easy meal.
- date made
- 1883
- ID Number
- AG*057716
- catalog number
- 057716
- accession number
- 2009.0184
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center