Brooks Brothers suit jacket and pants used by Jon Hamm as Don Draper in the AMC television series, Mad Men. Matthew Weiner created this 1960s period drama about the employees of the Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency on Madison Avenue in New York City. The series premiered on July 9, 2007 and concluded its seventh and final season on May 17, 2015. Over its eight-year run, Mad Men amassed a wealth of awards, including five Golden Globes and sixteen Primetime Emmys. In addition to its critical acclaim, Mad Men is a significant for its renewal of interest in the 1960s as well as its commentary on America’s ever-changing social, economic, and political issues.
These children’s garments were worn by a migrant child or children on the journey to the United States and discarded at the Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley near the U.S.-Mexico border. The center gives new clothes, often donated by members of the local community, to the migrants it serves. The migrants have the option to keep or discard the clothes they were wearing when they arrived.
The Humanitarian Respite Center was founded in 2014 by Sister Norma (Sr. Norma) Pimentel, executive director of the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, the charitable arm of the Diocese of Brownsville. Out of a belief in supporting the dignity of vulnerable people, Sr. Norma established the center at a time when a surge of Central American migrants caused a humanitarian crisis and great political controversy in the United States. The center shelters and cares for migrants for a day after their release by the Border Patrol before they travel to the homes of sponsors, typically family or friends, as part of their immigration process. Among the center’s supporters are members of the predominantly Mexican-American local community who donate clothing, toys, and other necessary supplies to help the newcomers. Between 2014 and 2021, the center assisted over 100,000 refugees.
These denims jeans were worn by a migrant on the journey to the United States and discarded at the Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley near the U.S.-Mexico border. The center gives new clothes, often donated by members of the local community, to the migrants it serves. The migrants have the option to keep or discard the clothes they were wearing when they arrived.
The Humanitarian Respite Center was founded in 2014 by Sister Norma (Sr. Norma) Pimentel, executive director of the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, the charitable arm of the Diocese of Brownsville. Out of a belief in supporting the dignity of vulnerable people, Sr. Norma established the center at a time when a surge of Central American migrants caused a humanitarian crisis and great political controversy in the United States. The center shelters and cares for migrants for a day after their release by the Border Patrol before they travel to the homes of sponsors, typically family or friends, as part of their immigration process. Among the center’s supporters are members of the predominantly Mexican-American local community who donate clothing, toys, and other necessary supplies to help the newcomers. Between 2014 and 2021, the center assisted over 100,000 refugees.
Trousers worn as part of a costume for blackface minstrel performances in the early 20th century. The black and white-striped satin trousers feature a red satin stripe down each leg. The trousers were likely manufactured by Hooker-Howe Costume Company of Haverhill, Massachusetts, were probably used by a member of the Fogg, Finning, and Alger troupe, who performed "eccentric musical comedy" in traveling minstrel shows in Southern Ohio and the Pacific Northwest in the first two decades of the 20th century.
Pair of jeans worn by Buddy Ebsen in the role of Jed Clampett in the television series The Beverly Hillbillies. The light faded jeans were made by Roebuck and Co and have several intentionally worn areas that were either sewn with dark blue thread or patched with a bright floral fabric.
The Beverly Hillbillies was created by Paul Henning and produced by Filmways Television for CBS, where it aired from 1962-1971. The show told the story of the Clampett family, led by patriarch Jed (Buddy Ebsen), a poor mountaineer who barely kept his family fed, as recounted in the theme song “The Ballad of Jed Clampett,” originally performed by bluegrass artists Flatt and Scruggs. Upon discovering that his homestead is sitting on a rich oil deposit, Jed manages to sell the property to an oil company for a fortune and decides to move with his family to the wealthy community of Beverly Hills, California. The series mined for comedy the naivety and personal foibles of the Clampett clan, as well as their interactions with their scheming and condescending neighbors. The series ranked among the top twenty most watched programs on television for eight of its nine seasons, twice ranking as the number one series of the year. A number of episodes remain among the most watched American television episodes of all time.
Jon Stewart wore these pants as part of a suit while hosting the television news series The Daily Show on October 27, 2010. The black suit pants are by Armani.
From 1999 to 2015, Jon Stewart anchored The Daily Show, Comedy Central’s nightly satirical television newscast. The show sometimes functioned as a parody of television news, especially the 24-hour cable news networks whose programming grew increasingly sensational and politically polarizing in the early 2000s. Stewart’s well-informed but exasperated commentary on the absurdities of the American political system and media landscape made the show a hit, especially among young viewers. According to a poll by Pew research, by 2014, 12% of Americans got their news from The Daily Show, roughly the same reach as the national newspaper USA Today. Some commentators noted that “infotainment” programs like The Daily Show contributed to the same worrisome fusion of entertainment and news and decline of trust in journalism as cable news was creating. Several studies, however, showed that viewers of the program were just as accurately informed about current events as regular viewers of traditional broadcast news. In the leadup to the 2008 election, political candidates appeared on the Daily Show 21 times, including visits by presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama. Obama returned to the show in October 2010, just before that year’s midterm election; Stewart wore this suit for that episode.
Gray baseball pants with thin blue stripes worn by Esther Lozoya of the Hollywood Bloomer Girls in 1931. The Hollywood Bloomer Girls were an all-female baseball team playing in the minor leagues against semi-pro men's teams. Lozoya played as a 24 year old although most of the girls on the team were 17 or 18 years old. As a publicity stunt the team went to Universal City and had the Hollywood starlets put on their uniforms.
Pair of dress pants worn by Sid Caesar as part of his German Professor costume in sketches on the television series Your Show of Shows. The pants are gray with darker gray stripes, 2 pleats in front, and unfinished cuffs.
Comedian Sid Caesar (1922-2014) was an influential and acclaimed comedian best known for his pioneering work on television, especially Your Show of Shows, a comedy variety show which aired from 1950-1954. The German Professor was a character used by Caesar to mock the pretentiousness of media experts and satirize intellectual fads. In sketches, the Professor’s ridiculous name changed based on whatever expertise he was supposed to have, such as memory expert “Lapse Von Memory” and Medical Doctor “Hugo von Gezundheit.”
These blue trousers were part of a costume worn by Larry Harmon as the first Bozo the Clown on the children’s television show of the same name from 1949-1954.
Bozo the Clown was originally created by Alan Livingston in 1946 for a children's storytelling album for Capital Records. In 1956, Larry Harmon, an actor who previously portrayed Bozo during promotional events, bought the rights to the clown's image, and over the next fifty years, licensed and franchised Bozo to television stations all over America and the world. Harmon further developed the character during the 1950s and trained over 200 new actors from 1950s through the 1990s to play the clown. Harmon played Bozo on television from 1958-1962. The character of Bozo the Clown peaked in popularity in the 1960s but was beloved by many children for the entire second half of the twentieth century.
Ray Bolger wore this patchwork outfit as the Scarecrow, one of the trio of friends who accompany Dorothy to the Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz.
Designed by Adrian, MGM's premier costume artist, the straw-stuffed clothing fit loosely enough so that Bolger could perform his comedic dance number, "If I Only Had a Brain." A sponge-rubber mask, resembling burlap, completed the Scarecrow's costume. Under the hot lights on the set, the mask was stifling, and it frequently had to be replaced.