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.
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.
New York Militia "EXCELSIOR" button depicting a spreadwing eagle perched on terrestrial globe. Circular, single-piece button with omega loop shank, possibly on a thin pedestal or plateau, brazed on blank back. No marks. One of four "EXCELSIOR" buttons, 1982.0090.09A, C, N and O, from a collection of 15 buttons, 1982.0090.09A-O.
Set of engraving blocks, about 146, in a corrugated, hard plastic case with lid, accompanies 2019.0306.01, the New Hermes Corp. engravo-graph. Blocks are of letters and numbers.
Used by Lillian Vernon with her monogramming machine.
Growing food organically is seen as “earth friendly” as it eschews the use of pesticides and antibiotics and employs water conserving agricultural methods.
Straight pin-back United War Work Campaign pin. The pin is a flat, blue rectangle with white print that reads “United War Work Campaign.” Within the rectangle is a white square with a red shield. The shield has white text that reads “For The Boys Over There.”
The United War Work Campaign was a joint effort undertaken by seven voluntary organizations active during World War I: the National War Work Council of the YMCA, the War Work Council of the YWCA, the National Catholic War Council (Knights of Columbus), the Jewish Welfare Board, the War Camp Community Service, the American Library Association, and the Salvation Army. The aim of the campaign was for these seven organizations to raise at least $170,500,000 in subscriptions and pledges during the week of November 11–18, 1918, to help boost American soldiers’ morale and provide them with recreational activities.
Much like the use of military insignia to identify its wearer (by association with an organization) and his/her achievements, these pins and buttons were meant to be worn by Americans on the home front during World War I to show their membership in an organization and/or their contribution to a particular war effort, such as the United War Work Campaign. The pins and buttons displayed the wearer’s patriotism and generosity and undoubtedly also served to prompt others to become similarly involved in the various war efforts.
SOURCE:
“United War Work Campaign,” Committee on Public Information, Bulletin 42, 1918.
The traditional American leather firefighter’s helmet with its distinctive long rear brim, frontpiece, and crest adornment was first developed around 1821-1836 in New York City. Henry T. Gratacap, a New York City luggage maker by trade, is often credited as the developer of this style of fire helmet. Gratacap created a specially treated leather helmet with a segmented “comb” design that led to unparalleled durability and strength. The elongated rear brim (also known as a duckbill or beavertail) and frontpiece were 19th century innovations that remain the most identifiable feature of firefighter’s helmets. The body of the helmet was primarily designed to deflect falling debris, the rear brim prevented water from running down firefighters’ backs, and their sturdy crowns could aid, if necessary, in breaking windows.
This leather fire helmet was made by Cairns & Brother of New York, New York around 1888. This helmet was likely presented to Frank W. King of Paterson, New Jersey after he finished his term as assistant chief engineer in 1888. The leather helmet is painted white and has sixty-four combs with a metal eagle frontpiece holder mounted on the crown. The brim has a stamped scrolled border, with two hydrants flanking a frontpiece-shaped brass plate in the rear that bears the engraving "Frank W. King, Ass't Chief Engineer, 1886-1888." The leather frontpiece bears the text “ASS’T CHIEF/ENGINEER/FWK” and a painted image of spider-type hose reel in the center. Frank W. King had been a member of the Hibernia Hose Co. No. 3 of Paterson and served as the company's secretary before his election to Assistant Chief Engineer, with its standard two years of service. He was a machinist by trade.
Men had been wearing waist-length vests that highlighted their chins and necks for several decades before this garment was worn somewhere in New England around 1815. However, in spite of its short length and standing collar, the vest shown here was designed to shift attention downward, toward its wearer's chest and waist. It featured a very slight point at the waist, which was a new idea in the mid-1810s. The small, closely set buttons pointed to the beaked waist, as did the collar, which was lower and more angled than it would have been a few years earlier. Horizontal stripes made the chest look broader, and wide lacing tabs on the back of the vest would also have helped its wearer to achieve the new cinched-waist look that had replaced the previous, very vertical silhouette. A fashionable man would have enhanced the illusion of an hourglass figure by matching his vest with full-hipped trousers and a coat with high rolled collar and full sleeves. He might even have worn it with a second vest of a contrasting color and collar style, thus giving even more fullness and focus to his chest.
This high-collared, off-white silk vest is woven in a textured, tone-on-tone repeat pattern of narrow horizontal lines alternating with bands of tiny zigzags. The step-stand collar is slightly higher in back than it is in the front. The center front fastens with eight small, flat, self-covered buttons. Two pocket welts with flared inner edges, one on each vest front, extend from the side seams toward the center front. The vest is waist-length, with a slight point at the center-front base. The center fronts and waist hems are self-faced, and the vest is fully lined and backed with white cotton. The back hem is cut straight. One lacing tab with a vertical row of four worked eyelets is sewn at each side of the back waist. The center back length is 19 in. (48.26 cm), not including the back collar height of 2.2 in. (5.6 cm).
To see a similar vest as it would have been worn, link to the portrait of Robert Coleman, about 1820, by Jacob Eichholtz at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. To see how one cartoonist mocked the hourglass silhouette that was fashionable for men, link to Songs [Ye Gentlemen of England], 1822, by H. Alken at The Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University.
This Web entry was made possible in part by a generous grant from the National Association of Men’s Sportswear Buyers, in memory of Joseph S. Klein.
Made of red-dyed silk. This scarf was from the ensemble worn by jazz vocalist, Ella Fitzgerald, in an American Express Card advertisement, photographed by Annie Liebovitz.
This English watch was a part of a technical fix applied to U.S. railroads following accidents in the middle of the 19th century.
Back then timetables governed train arrivals and departures, established train priorities, and ensured that trains did not collide on single-track lines. Clocks in railroad stations and watches held by conductors and engineers helped to enforce the timetables.
But in the middle of the 19th century, timepieces in use on the railroads varied wildly in quality and availability to employees of the line. There was no single standard of quality for railroad timekeepers. After a horrific fatal accident on the Providence & Worcester Railroad in August 1853, caused in part by the inaccuracy of a conductor's watch, some railroads in New England responded to public criticism of their industry by tightening up running rules and ordering top-quality clocks and watches for their employees.
This is one such high-quality railroad watch.
An official representing the Vermont Central Railroad and three other New England lines, William Raymond Lee, ordered watches and clocks in late 1853 from William Bond & Sons, Boston, the American agent for Barraud & Lund of London. The English firm delivered the first of the timepieces in January 1855. The Vermont Central purchased fifteen watches for $150 each and one clock for $300.
Barraud & Lund, founded in 1750 by Huguenot watchmaker Francis-Gabriel Barraud, had a long-standing reputation for high-quality timepieces, including marine chronometers, clocks and watches. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the firm had extensive foreign markets and added John Richard Lund, a chronometer maker, to their business.
William Bond & Son, the firm named on the watch's dust cap, was one of the principal timepiece purveyors of nineteenth-century America. Intimately connected to navigation and commercial shipping, the firm rated and repaired marine chronometers for the busy port of Boston and supplied instruments of all sorts to agencies of the federal government-specifically, the coast survey, the topographical engineers, and the navy. The firm, whose original business provided time for navigating at sea, branched out with the railroad business to perform the same service on land.