July-August 2017

Administrator’s Notes

By Ralph Gibson, Museums Administrator

We are in the midst of Heritage Trail 2017 and thus far, museums are seeing a boost in attendance over last year!

A few changes seem to have made a big difference. In 2016, few people played the “Get-Up-And-Go” cards because they had to visit 16 museums to qualify for the gift-basket drawing. This year, we reduced the number to 8.

At the same time, students are also roaming the county and partaking in our new scavenger hunt. Participants get the opportunity to win student-friendly prizes, including a Kindle Fire, Samsung Galaxy tablet, and backpacks full of school supplies.

Another big difference compared to years past (when the event was over just one weekend) is the amount of time each visitor spends at a museum. Everyone has time to see so much more of what each museum has to offer. Gold Rush Museum visitors have been staying at least an hour and even longer at the Bernhard.

If you haven’t started yet, it’s not too late! You can visit any participating museum during the summer and pick up a Get-Up-And-Go card (or scavenger hunt if you are a student), and get it stamped during regular business hours. The event ends at 4:00pm on Sunday, September 3rd so get your cards and scavenger hunts turned in by then.

For a full schedule of the Heritage Trail and a list of participating museums, please visit: www.placer.ca.gov/heritagetrail.

The next two weekends of the Trail include: The Gatekeepers Museum & Watson Cabin on July 1st, followed by the Placer County Museum, Gold Country Medical History Museum, and Auburn Chinese Joss House on July 8th.

We hope to see you on the Trail!

 

Swimming in Style

By Kasia Woroniecka, Curator of Collections

Meredith Warren swimming at Lake Tahoe. Circa 1900.

Placer County Archives

Summer is here and so is the warm weather. Time to grab the swimsuit and sunblock and head for the water!

If you were a woman living in the 19th-century, you would also need your short wool dress, pantaloons, full-length dark stockings, and a pair of flat-soled bathing shoes.

Unknown Couple. Circa 1895.

Placer County Archives

In the mid-1800s, mixed bathing (among men and women) became more acceptable and bathing costumes became more publicly visible.

Men wore one-piece knit suits with short-sleeves and knee-length pants. By the late-1800s, two-piece versions consisted of short-sleeved or sleeveless tunics over knee-length pants.

Annette Kellerman posing in 

her famous swimsuit. Circa 1907.

With the popularity of swimming came laws setting minimum standards for beach attire. Bathing costumes were made of dark, wool flannel or serge, and the fabric remained stiff so as not to reveal the female form. Wearing a bathing costume that was too short could get the beach-goer cited, as suits could not end more than six-inches above the knees. Men were required to cover their torsos at most public beaches and pools.

The beginning of a dramatic change in women’s swimwear was marked by a scandalous event in 1907. Annette Kellerman, the Australian champion swimmer and later, movie star, wore a revolutionary new form-fitting one-piece sleeveless bathing suit to a swimming demonstration in Boston.

She was promptly arrested for indecent exposure, yet over the next twenty years, the one-piece became the norm for women.

The post-WWI generation made sports and recreation a big part of social life. In 1921, Jantzen Knitting Mills of Portland patented form-fitting wool knitted swimsuits that held their shape wet and dry. Their advertising slogan, “The suit that changed bathing into swimming” was very successful.

As time went on, the swimsuit got smaller and the fabric improved with the development of latex and nylon.

This sailor inspired swimsuit was

worn by Anna Nelson Rosenberry 

around 1890-1900.  

 It is made of wool crepe 

with a skirt that covers 

the pantaloons underneath.

Placer County Museums Collection

The 1940s were characterized by the two-piece suit. In 1942, as part of rationing during the war, the United States Production Board reduced the amount of fabric allowed for the manufacture of women’s swimwear by 10%.

Yet, it was the introduction of the “bikini” in 1946 that took the world of fashion by storm. The controversy that it caused in the United States was almost as big as the event for which it was named—the atomic testing in the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. For a time, the bikini was banned in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Belgium, and Australia. It was also prohibited in many US states.

Fashion is ever-changing. Today, consumers have a lot to choose from in the swimwear department. Luckily, heavy wool dresses and stockings are not part of the selection. 

Found in the Archives

By Bryanna Ryan, Curator of Archives

In 1904, the community of Auburn was rattled by two bold crimes within a six-month period. The first was the daring daytime robbery of the Placer County Bank by an athletic outlaw in elaborate disguise. All leads had dried up when, on the night of November 10, the Webber house on the hill above Old Town was set ablaze. Soon, all eyes pointed to the eldest son of this prominent local family—Adolph Julius Webber. The sensational trial found Adolph guilty of murdering his parents and both siblings.

Recently, an “orphaned” photograph from the Placer County Mug Book of 1900-1910 was reunited with its page to the discovery that the Archives have Adolph Webber’s mug shot taken at the Courthouse in 1904!

 

The Scoop

By Beth Rohlfes, Supervising Curator

Stories from Heritage Trail Opening Day

Old-fashioned toy station with docent, Bev Jones

As soon as they entered the Bernhard Museum site the morning of June 17th, an extended family including children, parents and grandmother, made a beeline to the carriage barn to discover what Bev Jones’ old-fashioned toy station had to offer.

Rolling Hoops

From classics as familiar as spinning tops and dominoes, to less-recognizable playthings like quoits, game of graces, and rolling hoops - the display encouraged an unavoidable temptation to touch and play. And the guiltiest party? Grandma! She was so excited to revisit so many familiar toys from her childhood that the rest of the family had trouble luring her on to explore the next activity!

Mrs. Bernhard and guests

(Docent, Fran Hanson)

Meanwhile, on the porch of the Bernhard Museum, a mother with three young children stopped to visit with Fran Hanson, our “Ask Mrs. Bernhard” docent for the morning. With their Bernhard Quiz sheets in hand, the stair step adorables had been told that Mrs. Bernhard would help them complete the quiz correctly so that each could collect a prize—two homemade snicker doodle cookies carefully wrapped in a silk bag.

The wise Mrs. Bernhard, not wanting to simply hand them the answers to the quiz, invited them to listen and find the answers in her stories. At the mention of story-time, the youngest of the three climbed unabashedly into Mrs. Bernhard’s lap! And the stories came, along with the answers to the quiz.

Heritage Trail at Bernhard Museum 2017

At the doll station in the old Winery, visitors were busily crafting scraps of fabric and string into multiple versions of themselves and their families. Older siblings helped the younger ones. Girls and boys—and sometimes their adults— eagerly took their places at the table. Museum docent, Diane Adams, fondly referred to four of these youngsters as her “patient boys.” They waited without complaint while eager girls across the table took unknowing advantage of the Victorian “ladies first” rule. Once the dolls were assembled, buttons and string were fashioned into unique accessories.

“Buttons and kids,” said Diane, “are almost as much fun as water and kids!”

 

News from the Placer County Historical Society

By April McDonald-Loomis, President

The new Board of Directors of the Historical Society already has some exciting projects on the books! We are funding new children’s activities for Heritage Trail at the Benton Welty Classroom on June 17th. At the same time, we are also funding a huge mural for the Gold Rush Museum.

The muralist is Derrel Fleener, whose work at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento is highly regarded. The mural will take up one whole wall at the museum and will provide the backdrop for the Panning Stream and Miner’s Camp exhibit. Here is a tiny sneak-peek of one small piece of one of the historic images Derrel will be using for inspiration.

In addition, the Society proudly joined with the El Dorado Historical Society in sponsoring Rodi Lee for a merit award at this year’s Conference of California Historical Societies. This is a state-wide award and a well-deserved one for Rodi. She has patiently made her way through 100 years of newspapers, photographing articles, and creating a huge database of valuable information.

As always, if you have any ideas for speakers for the dinner meetings or ideas to promote the goals of the Society, please let me know!

 

Calendar of Events 

 

Click to Enlarge

Placer County Historical Organizations  

Colfax Area Historical Society
Chris Miller (530) 346-8599
colfaxhistory.org

Donner Summit Historical Society
Bill Oudegeest, (209) 606-6859
donnersummithistoricalsociety.org

Foresthill Divide Historical Society
Sandy Simester, (530) 367-3535
foresthillhistory.org

Fruitvale School Hall Community Association
Lyndell Grey
(916) 645-3517

Historical Advisory Board
Glenn Vineyard
(916) 747-1961

Old Town Auburn Preservation Society
Lynn Carpenter
(530) 885-1252

Lincoln Highway Association
Bob Dieterich
bobd@iname.com lincolnhwy.org

Lincoln Area Archives Museum
Elizabeth Jansen, (916) 645-3800
laamca.org

Joss House Museum and Chinese History Center
Richard Yue, (530) 346-7121

Loomis Basin Historical Society
Karen Clifford, (916) 663-3871
ppgn.com/loomishistorical.html

Roseville Fire Museum
Jim Giblin
JGiblin@roseville.ca.us, rosevillefiremuseum.org

Maidu Museum & Historic Site
Glenie Strome, (916) 782-3299
roseville.ca.us/indianmuseum

Native Sons of the Golden West, Parlor #59
Dave Allen, (530) 878-2878
dsallen59@sbcglobal.net

Newcastle Portuguese Hall Association
Mario Farinha, (530) 269-2412

Golden Drift Historical Society
Jim Ricker, (530) 389-8344

Newcastle Portuguese Hall Association
Aileen Gage (530) 885-9113

Placer County Historical Society
April McDonald-Loomis, (530) 823-2128
April400@wavecable.com

Placer County Museums Docent Guild
Tom Innes, (530) 888-8969

Rocklin Historical Society
Hank Lohse, President (916) 624-3464
rocklinhistory.org

Roseville Historical Society
Christina Richter, (916) 773-3003
rosevillehistorical.org

North Lake Tahoe Historical Society
Marnie Carr, (530) 583-1762
northtahoemuseums.org

Placer County Genealogical Society,
Toni Rosasco, (530) 888-8036
pcgs.pcgenes.com