Categories: Collections, Curator's Cache, Gazette
Originally appeared in the Fall/Winter 2020 Gazette by Meagan McChesney, PhD This year’s successful Virtual Gala featured several of the unique hats housed in the Winnetka Historical Society’s offsite Costume Collection. While notable in their own right for their beautiful designs and detailing, collecting images of these hats led me to wonder about the people […]
Categories: Collections, Learn, Online Exhibits, Photo Galleries
Winnetka Fire Department patch and fire engine instruction booklet for a 1919 fire engine. This engine was purchased when George Houren became the first professional fire chief of Winnetka. The Hubbard Woods (Lakeside) fire department in 1900, situated at the Southwest corner of Green Bay Road (Linden) and Scott Ave. “Lakeside Hose Company” is written […]
Categories: Collections
Categories: Collections, Online Exhibits
What do Walt Disney and Winnetka have in common? John Nash Ott! Dr. Ott, who was a native Winnetkan for many decades, was a talented photographer, cinematographer, botanist and inventor. He is credited with developing the process we know today as time-lapse photography, and spent decades studying light and its effects on plant growth […]
Categories: Collections
The Lakeside Fire Department practicing pulling the fire hose. The first paid fireman in Winnetka was Fred W. Schwall, hired in 1909, who also served as the town’s first paid policeman. Prior to 1909, the Village relied on volunteer firemen who had dress uniforms allowing them to look very professional, even if they did face […]
Categories: Collections, Gazette, News
by Siera H. Erazo WHS is actively collecting objects, costumes (clothing), personal papers, corporate archives, original photographs, original blueprints, and other items that directly relate to developing a better understanding of the story of Winnetka and its residents. To donate an item(s), please contact the curator by calling 847-446-0001 or by emailing curator@winnetkahistory.org. After we […]
Categories: Collections, Curator's Cache, Online Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it, you’ll be the grandest lady in the Easter Parade…” so sang Fred Astaire and many others in the popular song, but having a new hat in the latest fashion has been around for a long time. The Winnetka ladies who wore these hats when they […]
Categories: Collections, Curator's Cache, Online Exhibits, Past Exhibits
Valentine’s Day Cards, c.1880. Winnetkan Susan Garland received these cards sometime in the 1880s. While valentines were still sent to romantic loves, in the 1800s, people began to send greetings to a larger circle of loved ones or friends. Victorian valentines were often hand-decorated with ribbon, lace, or sometimes feathers and real plants and flowers. These valentines […]
Categories: Collections, Curator's Cache, Online Exhibits, Past Exhibits
Christmas tree hat, 1965. Gift of Eleanor Tippens. Velvet and white fur hat and stole, 1897. Gift of Frances Drummer Logan. Beaver fur top hat, c. 1930. Gift of Elizabeth Knode Greeley. The Winnetka Historical Society has approximately 800 hats in our collection. Because they are rarely seen, we thought it would be fun to […]
Categories: Collections, Curator's Cache, Online Exhibits
For November’s Curator’s Cache we feature this exquisite deep burgundy velvet suit, c. 1883. It was selected as a companion to Silhouette: An Intimate History of Undergarments because it features a great deal of superstructure in order to create the outline. This would have been considered a visiting costume and would have been worn by a wealthy […]
