Collections & Archives
Archives Feature – Trolleys in Pasadena Since a horse drawn wagon carried the first electric interurban trolley car up Fair Oaks Avenue into Pasadena in 1895, and well after the…
Grayson Arts, the firm which created artisan ceramics for the bath and home, was founded by husband and wife team John “Gail” and Helen Lee Grayson. Begun as a hobby…
In comments about the tilemaker, Robert Winter, PhD has noted that Batchelder wrote two books on design and illustrated them with his own drawings. He was an expert in design…
Batchelder tiles inspired Cha-Rie’s tile career. According to a 2013 article in the Pasadena Star-News, Cha-Rie “owns one of the largest collections of Batchelder molds in the country” and “has…
Among the more than 10,000 objects in the Pasadena Museum of History’s collection is a silver-mounted vase donated by the Estate of Mary M. Pearson. The ceramic vase is adorned…
The Arroyo Seco Parkway was officially dedicated on Dec. 30, 1940 and opened to the public the next day — just in time to handle the crowd of motorists traveling…
From house dresses to haute couture, women in the 1950s used their sewing skills to create smart wardrobes that reflected fashion influences from Paris to Hollywood. Renowned designers such as…
PMH maintains the area’s largest and most complete photographic archives of Pasadena and its environs, numbering an estimated one million photographic images. Staff, interns, and volunteers work tirelessly to catalog,…
How did these fabulous fashions find their way into women’s wardrobes? The evolution of dressmaking and sewing skills over the decades reflected women’s changing roles as did the fashions they…
As common as pants are in our wardrobes today, it was scandalous for women to appear in them just over 100 years ago. The trend toward trousers began during the…