About this collection
- Digital photograph of printed linen dress. Lua Carey Cooper wore this dress in Xenia, Ohio when she was about four or five years old, just after the Civil War. Her father, Hugh Carey, worked as a real estate agent and notary public on bustling Detroit Street, where Lua and her family could have shopped for millinery and dress goods. As a young woman, she helped organize her local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1894, and thereafter served as secretary.
- Digital photograph of dress made of roller-printed cotton. This garment, printed with James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur, is extremely rare and was likely made specifically for the 1880 presidential election. Oral history ties the dress to a family in South Milford, Indiana, and the wearer could have traveled to Ohio to see the candidates. The 1880 presidential campaign was referred to as the “front porch campaign.” Instead of traveling across the country, Garfield remained at his home in Mentor, Ohio and the Republican Party arranged for trains to bring thousands of people to hear him speak.
- Digital photograph of dress on screen-printed paper. After the Scott Paper Company created the first paper dress as part of a promotional campaign, other designers began to experiment with disposable fashion. The two-dimensional form served as the perfect surface for printing images like this one. The temporary nature of the garment makes perfect sense for clothing that would only be worn briefly. George Romney served as the governor of Michigan before unsuccessfully running for President in 1968.
- “I Like Ike” Skirt, ca. 1952 Juli Lynne Charlot, California Digital photograph of dress made of cotton with felt applique. Clevelander Michaeline Hicks Maschke wore this skirt during Eisenhower’s campaign in 1952. Her father-in-law, Maurice Maschke, was the leader of the Cuyahoga County Republican Party until 1933 and had served as the Customs Inspector under President Taft. Singer and actress fashion designer Juli Lynne Charlot began designing this and other circle skirts after she began making her own clothes to save money.