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Manners and Customs Collection, 1814-2014

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Oregon Historical Society
Title
Manners and Customs Collection
Dates
1814-2014 (inclusive)
1880-1960 (bulk)
Quantity
40.2 cubic feet, (55 document cases, 7 card file boxes, 33 flat boxes, 16 custom boxes, 4 oversize folders)
Collection Number
Mss 1522
Summary
Collection created by the Oregon Historical Society containing ephemera related to social life and customs, primarily in Oregon and Portland. Includes autograph books; calendars; invitations; greeting cards of all kinds; personal scrapbooks; and materials relating to exhibitions, expositions, celebrations, holidays, special events, sports, weddings, and patriotism. Most of the materials date from circa 1880-1970, with special emphasis on the early 20th century.
Repository
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Historical Note

Since its founding in 1898, the Oregon Historical Society has collected ephemera of all kinds, most of it documenting the history of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. Around the mid-20th century, librarians at the Society began organizing these materials into what became known as "Topical Collections" formed around particular subjects, such as business and education. One such collection, "Manners and Customs," served as a catch-all for items related to social life and customs -- e.g., marriage, courtship, home, family, and civic celebrations. Often materials from other collections -- such as greeting cards -- were separated from the original sources and added to the Manners and Customs Collection. Although this practice has since been discontinued, some materials are still filed in Manners and Customs if they come from accessions composed primarily of unrelated ephemera items.

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Content Description

The Manners and Customs Collection consists of ephemera items relating to social life and customs, primarily in Oregon and Portland. Topics include celebrations, child rearing, civic events, cooking, death, fashion, holidays, home life, exhibitions, expositions, fairs, patriotism, recreation, and sports. Materials range widely in format and include advertisements, announcements, autograph albums, calendars, cook books, greeting cards, invitations, postcards, programs, and scrapbooks. Most materials date from circa 1880 to 1970, but best represented are the decades of the early 20th century.

Of special interest is a large collection of scrapbooks, most dating from the late 19th and early 20th century. These include all manner of memorabilia, including dance cards, calling cards, programs, photographs, invitations, post cards, and dried flowers. Also of note is an extensive collection of postcards and other greeting cards for a variety of holidays, most dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries; and a substantial group of personal autograph albums from the period. Among the sports materials are daily programs for the Xth Olympic Games in Los Angeles, 1932.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The Oregon Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library prior to any use of reproductions. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use of reproductions may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright holders.

Preferred Citation

Manners and customs collection, Mss 1522, Oregon Historical Society Research Library

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in the following series:

  • Series A: Almanacs, 1814-1967
  • Series B: Amusements, celebrations, and entertainments, 1841-2013
  • Series C: Autograph albums, 1857-1965
  • Series D: Calendars, 1880-2014
  • Series E: Children, family, and health, 1847-1986
  • Series F: Cookbooks, 1872-1988
  • Series G: Exhibitions, expositions, and fairs, 1873-2004
  • Series H: Greeting cards, calling cards, and other cards, circa 1880-2009
  • Series I: Patriotic and citizenship materials, circa 1888-1992
  • Series J: Scrapbooks, 1849-1977
  • Series K: Sports, circa 1888-2013
  • Series L: Weddings, 1850-1990
  • Series M: General materials, 1859-2012

Acquisition Information

The collection was assembled from a wide variety of sources by the Oregon Historical Society. Provenance can be traced from accession numbers on individual items.

Future Additions

Additional materials are added to the collection from time to time.

Processing Note

The collection was completely reprocessed and reboxed in 2009.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Due to the varying sizes of the materials, the numeric sequence of boxes is interrupted by entries for various oversize boxes. These boxes are coded thus:

  • "OSA": Oversize box, A size (smallest)
  • "OSB": Oversize box, B size
  • "OSC": Oversize box, C size
  • "OSD": Oversize box, D size
  • "OSE": Oversize box, E size
  • "OSF": Oversize folder, stored in flat file drawers
  • "CB": Custom-made box
  • "CF": Card file box
All other boxes are standard document cases.

When adding to this collection in the future, additional boxes of appropriate size may be added to the end of each size sequence.

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Almanacs
  • Children
  • Cookery, American
  • Exhibitions--Oregon--Portland
  • Exhibitions--United States
  • Family life
  • Health
  • Olympic Games
  • Olympic Games (10th : 1932 : Los Angeles, Calif.)
  • Patriotism
  • Sports--Oregon
  • Weddings
  • Women

Geographical Names

  • Oregon--Social life and customs.
  • Portland (Or.)--Social life and customs.

Form or Genre Terms

  • Autograph albums
  • Catalogs
  • Certificates
  • Clippings
  • Dance cards
  • Diplomas
  • Greeting cards
  • Letters (correspondence)
  • Photographs
  • Postcards
  • Printed ephemera
  • Programs
  • Scrapbooks
  • Visiting cards

Finding aid prepared by Geoffrey B. Wexler
2009

CC0

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