Judging from the success and popularity of the “Hollywood Costume” exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts last fall (curated by the Victoria & Albert Museum in England), the history of costume and fashion is still a big draw for museum visitors.
Read MoreIn 1991, the Lynchburg Museum received a donation from Lynchburg City Schools consisting of turn of the twentieth century documents and photographs. Chosen from that collection, is a ledger book entitled Graduates Colored High School, Lynchburg 1905-1925. Listed, in perfect script, are the names of students in each year’s graduating class, class mottoes, and later job occupations, marriages, and/or deaths.
Read MoreWorking at the Lynchburg Museum can be a lot like Christmas. When the Curator and staff are tracking down items for exhibits, they may open a box and become distracted by other artifacts.
Read MoreThe term “Dimestore” comes from the most common place a little boy could buy his toy soldiers – the “Five and Dime” store. The average price of the items in their bins was either a nickel or a dime. At its height, Barclay was manufacturing half a million toys a WEEK!
Read MoreThe above ashtray belonged to Lynchburg resident John G. White, who served in Holland. What may actually look like a useful souvenir actually symbolizes two significant things: the genre of trench art in art history, which can be highly collectible, and even more so, the historical event to which the artifact is linked.
Read MoreBelonging to Walter A. Shaw, this embalming kit (ca. 1918) was used by the Diuguid Funeral Service, Lynchburg’s oldest surviving business and the second oldest funeral home in the country.
Read MoreWith yellow school buses all over town, it is clear that school is back in session. September seemed like a perfect month for sharing several classroom items from our collection: a rubber stamp set from 1932, a play program from 1929, and a report card from 1883.
Read Moren 1781, five years before Lynchburg became a town along the banks of the James River, this bottle came to rest at the bottom of the York River as a kind of sunken treasure from the American Revolution. The original ledger of the Lynchburg Historical Society (predecessor of today’s Lynchburg Museum System)
Read MoreWe wanted to focus in on some of the clippings featured on our fan. There are so many interesting ones, but here are just a few . . .
Read MoreUpon discovering this mysterious piece in our collection with no note of its origin, we wondered what this eye-catching fan could be telling us about the past. At first glance, you might think that this fan is an eclectic female accessory, but we have found that it is more likely the work of a hobbyist, displaying clippings of personal memories and connections as well some that may simply have suited the collector's fancy.
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