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Clothing Collection

The Cayuga Museum’s collection of clothing and accessories includes women’s, men’s, and children’s clothing, military uniforms, professional and club uniforms, undergarments, and wedding attire and special event wear. Accessories include hats, shoes and handbags.

1932 blue velvet wedding dress

This light blue mottled velvet wedding dress with frill sleeves and detachable sash was worn by Marian M. Morgan when she married James D. Sproull on October 1, 1932 at the First Baptist Church in Auburn. The label reads: “W. I. Addis Co, Syracuse NY." Born in 1911, Marian was the daughter of former Cayuga County Sheriff Earl J. Morgan. She graduated from Auburn Academic High School and Keuka College and was employed with the Beacon Milling Company. She passed away in 2010 at the age of 99 and is buried in Union Springs. The W. I. Addis Co. department store was located at 449 South Salina Street in downtown Syracuse, NY. Designed by Syracuse architect Fred B. O'Connor, the upscale department store opened on February 6, 1929, with three times the space of the Addis store it replaced just a block away.

Judge Edgar Mosher’s childhood outfit

Edgar S. Mosher was born in 1878. He attended Auburn High School and graduated Cornell Law School in 1902. Mosher set up a practice in Auburn and became a member of the Cayuga County Bar Association. He served as Auburn City Judge from 1912-1920 and Cayuga County Judge from 1922-1925. During his time as City Judge, Mosher helped establish a special Children’s Court in which to hear cases involving children. His daughter Esther Mosher, who earned degrees in math and law, began working for him in his law firm in the late 1920s.

Jessie Segoine pre-Civil War uniform

Jesse Segoine of Auburn wore this uniform beginning in 1853, when Governor Horatio Seymour commissioned him as Brigadier-General of the Militia, 23rd Brigade. The navy wool coat is known as a frock coat and was first issued to U.S. army officers in 1846. The leather bag attached to the baldric, or belt, worn over the shoulder would have been used to store documents. Nine years later, in 1862, Segoine would help to establish the 111th infantry regiment for the Union in the Civil War by recruiting in Cayuga and Wayne counties.

Enna Jetticks

Enna Jetticks were a line of affordable and fashionable shoes from the Dunn & McCarthy Shoe Co. Dunn & McCarthy was formed in 1886 by John Dunn and Charles McCarthy. Dunn had been in the shoe manufacturing business in Auburn since 1821, when he oversaw the J.E. Fenton Company’s prison shoe shop contracts. In 1886, he partnered with McCarthy, a Newport NY native who had entered into the shoe business after he graduated high school. Together, they formed Dunn & McCarthy to manufacture womens shoes. The Enna Jettick line was conceived by Fred Light Emerson in 1926. The catchy play on words (Enna Jettick = energetic) and a sophisticated marketing campaign which brought advertisements to every national women’s magazine helped make the Enna Jetticks an extremely popular shoe.

Ladies Hat

Once a common accessory women wouldn’t have left the home without, hats were hugely popular until the post-WWII era when fewer women chose to wear them. The museum holds a large collection of men’s and women's headwear dating from the mid 1800s to the mid 1900s. This hat belonged to the Giacolone sisters, who were known to match their Sunday suits and dresses to their hats for church during the 1950s and 1960s.

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