Histories & Mysteries Blog

By Amy Stephens The Edmond History Museum is home to a varied collection of wedding dresses. Some are on display in the 2023 exhibit, Unveiled: Edmond’s Bridal Fashion 1875-2020. The range of styles is extreme: a beaded, princess-style gown, a flouncy Gibson Girl dress (think early Coca Cola advertising), a classic A-line of ivory satin.… Read more: The Style and Storage of Wedding Dresses

Leon Kobrowski was born January 18, 1914 in Minsk, Russia, today part of Belarus. As a member of the Jewish community he was confined to the Marcinkance (Poland) Ghetto in 1941. The creation of these segregated areas, known as Ghettos, enabled the Nazis to systematically deport Jewish people and others confined to the ghettos to… Read more: The Franks: Edmond’s First Holocaust Survivors

Merry Masked ZOOM Christmas! We all know Christmas 2020 is different. The Covid-19 pandemic has shaken all the pine needles from our tree of holiday tradition. Events are online.Shopping is online.Santa is socially-distanced.Presents are exchanged at arm’s length More poignantly, the way we interact with people has had to change. Seniors are isolated. Grandparents have… Read more: Two Strange Christmases: The Similarities Between 1941 and 2020

I assumed I knew what  V-Mail (Victory Mail) was during World War II—a government-issued stationery on which people could write back and forth overseas. True! But when I pulled two actual pieces of  V-Mail from the archive, I was in for a surprise. One looked like the yellowed hand-written letter I expected. The other was… Read more: The Case of the Shrunken V-Mail

I have great intentions of shopping with coupons at the grocery store.  Not only did my mom teach me to coupon shop, I have a fancy accordion-style coupon file that I can take to the store.  Do I ever remember to take my coupon file?  No. Do I take the time to clip coupons to… Read more: How War Rationing Changed Grocery Shopping

This radio talked for 50 years. From its speaker, the history of our country unfolded. Mary and Ed Boydston, an Edmond family, purchased the Airline tabletop radio from the Montgomery Ward’s catalog in 1938 and actively listened to it for their entire married life.  The Boydstons undoubtedly listened to World War II broadcasts. All Americans… Read more: If This Radio Could Talk: Pearl Harbor Day

By: Allison Pittman Hello readers! My name is Allison Pittman and I am the intern at the Edmond History museum. This semester I have the great pleasure of learning about exhibit planning from Amy Stephens and I couldn’t be more excited! Over the summer I watched as Amy brought the Edmond WWII: Housewives on the… Read more: WWII in the Modern Age: Helping Kids Relate

I’m an average cook. Pity my poor family, who suffered through those early trial-and-error meals. Despite my best intentions, I served a variety of overcooked, bland, or oddly-textured casseroles. No one asked for seconds. Fortunately for them, I’m past the experimental stage and have a solid repertoire of decent meals.    Now that I’m a more… Read more: WWII Food: The Tasteless Palate

Some people just love history. Some people don’t. Or think they don’t. Obviously, I’m one who loves history.  I was fortunate to have good history teachers (even the coaches), and my large family always had a good sense of their roots.  Now, I’m working hard at developing museum exhibits that I hope are relevant and… Read more: Why Care About History?

Aaa-choo…  I’ll be keeping a box of tissue handy this fall and winter—because this museum is about to get dusty!  Normally, museums strive to achieve a dust-free environment, which prevents damage to artifacts. This is no easy feat in a historic building made of sandstone, and one of the reasons our interior walls are painted… Read more: Here Comes the Dust: Museum Renovation 101

“Awesome photo! I wonder who it is?” Any museum professional or family historian understands how tragic it is to stare at an amazing old photo—and have no clue as to its identify, date or location. The photo was taken for a reason, but the reason is lost forever. So, I beg you to PLEASE, take… Read more: 5 Tips for Photo Labeling (Before They Become Tragically Unidentified)!

I’m an 80’s girl. I grew up in the era of big hair, leg warmers, and Whitney Houston. Unlike my teen peers, I had an unusual interest in the “oldies.” I thought it was fun to watch black-and-white movies and read old books. But listening to Old Time Radio shows became the habit that has… Read more: Top 6 Reasons to Listen to Old Time Radio Shows

As of 2018, Edmond has proof of 130 Christmas seasons under her belt. Here’s our list of Top 5 Holly Jolly historical treasures from the vault at the Edmond History Museum & Museum. #5 FIRST CHRISTMAS TREE PHOTO Look close and you can see Edmond’s very first Christmas tree, a black oak covered with cotton,… Read more: 5 Holly Jolly Christmas Artifacts

I’ve always loved photography and it’s been a hobby of mine on and off since I graduated from high school. I love researching all the cameras and photography-related artifacts in the museum’s collection. Since one of our upcoming exhibits is on cameras and photography in Edmond, I wanted to take some time to highlight one of… Read more: The Cool and Quirky Kodak Camera

What caused the town of Edmond to form? (answers at bottom) The West Edmond Oil Boom Santa Fe Railroad 1889 Land Run Settlement 2. What was the first structure built on the prairie of “future Edmond” in 1887? Water and Coal Station Sod House Territorial Schoolhouse 3. Where did the name Edmond come from? John… Read more: Do You Know How Edmond Started Quiz

By Amy Dee Stephens We all have iconic Gatsby images in our mind about the 1920s—the drinking, the partying, the jazz, the rebellion. NOT in Edmond. By American standards, Edmond was squeaky clean. The town was openly supportive of prohibition. The college students, all training to be school teachers, mostly kept themselves out of trouble… Read more: Ain’t We Got Fun? The Edmond Version of the 1920s

One of my favorite artifacts in the entire collection, not just the Snapshots exhibit, is a Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera from 1974. Although Polaroid’s “instant” cameras had been around since 1948, the first truly “one-step, instant” camera wasn’t a reality until the SX-70 was released in 1972. Until the SX-70, Polaroid instant cameras required the… Read more: Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera

By Brandy Smith Hello, everyone! Just your friendly neighborhood intern here.  As a full-time UCO student, the homework can be monstrous, especially on my old laptop which is big, bulky, and has keys that no longer work. I’m sure many other students can relate, but as bad as we have it, imagine doing your homework… Read more: Typewriters: Underwood and Remington

I’ve never seen a ghost in the Edmond History Museum & Museum–but I haven’t ruled it out.  The 1936 National Guard armory that houses the museum is ripe for a good ghost story. If These Walls Could Talk In the quiet moments when I’m by myself at the armory, I’m deeply aware of how much… Read more: Why The Edmond Armory Matters