Northern California Fires from space, July 6, 2008 NASA image Someone recently contacted the Kelley House Museum to ask if there had been any major wildfires right along the Mendocino Coast. Docents checked resources and talked to old-timers and all we could come up with was the 1931 Comptche Fire, about 15 miles inland, and the 2008 Mendocino Lightning Complex Fire that burnt from the Elk [...]
The Preston house and property with snow. The small building to the right ofthe unidentified man is the Preston carriage house, which became the ArtCenter gallery. 1932 Everyone likes to talk about the weather and the archives of the Kelley House include a fat folder labeled "Weather." Here we look at storms and rain, though there is enough material to write a whole article JUST on [...]
One hundred years ago today, on February 14, 1919, the Mendocino Study Club held a special evening meeting to celebrate both the triumph of Cupid and the end of World War I. The armistice with Germany had been signed November 11, 1918, and the Paris Peace Conference had begun on January 18, 1919, so the Study Club event was timely. Almost three million American men had [...]
Mendocino shoemaker Jason Clapp will demonstrate the age-old art of making shoes from scratch, Sunday afternoon, February 10 from 4-5PM. He will also offer tips and tricks for maintaining a healthy relationship between your feet and footwear. Jason Clapp, owner Mendocino Shoeworks Some of the common repair services are new soles and heels, rip and seam repairs, stretching and therapeutic alterations. Shoe spa service including deep [...]
Ad for "The Trilby Shoe", circa 1900 Putting together the clothing exhibit “Form & Function of Fashion: The Way We Wore,” now showing at the Kelley House Museum through March 18th, I was able to learn a lot about things I typically don’t think too much about. For instance, our lovely women’s hats, gloves and fans were once viewed as absolutely essential if you were to [...]
For genealogists and researchers, diaries can be very enlightening sources for family history and insightful of the character and personality of the diarist. One of the problems, however, is that not many who kept a diary were particularly insightful, often relating too much about the weather or letters they wrote, and very few details of interesting events. Perhaps the main problem with diaries is that there [...]