Name/Title
Sailor Suit Clothespin Bag, 1930s-1940sEntry/Object ID
2024.63.1Description
Acc. No. 24.63.1
Subject Category: Textile, Crafts
Date or Period: 1930s-1940s
Object: Clothespin Bag
Description: A handmade fabric bag, with upper section of blue and lower section of red, with white fabric appliqués, accent stitching, and 2 small and 3 (a fourth is missing) larger mother-of-pearl (artificial or real) buttons. The upper section has a slit on one side. A straight, unpainted, unvarnished wooden dowel is sewn in at the top, and has a small metal hook in the center.
Size: L 13 by W 10 inches (approximately)
History of Object: Clothespin Bag made to resemble a boy's sailor outfit with red shorts with white 'pockets' and blue short-sleeved top with partially stitched, partially applied fabric sailor collar. Possibly made after a common pattern, bags like this could be sewn from scrap fabric, and often resembled a dress or - as in this case - a child's outfit. The bag would be hung on a clothesline to have the pins handy while the laundry was getting pinned up.
The bag was part of an anonymous donation of linens for the gift shop by an Alameda resident.
Donation Date: summer 2024
Donor: unknown (anonymous)
Catalog Date: 9/20/2024
