Editorial fashion from 1918. These are meant as examples and are from the book “Costume Design and Illustration” which was written by Ethel Traphagen. There are more of these but these are, I think, the most charming. Well the Paquin one (the first) with what was no doubt the head of one of the big cats as the whiskers and eyes have been kept along with the ears. So not exactly charming but still it’s Paquin so worth a look.

LES COLCHIQUES. Manteau de voyage de Paquin. From a 1913 color illustration by G. (George) Barbier. Courtesy of Vogue, New York Representatives of the Gazette du Bon Ton. Page 93 of Ethel Traphagen’s Costume Design and Illustration. Published in New York in 1918 by John Wiley and Sons, Inc and by Chapman and Hall in London. Its open library but Ms. Traphagen died in 1961 so it should still be under her copyright. Fair use license. via https://archive.org/details/costumedesignill0000ethe/page/n93/mode/1up
Frontispiece. Page 9 of Ethel Traphagen’s Costume Design and Illustration. Published in New York in 1918 by John Wiley and Sons, Inc and by Chapman and Hall in London. Its open library but Ms. Traphagen died in 1961 so it should still be under her copyright. Fair use license. via https://archive.org/details/costumedesignill0000ethe/page/n9/mode/1up
Figure 22. Modern fashions by Helen Dryden which show influence of Kate Greenaway. Courtesy of Vogue. Page 16 Image 35 of Ethel Traphagen’s Costume Design and Illustration. Published in New York in 1918 by John Wiley and Sons, Inc and by Chapman and Hall in London. Its open library but Ms. Traphagen died in 1961 so it should still be under her copyright. Fair use license. via https://archive.org/details/costumedesignill0000ethe/page/n35/mode/1up
Figure 97. Editorial magazine fashion work in which color Ben Day is used. Drawing by Reta Singer. Courtesy of Good Housekeeping. Page 64 Image 85 of Ethel Traphagen’s Costume Design and Illustration. Published in New York in 1918 by John Wiley and Sons, Inc and by Chapman and Hall in London. Its open library but Ms. Traphagen died in 1961 so it should still be under her copyright. Fair use license. via https://archive.org/details/costumedesignill0000ethe/page/n85/mode/1up
Drawn by Robert Henry for Félix Jungmann and Cie, Paris. Image 92 of Ethel Traphagen’s Costume Design and Illustration. Published in New York in 1918 by John Wiley and Sons, Inc and by Chapman and Hall in London. Its open library but Ms. Traphagen died in 1961 so it should still be under her copyright. Fair use license. via https://archive.org/details/costumedesignill0000ethe/page/n92/mode/1up
From a colored cover design by Brunelleschi. Courtesy of Harpers Bazaar. Image 209 of Ethel Traphagen’s Costume Design and Illustration. Published in New York in 1918 by John Wiley and Sons, Inc and by Chapman and Hall in London. Its open library but Ms. Traphagen died in 1961 so it should still be under her copyright. Fair use license. via https://archive.org/details/costumedesignill0000ethe/page/n209/mode/1up

Looking like you are living it up going on train trips and staying at fancy hotels when you are merely modeling for Loom and Needle which was a fancy women’s dress shop located at 170 Esplanade in Lexington, Kentucky. Images from the University of Kentucky Archives.

Woman standing wearing a hat. Loom and Needle, 170 Esplanade (clothing), Lexington, Kentucky USA. 1944 image. American. Lafayette Studios, photographers. Lafayette Studios Photograph Collection, University of Kentucky. Under copyright. via https://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt7z348gg90h_5_116?q=Loom+%26+Needle%2C+170+Esplanade&per_page=20
At the race track. models standing in front of a billboard posing for an advertisement. Loom and Needle, 170 Esplanade (clothing), Lexington, Kentucky USA. 1941 image. American. Lafayette Studios, photographers. Lafayette Studios Photograph Collection, University of Kentucky. Under copyright. via https://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt7z348gg90h_2_164?q=Loom+%26+Needle%2C+170+Esplanade&offset=20&per_page=20
Going on a train trip. Southern Station; woman standing at ticket counter. Loom and Needle, 170 Esplanade (clothing), Lexington, Kentucky USA. 1943 image. American. Lafayette Studios, photographers. Lafayette Studios Photograph Collection, University of Kentucky. Under copyright. via https://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt7z348gg90h_4_304?q=Loom+%26+Needle%2C+170+Esplanade&offset=20&per_page=20

Off to buy a new pair of dancing slippers and back soon. Being a plus one at a party at the fanciest club in Louisville, Kentucky and that means fancy. Caviar, champagne, a fifty piece dance orchestra . . .

Annual Outing of the Advertising Club of Louisville at the Louisville Boat Club, Louisville, Kentucky, 1929: According to the Friday morning edition of the Courier Journal from September 20th, 1929, this is the annual outing for the Advertising Club of Louisville, which is being hosted at the Louisville Boat Club at 4200 River Road. The planned outline of events as given by the paper says that prior to the dinner they held athletic events and played bridge and that after the dinner there was to be a dance. There is a large table with a tablecloth over it that has plates, cutlery, food, and flowers spread atop it. Sitting around the table are white men and women of various ages dressed in formal party-going attire. There are helium balloons tied to various chairs. There are three African American men standing behind the people sitting at the table. Two of these men are wearing tuxedos standing around what are presumably music stands holding sheet music. The other man is holding a bundle of helium balloons.” September 20, 1929. American. Caufield and Shook, photographers. No known copyright as of 2026. Caufield and Shook Collection, University of Louisville Libraries. https://digital.library.louisville.edu/concern/images/ulpa_cs_104782?locale=en
Crowd of white women and men pack the Club Madrid dance floor. Club Madrid, also referred to as Madrid Ballroom, was located at Third and Guthrie Streets inside the Louisville Recreational Building in Louisville, Kentucky. The club opened in 1929 and featured dancing and live music. It closed in 1952. 1929 image. American. Caufield and Shook, photographers. No known copyright as of 2026. Caufield and Shook Collection, University of Louisville Libraries. https://digital.library.louisville.edu/concern/images/ulpa_cs_104746?locale=en
Club Madrid, Southeast corner Third Street and Guthrie, Louisville, Kentucky: Large crowd of people at tables with white table cloths and on the dance floor in a ballroom. The men wear suits white tuxedos, and the women wear long dresses. An all woman band, likely trumpet player Joy Caylor and “Her Swinging Co-Eds,” is visible on the stage in the background. The ballroom is decorated with painted palm trees on the back wall and ornate chandeliers. May 31 1944 image. American. Royal Photographic Company, photographer. No known copyright as of 2026. University of Louisville Libraries Collection. https://digital.library.louisville.edu/concern/images/ulpa_r_08081_00?locale=en

Heading back to school hoping for loads of fun and a date for every dance. Also straight As. Imagery from a scrapbook kept by Jewell Genevieve Cooper who was a student at what is now Florida State University. Tallahassee, Florida.

Cow Chorus. Mid-late 1920s. From a scrapbook kept by Jewell Genevieve Cooper who was a student at Florida State College for Women (Florida State University) in Tallahassee, Florida. Florida State University Collections. Photograph itself in the public domain due to age. https://repository.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu:5424
F Club Members. ca. mid 1920s. From a scrapbook kept by Jewell Genevieve Cooper who was a student at Florida State College for Women (Florida State University) in Tallahassee, Florida. Florida State University Collections. Photograph itself in the public domain due to age. https://repository.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu:5315
Students Wearing “Rat Caps” on Sophomore Day. October 1924 image. From a scrapbook kept by Jewell Genevieve Cooper who was a student at Florida State College for Women (Florida State University) in Tallahassee, Florida. Florida State University Collections. Photograph itself in the public domain due to age. https://repository.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu:5266
Student at Camp Flastacowo. ca. 1924-1925. From a scrapbook kept by Jewell Genevieve Cooper who was a student at Florida State College for Women (Florida State University) in Tallahassee, Florida. Florida State University Collections. Photograph itself in the public domain due to age. https://repository.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu%3A5503
Tumbling. ca. 1929-1930. From a scrapbook kept by Jewell Genevieve Cooper who was a student at Florida State College for Women (Florida State University) in Tallahassee, Florida. Florida State University Collections. Photograph itself in the public domain due to age. https://repository.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu:5410
Freshmen Bowing to Sophomores on Sophomore Day. October 1924 image. From a scrapbook kept by Jewell Genevieve Cooper who was a student at Florida State College for Women (Florida State University) in Tallahassee, Florida. Florida State University Collections. Photograph itself in the public domain due to age. https://repository.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu:5273
Louise Bryant and Mary Kinard in a Pose with “Battle” and Jacqueline Hucks In the Background. ca. 1929-1930. From a scrapbook kept by Jewell Genevieve Cooper who was a student at Florida State College for Women (Florida State University) in Tallahassee, Florida. Florida State University Collections. Photograph itself in the public domain due to age. https://repository.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu:5418

Summering at Mount Desert Island. I’ll be back when it starts snowing. Images from the promotional work “Mount Desert Island with Pen and Pencil” which was compiled by Doctor William Berry Lapham (Doctor W. B. Latham). Published in 1886.

Front cover. Image 5 of Mount Desert with pen and pencil. Doctor W. B. Latham, compiler. Published in New York by the Press of Liberty Printing Company in 1886. Collections of the Library of Congress. In the public domain due to age. via the Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/barharbormountde00laph/page/n4/mode/1up
Bar Harbor, Mount Desert, Maine. Page 4, Image 10 of of Mount Desert with pen and pencil. Doctor W. B. Latham, compiler. Published in New York by the Press of Liberty Printing Company in 1886. Collections of the Library of Congress. In the public domain due to age. via the Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/barharbormountde00laph/page/4/mode/1up
Eagle Lake. Page 10, Image 16 of of Mount Desert with pen and pencil. Doctor W. B. Latham, compiler. Published in New York by the Press of Liberty Printing Company in 1886. Collections of the Library of Congress. In the public domain due to age. via the Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/barharbormountde00laph/page/10/mode/1up
Mount Desert from ‘The Bluffs.’ Mount Desert Ferry. Page 12, Image 18 of of Mount Desert with pen and pencil. Doctor W. B. Latham, compiler. Published in New York by the Press of Liberty Printing Company in 1886. Collections of the Library of Congress. In the public domain due to age. via the Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/barharbormountde00laph/page/12/mode/1up
The Ovens. Page 17, Image 23 of of Mount Desert with pen and pencil. Doctor W. B. Latham, compiler. Published in New York by the Press of Liberty Printing Company in 1886. Collections of the Library of Congress. In the public domain due to age. via the Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/barharbormountde00laph/page/17/mode/1up
Mount Desert, Looking up Some’s Sound. The Rand Avery Supply Company (lower left) was a Boston printing company. Page 21, Image 27 of of Mount Desert with pen and pencil. Doctor W. B. Latham, compiler. Published in New York by the Press of Liberty Printing Company in 1886. Collections of the Library of Congress. In the public domain due to age. via the Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/barharbormountde00laph/page/21/mode/1up
Page 49, Image 55 of of Mount Desert with pen and pencil. Doctor W. B. Latham, compiler. Published in New York by the Press of Liberty Printing Company in 1886. Collections of the Library of Congress. In the public domain due to age. via the Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/barharbormountde00laph/page/49/mode/1up

Just like some others I found a different version of this here but it’s a different edition? Not sure what but it has 72 pages not 60

https://www.jamesarsenault.com/pages/books/10003/dr-w-b-lapham-compiler/bar-harbor-and-mount-desert-island

Heading off to college and checking out the viewbooks. If the boys are cute I’m applying. Imagery from the 1898 edition of the Eureka College (Illinois) Souvenir, put out by the Eureka College Aid Association.

BASEBALL TEAM – Chapel Building in Background: Morrow, Eureka, photographers? Page 11 of the 1898 edition of the ‘Eureka College Souvenir‘ which was published by the Eureka College Aid Association and printed by J. W. Franks and Sons of Peoria Illinois. Collections of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/eurekacollegesou00eure/page/11/mode/1up
ON THE ELMWOOD COURT – Tabernacle in Background. Morrow, Eureka, photographers? Page 13 of the 1898 edition of the ‘Eureka College Souvenir‘ which was published by the Eureka College Aid Association and printed by J. W. Franks and Sons of Peoria Illinois. Collections of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/eurekacollegesou00eure/page/13/mode/1up
A CLASS IN THE GYMNASIUM: Morrow, Eureka, photographers? Page 15 of the 1898 edition of the ‘Eureka College Souvenir‘ which was published by the Eureka College Aid Association and printed by J. W. Franks and Sons of Peoria Illinois. Collections of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/eurekacollegesou00eure/page/15/mode/1up
FOOTBALL TEAM: Morrow, Eureka, photographers? Page 17 of the 1898 edition of the ‘Eureka College Souvenir‘ which was published by the Eureka College Aid Association and printed by J. W. Franks and Sons of Peoria Illinois. Collections of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/eurekacollegesou00eure/page/17/mode/1up
TRACK TEAM: Morrow, Eureka, photographers? Page 19 of the 1898 edition of the ‘Eureka College Souvenir‘ which was published by the Eureka College Aid Association and printed by J. W. Franks and Sons of Peoria Illinois. Collections of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In the public domain due to age. https://archive.org/details/eurekacollegesou00eure/page/19/mode/1up
MANDOLIN CLUB: Page 23 of the 1898 edition of the ‘Eureka College Souvenir‘ which was published by the Eureka College Aid Association and printed by J. W. Franks and Sons of Peoria Illinois. Collections of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In the public domain due to age. https://archive.org/details/eurekacollegesou00eure/page/23/mode/1up
A SOCIAL HOUR AT LIDA’S WOOD: Morrow, Eureka, photographers? Page 28 of the 1898 edition of the ‘Eureka College Souvenir‘ which was published by the Eureka College Aid Association and printed by J. W. Franks and Sons of Peoria Illinois. Collections of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In the public domain due to age. https://archive.org/details/eurekacollegesou00eure/page/28/mode/1up
A ROOM OF ONE OF THE GIRLS AT LIDA’S WOOD: Morrow, Eureka, photographers? Page 29 of the 1898 edition of the ‘Eureka College Souvenir‘ which was published by the Eureka College Aid Association and printed by J. W. Franks and Sons of Peoria Illinois. Collections of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In the public domain due to age. https://archive.org/details/eurekacollegesou00eure/page/29/mode/1up
PERICLESIAN HALL: Morrow, Eureka, photographers? Page 35 of the 1898 edition of the ‘Eureka College Souvenir‘ which was published by the Eureka College Aid Association and printed by J. W. Franks and Sons of Peoria Illinois. Collections of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In the public domain due to age. https://archive.org/details/eurekacollegesou00eure/page/35/mode/1up

All dressed up with more tulle petticoats than Vivien Leigh wore in “Gone with the Wind.” Imagery from Southern California’s Coronet Debutante Ball. Various years. From TESSA by way of Calisphere.

Coronet Ball debutantes – Los Angeles: Glamour and glory are all theirs for this one night at least, as the excited Coronet Ball debutantes, in white dresses and 18-button gloves, line up before the coming-out ceremony. American. James Ruebsamen, photographer. Published in the Herald-Examiner newspaper on February 3, 1985. Herald-Examiner Collection, TESSA, the digital collections of the Los Angeles Public Library. Under copyright. https://tessa2.lapl.org/digital/collection/photos/id/28371/rec/1
Debutantes prepare for Coronet Ball: to be presented – Among the 32 young women who will be presented to Southland society at the Coronet Debutante Ball are from left, Susan Knaggs, Judith Kent, Joyce Canaday, Adrienne Meehan and Randalla Richardson. American. Photographer not given but photographed for the Valley Times newspaper where it was published on November 7, 1960. Valley Times Photograph Collection, TESSA, the digital collections of the Los Angeles Public Library. Under copyright. https://tessa2.lapl.org/digital/collection/photos/id/66447/rec/2
Coronet Ball debutantes: Dolled-up debutantes, top, cluster in nervous groups to await their presentation Saturday at the 38th annual Coronet Debutante Ball. The traditional blast was held at the Beverly Hilton, and a whopping 37 debs celebrated their coming out. Their dapper escorts ditched the highfalutin togs after midnight and all watoosied until 3 in the morning. American. Photographed for the Herald-Examiner newspaper where it was published on December 2, 1986. Herald-Examiner Collection, TESSA, the digital collections of the Los Angeles Public Library. Under copyright. https://tessa2.lapl.org/digital/collection/photos/id/28370/rec/4
Coronet tea announces 32: Coronet dreaming – Holding replica of symbolic coronet and dreaming of November’s presentation ball are five Valley 1960 Coronet Debutantes of National Charity League of Los Angeles, Misses Randalla Richardson, Joyce Meehan, Joyce Canaday, Judith Kent and Susan Knaggs, from left. Names were announced at afternoon Bel-Air tea yesterday. American. Photographer not given but photographed for the Valley Times newspaper where it was published on August 31, 1960. Valley Times Photograph Collection, TESSA, the digital collections of the Los Angeles Public Library. Under copyright. https://tessa2.lapl.org/digital/collection/photos/id/66446/rec/8

Imagery of an American West that isn’t coming back. Taken from the 1858 work “Diary of a Journey from the Mississippi to the Coasts of the Pacific With a United States Government Expedition.” Volumes I and II. Balduin Möllhausen, artist.

Zúni, New Mexico. Balduin Möllhausen, artist. Hanhart, chromolithographers. Page 119 of the 1858 work Diary of a Journey from the Mississippi to the Coasts of the Pacific With a United States Government Expedition. Volume II, published in London in English by Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans and Roberts. Balduin Möllhausen, artist and author. Contributed by the Museum Victoria, it is also in the collections of the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Artwork in the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/Diaryjourneyfro11Moll/page/n118/mode/1up
San Francisco Mountains Extinct Volcanoes: New Mexico. Page 176 of the 1858 work Diary of a Journey from the Mississippi to the Coasts of the Pacific With a United States Government Expedition. Volume II, published in London in English by Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans and Roberts. Balduin Möllhausen, artist and author. Contributed by the Museum Victoria, it is also in the collections of the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Artwork in the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/Diaryjourneyfro11Moll/page/n176/mode/1up
The Colorado River. Page 269 of the 1858 work Diary of a Journey from the Mississippi to the Coasts of the Pacific With a United States Government Expedition. Volume II, published in London in English by Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans and Roberts. Balduin Möllhausen, artist and author. Contributed by the Museum Victoria, it is also in the collections of the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Artwork in the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/Diaryjourneyfro11Moll/page/n269/mode/1up
Dwellings of the Natives of the Rio Colorado of the West. Balduin Möllhausen, artist. Hanhart, chromolithographers. Page 296 of the 1858 work Diary of a Journey from the Mississippi to the Coasts of the Pacific With a United States Government Expedition. Volume II, published in London in English by Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans and Roberts. Balduin Möllhausen, artist and author. Contributed by the Museum Victoria, it is also in the collections of the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Artwork in the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/Diaryjourneyfro11Moll/page/n296/mode/1up
Sandstone Formation in the Prairie Northwest of Texas. Balduin Möllhausen, artist. Hanhart, chromolithographers. Page 172 of the 1858 work Diary of a Journey from the Mississippi to the Coasts of the Pacific With a United States Government Expedition. Volume I, published in London in English by Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans and Roberts. Balduin Möllhausen, artist and author. Contributed by the Museum Victoria, it is also in the collections of the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Artwork in the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/DiaryjourneyfroVolIMoll/page/n172/mode/1up
Camp of the Kioway Indians. Balduin Möllhausen, artist. Hanhart, chromolithographers. Page 250 of the 1858 work Diary of a Journey from the Mississippi to the Coasts of the Pacific With a United States Government Expedition. Volume I, published in London in English by Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans and Roberts. Balduin Möllhausen, artist and author. Contributed by the Museum Victoria, it is also in the collections of the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Artwork in the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/DiaryjourneyfroVolIMoll/page/n250/mode/1up
Chiefs of the Ottoe Tribe. Balduin Möllhausen, artist. Hanhart, chromolithographers. Page 288 of the 1858 work Diary of a Journey from the Mississippi to the Coasts of the Pacific With a United States Government Expedition. Volume I, published in London in English by Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans and Roberts. Balduin Möllhausen, artist and author. Contributed by the Museum Victoria, it is also in the collections of the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Artwork in the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/DiaryjourneyfroVolIMoll/page/n288/mode/1up
Church in the Pueblo of Santo Domingo: New Mexico. Page 378 of the 1858 work Diary of a Journey from the Mississippi to the Coasts of the Pacific With a United States Government Expedition. Volume I, published in London in English by Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans and Roberts. Balduin Möllhausen, artist and author. Contributed by the Museum Victoria, it is also in the collections of the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Artwork in the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/DiaryjourneyfroVolIMoll/page/n378/mode/1up

As with so many of these, they would have chromolithographs or other types of prints done up to sell after the expedition ended. Sometimes they would then turn the prints into a book. Sometimes not. Some of these are in the New York Public Library collections but these images are from the Internet Archive who appear to have more of them. The expedition itself was in 1853.

Heading downtown and sneaking into Macys after they close for a night of being fashionable with the latest colors in duvets and carpets. Images of model and or staged Florida apartments photographed around 1980 in Winter Park, Florida by commercial photographer George “Skip” Gandy IV. In his archives at the University of South Florida.

Pink Carpeted Room with Blue and Purple Decor, C: A staged bedroom with pink carpet and blue and purple decor. Winter Park, Orange County, Florida USA. Image ca. 1980. American. George “Skip” Gandy IV, photographer. Image © Estate of the photographer. Gandy Commercial and Aerial Photography Collection, Digital Commons at the University of South Florida. Fair use licence. https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/gandy_commercial/2140/
Kitchen with White Cabinets, Calibre Bend Apartments, A: staged kitchen with white cabinets and a vintage stove. Winter Park, Orange County, Florida USA. Image ca. 1980. American. George “Skip” Gandy IV, photographer. Image © Estate of the photographer. Gandy Commercial and Aerial Photography Collection, Digital Commons at the University of South Florida. Fair use licence. https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/gandy_commercial/2141/
Model Apartment Living Room with Plants: staged living room that is decorated with plants, two white couches, and a pass through window into the kitchen. Winter Park, Orange County, Florida USA. Image ca. 1980. American. George “Skip” Gandy IV, photographer. Image © Estate of the photographer. Gandy Commercial and Aerial Photography Collection, Digital Commons at the University of South Florida. Fair use licence. https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/gandy_commercial/2132/
Bedroom with Blue Carpet and Blue Bedspread: bedroom with blue carpet and a blue bed with two matching white side tables as well as access to an outdoor porch.Winter Park, Orange County, Florida USA. Image ca. 1980. American. George “Skip” Gandy IV, photographer. Image © Estate of the photographer. Gandy Commercial and Aerial Photography Collection, Digital Commons at the University of South Florida. Fair use licence. https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/gandy_commercial/2133/

Keywords

Oh to be queen of the county fair and get to lead an exotic life without packing your bags and going through all those lines at the airport. Imagery of the Kendall County Fair queen for a year found in the archives of the Patrick Heath Public Library in Boerne, Texas.

County Fair Queen and Court: Kendall County Fair queen MayDelle Ratliff seated in the center of a stage and court members grouped on either side, with women seated and men standing behind. The photo is taken from the aisle and seated audience members are visible on either side. Image ca. 1954-1959. American. Friedrich “Fred” Gustav Hillmann/Hillmann Studio, photographer. Hillmann Studio Photography Collection, Patrick Heath Public Library. via The Portal to Texas History. https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1560428/?q=fair
County Fair Queen Coronation: Kendall County Fair queen MayDelle Ratliff, seated beneath a canopy as another woman leans over her left side to place a tiara on her head. A young girl is standing on the left side of the image, and on the right side, a young boy is standing near Ratliff and another woman is seated with her escort standing behind her. Image ca. 1954-1959. American. Friedrich “Fred” Gustav Hillmann/Hillmann Studio, photographer. Hillmann Studio Photography Collection, Patrick Heath Public Library. via The Portal to Texas History. https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1560429/?q=fair
County Fair Queen on Stage: several young women wearing formal gowns and elbow-length gloves seated in a line on a stage decorated with a Hawaiian or jungle theme, including one girl in the center of the image seated in a wicker chair on a raised platform. Young men in formalwear are standing behind the girls at left and two young men who are shirtless and wearing leis are fanning the girl in the center with large palm fronds. A young girl is seated on the left side of the platform and a young boy holding a crown on a pillow is seated on the right side of the platform. Girls wearing grass skirts and leis are partially visible at the right side of the image. Looks like a Hawaii theme to me. Image ca. 1954-1959. American. Friedrich “Fred” Gustav Hillmann/Hillmann Studio, photographer. Hillmann Studio Photography Collection, Patrick Heath Public Library. via The Portal to Texas History. https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1560466/?q=fair#description-content-main
Kendall County Fair Association Float: young woman posing in a giant flower on a float that is parked near the Main Plaza in Boerne. Text on the side of the float says, “Kendall County Fair: Labor Day Week End.” The Main Plaza park area and several buildings are visible in the background. Image ca. 1954-1959. American. Friedrich “Fred” Gustav Hillmann/Hillmann Studio, photographer. Hillmann Studio Photography Collection, Patrick Heath Public Library. via The Portal to Texas History. https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1560452/?q=fair
Kendall County Fair Queen on Throne: young woman wearing a light-colored formal gown, elbow-length gloves, and a long, decorative cape is seated on a decorative platform in a wicker chair with a decorative backing to look like a throne. Another woman standing at the left has just placed a crown on her head and other woman wearing formal gowns and holding small bouquets are seated in rows on either side of the platform. A young boy holding a pillow is seated on the left side of the platform and a young girl holding a basket is seated on the right side. The queen’s cape has been arranged to flare out on the floor in front of her to display the design. Early-mid 1960s image. Image ca. 1954-1959. American. Friedrich “Fred” Gustav Hillmann/Hillmann Studio, photographer. Hillmann Studio Photography Collection, Patrick Heath Public Library. via The Portal to Texas History.