I Do!

When I walked into the Pasadena Museum of History and made a right turn into the exhibit room, I gasped.

I'm not going to show you what I saw because you need to see it for yourself.

The current exhibit is called I Do! I Do! Pasadena Ties the Knot, 1850 to 1950, Part I. Yes, there will be a part II! This one surprises with its 1800s charm and 1920s glam. Look at the buttons on the dress above. Special, aren't they? Yes, and the buttonholes are hand-sewn. In fact the whole dress was stitched by hand, for a young bride with an 18-inch waist.

Jeannette Bovard, Media Consultant for the Museum, took me through the exhibit, instructing me on styles through the ages and pointing out the special dresses (pretty much all of them). The wedding dress worn by Susie Markham, niece of Governor Henry Markham, is so fragile that it might never be displayed again. Another dress from the 1920's had to be laid flat because the docents feared the heavy beads would tear the fabric with their weight.

Wednesdays are free at the Museum if you live, work or are a student in any of the following local communities: Alhambra, Altadena, Arcadia, Bradbury, Duarte, Eagle Rock, El Sereno, Glendale, Highland Park, La Canada Flintridge, La Crescenta, Monrovia, Monterey Park, Pasadena, Rosemead, San Gabriel, San Marino, Sierra Madre, South Pasadena and Temple City.  Please mention this offer and show some form of i.d. when you get your tickets in the Museum Store.

  

Or go Thursday or Sunday and have a docent tour (I recommend it, some of the docents even curated this exhibit, and they know the intricate details). Prices, times, and other details are here.

When you're finished ooh-ing and aah-ing at the dresses, satin shoes, period photos and other wedding finery, stop back in at the Museum Store. My book, Camelot & Vine, is now in stock there and I would like very much for them to have to order more.

Happy Birthday, Pasadena

I wasn't the only one photographing the birthday balloons. I couldn't resist.

Yesterday, on the grounds of the Pasadena Museum of History and the adjacent Avery Dennison Corporation, Pasadena held a 125th birthday party for itself. There were antique cars, wonderful bands, high-powered super-drummers, food stands, historic photographs, hat making, a children's area, representatives from the police and fire departments, more music and more food. Despite the June gloom, the crowd didn't seem the least bit morose.

Alas, I promised you cake, or at least a photo of it. Actually what I said in Thursday's comments was, "I hope to make it before anybody messes with that cake." The birthday cake, created by the student pastry chefs at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts (about whom we brag at every opportunity) is a depiction of Pasadena's history. Or so I hear.

True to my word, I got there three hours before the cake was scheduled to be messed with, and unfortunately I had to be somewhere else at messing time. But I found the pastry chefs, which is the next best thing to cake.

Okay, not really. Coffee is probably the next best thing to cake. Or the other way around.

I think the chefs had been up since very early. They were applying last-minute sugar-roses and sugar-balloons to their precious cake, which was hidden inside a shadowy tent so I couldn't even sneak a peek, much less a photo. But the chefs were hyped on sugar and coffee amiable, and willing to show me some of what they were working on.

Last year, as well, I met and photographed the chefs. They were a friendly, happy bunch, just as these were.

I ran into Jeannette Bovard, the Museum's Media Consultant, soon after I took this picture. She put forth the theory that when you're always creating festive and delicious works of art, you're bound to be a cheerful person, and of course it's true. Caffeine and sugar come in handy, too.