by Jill Holt, Curator of Textiles

I recently had one of those “I love my job” moments. We have several United States flags in our collection that are purported to be the “last” flag flown on the battleship U.S.S. Oklahoma. I was pleased to discover that we do indeed have the last one.

The U.S.S. Oklahoma (BB-37) was moored on battleship row at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941. It was struck by Japanese torpedoes and quickly capsized with 429 sailors and Marines losing their lives. The ship was righted and placed in dry dock in 1943. Its superstructure and guns were removed prior to the decommission ceremony that was held on September 1, 1944.

As I unrolled the red, white, and blue wool bunting 48 star flag, I was thrilled when I saw markings on the canvas hoist edge. Stamped on the canvas was “Mare Island, February 1944.” Written in ink was “Last flag to fly on the U.S.S. Oklahoma (BB-37), September 1, 1944, S.S. Isquith U.S. Navy Commander, Commanding.” Lt. Commander Solomon S. Isquith was the engineer officer on board the U.S.S. Utah on December 7, 1941 when it was sunk at Pearl Harbor. After the Japanese attack, he was placed in charge of salvage operations at Pearl Harbor and he presided over the decommission ceremony for the U.S.S. Oklahoma in 1944. He stated, “Today the life of a ship will come to an end – as a combat vessel – after 35 years of honorable service in all areas of the world. We will be sorry to leave her.”

The last flag to fly on the U.S.S. Oklahoma was presented in 1945 to Governor Robert S. Kerr who in turn gave it over to the Oklahoma Historical Society. It remains safely in our care today.

by Jill Holt, Curator of Textiles

Thanks to our assistant director, Jeff Briley, we have a recent addition to our collection. He picked up several recipe books written by Aunt Susan. Some of you may remember Aunt Susan from her food columns in the Daily Oklahoman and her cooking program on WKY Radio in Oklahoma City. Edna Vance Adams served as food editor of the Daily Oklahoman from 1929 to 1943. She conducted an annual cooking school during that time and her recipe books were souvenirs given out at the school. Aunt Susan’s recipes were clipped from the newspaper and became cherished favorites in the recipe boxes across Oklahoma, with many people mistakenly believing that there really was an “Aunt Susan” somewhere in their family tree.

Edna Vance Adams moved to New York in 1943 and eventually became the food editor for McCall’s Magazine. She left McCall’s to focus on radio and television programs. In 1951, she published a cook book titled “Susan Adam’s How-to-Cook Book.” We are fortunate to now have one of the rare copies of this book in our collection.

by Sherry Massey, Senior Registrar

The Oklahoma Museum of History has recently acquired a remarkably unique quilt.

The Von Keller Coverlet, as it is lovingly referred to by the donor, Ellen Jonsson, came to her in a family lottery. She “drew the long straw” and the quilt became hers.

The story goes something like this: Dr. Frederick Von Keller moved to Ardmore, Indian Territory, from Vernon, Texas, in 1894. There he opened the community’s first hospital, the Ardmore Sanitarium, in 1901. After that building was destroyed in an explosion, he opened the new Von Keller Hospital in 1917. The Von Kellers had two children and one of the daughters, Beatrice, was one of the earliest female graduates of OU. Beatrice married and had children. At some point, family legend says, Dr. Von Keller accepted the quilt in payment of medical services.

Ms. Jonsson married one of Beatrice’s sons. She tells us, “About 30 years ago, Elaine, Katherine and I were at Grandmother Bea’s home. She was in her seventies at the time. She told us that we were going to have a lottery. We wondered what on earth she had in mind. She came back from the kitchen with three straws concealed in her hand. She said the person drawing the longest straw was going to get something. I drew the longest straw and the ‘something’ was the coverlet. I have always thought that she manipulated the outcome because she knew that I would take care of it and ensure that moths didn’t get to it, that it wasn’t left out or carelessly handled.” We’re so glad Grandmother Bea rigged the lottery!

As you can see from the photos, the quilt is a combination fan block/crazy quilt design. The fans alternate direction every other block and are constructed in typical crazy quilt fashion with the pieces appliquéd to a base block. Floral crewel embroidery embellishes the background above each fan with the exception of a swan on one block and the words “Fancy Work” on another. The embroidery is excellent with even stitching and texture. The foundation squares are of striped shirting. The fan blades are made from fabric typically used in suits, dresses and shirts with some satins and wools. Each fan point is velvet. There is no batting or backing; however, there is a binding made from one of the suiting fabrics. Because there is no batting or traditional backing, ‘coverlet’ may be the more appropriate term, after all. The maker did not sign or date the piece. An appraisal has dated it at 1885-1899. It is in remarkably good condition, with no major damage.

This is just one of the many fine quilts entrusted to the care of the Oklahoma Historical Society. We will continue to highlight them in future blogs, so check back often!

by Jill Holt, Curator of Textiles

In this era of high efficiency washers and dryers with their steam features and easy care fabrics, many people no longer feel the need to iron their clothes. While I am not old enough to remember the days of washtubs, washboards, wringers, and sad irons, I do remember when my mother did the weekly ironing. After bringing the clean clothes in from the clothesline, she would sprinkle them down with water using a bottle with a tin sprinkler stopper. She then rolled the damp clothes in a towel in preparation to be ironed the next day. It would take several hours to press the shirts, dresses, sheets and pillowcases. With the introduction of permanent press fabrics in the 1960s, she put away her iron and warned the family that she would no longer press any garments. And she didn’t! After she passed away, I found a cotton dress shirt of my father’s in the bottom of the laundry hamper, still waiting to be ironed after 30 years!

In our collections, we have a clothespin bag, sprinkler bottle, electric iron, and laundry hamper. All are reminders of a time when laundry was a much more demanding task.