Barbary Coast Fashion

Comstock History Center
20 North “E” Street
Virginia City
Hours: Thu–Sun | 11 am. - 4 pm
Admission is free.

Buttons, Buckles, and Beads: A Vignette of Virginia City Fashion

"... featuring a wide variety of clothing accessories and jewelry worn by people living on the Comstock Mining District during the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

“Some of the more fascinating items include a decorative garter belt clasp, a small pendant with red glass beads, and a faux turquoise pendant with a filigree border,” said Sarah Heffner, who put together the exhibit using artifacts she helped excavate during the summer of 2008. Heffner is a graduate student in the Anthropology Department at UNR.

Ms. Heffner drew on the full range of excavations conducted by the State Historic Preservation Office, the Comstock Historic District Commission, and the University of Nevada , Reno since 1993. Most of the material for the exhibit came from excavations conducted in 2008 at the site of Maguire’s Opera House and at what was once a rough part of town on South C Street known as the Barbary Coast.

Virginia City celebrates its 150th anniversary this year as it commemorates the first strikes in 1859. The exhibit in the Comstock History Center is intended as part of a year-long celebration."

[The CCAI Blog notes with regret that the Comstock History Center is slated to be closed after June 30, 2009 due to budget cuts.]

[Thanks to Bert Bedeau at the Center for his help with this post. Text and image of Barbary Coast garter Clasp from Nevada Department of Cultural Affairs press release.]