This bib and other items were purchased from New York Exchange for Woman's Work during the last week of its operation in February, 2003. The Exchange was founded in 1878 by Candace Wheeler and Mary Atwater Choate to provide respectable women who needed to earn living, particularly Civil War widows, a viable means for supporting themselves. The exchange was forced to close in 2003 due to high overhead and a waning market for handmade goods.

This bib and other items were purchased from New York Exchange for Woman's Work during the last week of its operation in February, 2003. The Exchange was founded in 1878 by Candace Wheeler and Mary Atwater Choate to provide respectable women who needed to earn living, particularly Civil War widows, a viable means for supporting themselves. The exchange was forced to close in 2003 due to high overhead and a waning market for handmade goods.

These booties and other items were purchased from New York Exchange for Woman's Work during the last week of its operation in February, 2003. The Exchange was founded in 1878 by Candace Wheeler and Mary Atwater Choate to provide respectable women who needed to earn living, particularly Civil War widows, a viable means for supporting themselves. The exchange was forced to close in 2003 due to high overhead and a waning market for handmade goods.

This western-style hat, worn by New York City Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia (1882-1947), became his signature. La Guardia, a colorful and forceful figure, became known to many as "The Hat." Shortly after La Guardia's death, his widow presented the hat to Mr. and Mrs. Donald Marcus, who had known La Guardia since the 1920s, when Donald walked the La Guardia family dog, Yank.

Donald Trump played a key role in the realm of New York City real estate development in the last quarter of the 20th century. Trump joined his family's real estate business in the 1970s, amassed a huge fortune in the 1980s, lost much of it in the 1990s, and made it all back by the end of the decade. This hard hat, donated by Trump, relates to the Trump World Tower at United Nations Plaza, completed in 2001.

Beaver hats were among the most fashionable clothing items for men in 18th-century New York and throughout Europe. Most beaver pelts were trapped in North America, and the prosperity of early New York was largely owed to beaver trapping. The gradual depletion of beaver in the northeast led to a variety of imitations, ranging from other animal furs to silk. This "beaver" hat is actually made of silk plush fibers adhered to a cotton ground, a technique introduced in the 1780s.

These buttons were found in the files of the N-YHS Field Exploration Committee. They were probably part of a collection of replicas of 18th and 19th century buttons owned by William L. Calver, the Committee's chairman.

These buttons were found in the files of the N-YHS Field Exploration Committee. They were probably part of a collection of replicas of 18th and 19th century buttons owned by William L. Calver, the Committee's chairman.