Collection Highlights-History

This cloche hat is made from red wool felt and is decorated with a small pin of a mountain climbing ax with a climbing rope coiled around it and a travel souvenir charm attached. The shield charm is a landscape with the word “ Pordoi” printed across the top. This likely refers to the Passo Pordoi, located up high in the Italian Dolomites. Beatrice "Bebe" O. Haemmerle, owner of the hat, moved to Sun Valley from the Midwest in 1947 and settled. She married the painter and mountaineer, … [Read more...] about Red Cloche Hat with Pin

George Matsumoto was a local legend in the Wood River Valley. An avid photo doumentarian, he contributed a record of central Idaho 1970s recreational life. He worked as a chef at the Ore House in Sun Valley. Today there is a plaque at the bar in the Pioneer Restaurant in Ketchum commemorating where you could find him most nights.   … [Read more...] about George Matsumoto Scrapbook, 1972

This Todd Protectograph Company check writer was used in the Griffith Grocery store. The store was opened around 1926 and was located on the corner of Main Street and First Avenue in Ketchum, where Sun Valley Culinary Institute is today. The Todd Protectograph Company advertised that the protectograph check writer protected businesses from fraudulent changes because the machine printed precise amounts across the check.   From the Mary Jane and Dave Conger … [Read more...] about Protectograph Check Writer

A rolling pin that was handmade by the donor’s grandfather, “Grandpa Hallis,” in his shop. The pin was brought over the plains in 1853. From the Delaurice Moser Collection (1996.28.04), Center for Regional History. … [Read more...] about Handmade Rolling Pin 

The Sun Valley Ski Pin was awarded for a specific level of sportsmanship. To get this pin, you must complete a run on Baldy from top to bottom without falling. Skiing on Baldy in the 1940s was as challenging as it is today and the mountain itself was a great teacher. You might have run into Olympians, Gretchen Fraser and Jeanette Burr Johnston skiing. There were some differences. There were fewer runs, and if you skied the Warm Springs side, you caught a bus back to the River Run lift. The River … [Read more...] about Sun Valley Ski Pin

Gretchen Fraser was the first American to win an Olympic gold medal in skiing. She was the first American to win a medal in the Winter Olympic Games. Commemorating her winning the gold, the Gretchen Fraser Olympic scrapbook has memorabilia related to the St. Moritz Winter Games and media attention that followed. It has newspaper articles, photographs, telegrams, and letters about her time there and documents her win-- the power and reverberations of the win. On the left side is the famous … [Read more...] about Gretchen Fraser Olympic Scrapbook