Steve Jordan (left) and Emery Escola (center) with students Kahlil Robinson, Jonathan Matlin, and Matt Stephens in 2000. In was almost 20 years ago that students of Ryan Olson Day’s Options Class at the Mendocino Middle School created an oral history project with the help of Steve Jordan and a grant obtained by Deena Zarlin. They made audio recordings of their interviews with 12 “Old Timers,” [...]
Kewpie dolls were used to promote many things in the 1920s, from Jell-O to women’s suffrage. Let me introduce Pauline. She is remarkably well preserved for her age. And unlike many of us older folks, everything still pretty much works. Her large blue eyes, shiny as glass, look straight ahead and are framed by arched brows and delicate lashes. The skin on her arms and legs [...]
December 18, 1964 Holiday Shopping Advertisement in the Mendocino Beacon for Matson’s Men’s Wear Nowadays it’s trendy (and logical) to “shop locally,” but decades ago that’s what everyone did for the holidays and the merchants who advertised in the Mendocino Beacon and Fort Bragg Advocate-News wanted readers to know everything their hearts desired was waiting for them right here on the coast. In 1929 the Post [...]
We’ve lined up 12 straight days of walking tours from Dec. 21st though Jan 1st so you and your friends will have ample opportunity to join our expert docents at the Kelley House for a stroll through the downtown historic district. Once you’ve learned more about the unique history of this place, your perceptions will forever be changed. Visitors and residents alike will appreciate the informational [...]
Saturday December 14 with other local merchants to create a welcoming Second Saturday candlelit shopping experience in downtown Mendo. Come by the Kelley House between 5:00 and 7:00 and warm up with a drink! It’s a relaxing way to mingle with other lovers of fine Scotch, while supporting a worthy organization. Sarah Nathe will be pouring flights of five single-malt scotches. $25 per person. There will [...]
An Eclectic History of Mendocino County Local author Katy Tahja has just published her latest book, “An Eclectic History of Mendocino County.” Copies are flying off the shelves at bookstores, but we will have gift-wrapped copies signed by the author available to purchase here at Kelley House. During this casual one-hour presentation, Katy will entertain us with a trivia quiz covering fascinating topics in our county’s [...]
Fedora "Cookie" Urbani, age 10, playing her clarinet at Christmas in 1940. (Kelley House Museum – Fedora “Cookie” Holmes Collection) There’s a lot going on at the Kelley House Museum! Dolls! Our Holiday Exhibit is now up, and among the antique toys we pulled from the archives you’ll find three dolls that Daisy Kelley MacCallum used to played with, right here in her childhood home on [...]