This permanent waving machine consists of a chandelier-like machine with small heaters dangling from it at varying lengths. The machine is at the top of a metal base that stands 80 inches tall. There is a control device on the back of the metal stand near the top, with a gauge and two knobs for different settings.



Indiana, Marion County, Indianapolis. This 1930s model permanent wave machine was owned by Mrs. Catherine Costello and used in her beauty shop at Claypool Hotel in downtown Indianapolis. When the shop closed, prior to the hotel being razed, she moved all of her equipment to storage. The lot was then purchased by the donor in the 1950s. The donor file contains very detailed information about the use of this machine. The U. S. patent issued for this wave machine, 1,890,047, was issued in 1932. Other wave machines were introduced in 1923.   [More Info]

Two tiny bride and groom figures comprised of a flea for the head and miniature garments; the bride wears a white dress and veil and carries a green bouquet, and the groom wears a black tuxedo with a white shirt. The fleas stand side by side and are glued inside a small white paper box with a slide cover.   [More Info]

This ball is made from wound cord covered with four strips of horsehide, once hand-sewn together to form a sphere. The stitching has deteriorated over time so that the horsehide flaps have disengaged from the wound cord.


Indiana, LaPorte County, LaPorte. This ball was discovered by the donor's father, Benjamin Griffin, between the interior and exterior walls of an old house in LaPorte, Indiana that Benjamin was renovating in 1943. When the ball was first discovered, the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York was contacted to help with identification. The Hall's director, Clifford L. Lord, stated that the ball resembled two others in their collection, but was also somewhat different. He dated the ball to the 1860s, making it at the time, and to our knowledge still, one of the three oldest balls manufactured specifically as a baseball that are known to exist. The family has always assumed that the ball fell between the walls during construction of the house in the 1880s.   [More Info]