Images(4)

Handkerchief

Object number2016.49.1

Designer Burmel

Retailer Gimbel Brothers

Date1958

MediumLinen/Paper/Adhesive/Ink

Credit LineGift of Joanne Fascio

DescriptionPittsburgh Bicentennial linen handkerchief. Nearly square. Center is a pink circle with a birds-eye-view of downtown Pittsburgh including the Point. Rose branches decorate the bottom right corner. Around the pink circle is a light gray field which is surrounded by pink and black leaf design and a darker gray border.Dimensions14.5 x 14.75 in., 0.063 in. (36.8 x 37.5 cm, 0.2 cm)
InscriptionsFront has text (white with black outline) inside the circle at top "PITTSBURGH / BICENTENNIAL / 1758 1958" and black text below the circle "GATEWAY TO THE FUTURE".
MarksWhite oval adhesive label in the bottom right corner on the front has printed black text "A / Burmel / ORIGINAL / IRISH LINEN".

Reverse side in the bottom left corner has octagonal price sticker with printed black and purple text "Gimbels / 100 F8 / 1.00".
Historical NotesScarf commemorating the year-long celebration of the 1958-1959 Pittsburgh bicentennial based on the founding of Fort Pitt. The theme of the bicentennial was “Gateway to the Future” playing off the former title of Pittsburgh as “Gateway to the West”. The bicentennial kicked off with a big celebration on November 27, 1958, which is the day that General Forbes wrote a letter to William Pitt renaming it Fort Pitt after capturing it from the French two days earlier. The scarf was purchased at Gimbel’s department store, which along with Kaufmann’s and Horne’s, was one of the major downtown department stores. Pittsburgh also celebrated the bicentennial of the establishment of the city through a charter in 2016.

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