Cold Hands, Cold Feet (Exhibition)

Exist Dates

1956 January 25 - 1956 March 4

Biographical or Historical Note

abstract

Exhibition. Opened January 25, 1956 and closed March 4, 1956. Located in the Seventy-Seventh Street Annex. Cold Hands, Cold Feet at the American Museum of Natural History, in collaboration with the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New-York Historical Society, and American clothing retailer Abercrombie and Fitch, illustrated the ways humans have kept their hands and feet warm from different cultures and periods.

Summary

Cold Hands, Cold Feet at the American Museum of Natural History, in collaboration with the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New-York Historical Society, and American clothing retailer Abercrombie and Fitch, illustrated the ways humans have kept their hands and feet warm from different cultures and periods. The exhibition was drawn from the Museum's own collections as well of those of the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New-York Historical Society, and the stock of Abercrombie and Fitch. It included articles such as boots, mittens, stockings, footwarmers, shoes, gloves, and muffs (1, p. 1). The exhibition was designed and executed by the Department of Exhibition under the supervision of Lothar P. Witteborg (1, p. 3).

Highlights (1, p. 2-3):

*Eskimo hand and footwear with photographs depicting the methods by which they are made

*French eighteenth-century high-heels with embroidered overshoes called pattens

*Huge thermometer with mercury at zero accompanied by larger-than-life-size cutout hung above entrance of a shivering Victorian child

*Prints and photographs of nineteenth-century Americans sledding and skating

This is a condensed summary of the exhibition. For additional information, see Sources and/or Related Resources.

Sources

(1) American Museum of Natural History. Press Release. "'Cold Hands, Cold Feet' and Man's Solutions to the Problem, Subject of New Exhibition at Natural History Museum." January 25, 1956. Departmental Records, DR 101. American Museum of Natural History Library.

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Related Corporate, Personal, and Family Names

Abercrombie & Fitch
Institutional partner (1, 1956, p. 1)

American Museum of Natural History. Department of Exhibition.
Exhibition designed and executed by Department of Exhibition under supervision of Lothar P. Witteborg (1, 1956, p. 3)

Costume Institute (New York, N.Y.)
Institutional partner (1, 1956, p. 1)

New-York Historical Society
Institutional partner (1, 1956, p. 1)

Witteborg, Lothar P. 1927
Exhibition designed and executed by Department of Exhibition under supervision of Lothar P. Witteborg (1, 1956, p. 3)

Related Resources

American Museum of Natural History. Annual Report. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1955-1956.

American Museum of Natural History annual reports, 1902-2001.
"Report from the Manager of Exhibition and Construction 1 July 1955 – 30 June 1956." 1956.

American Museum of Natural History press releases, 1933-1990s.
"'Cold Hands, Cold Feet' and Man's Solutions to the Problem, Subject of New Exhibition at Natural History Museum." January 25, 1956.

American Museum of Natural History Special Collections photographic drawers
Repository: AMNH Special Collections. [Black and white photo prints of exhibition on view]

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