Several years ago Jude Sheppard, Blaine County Museum's Director/Curator, wanted a way to exhibit some of the numerous items of period clothing donated by local families. In 2006, with help from a grant to the museum, she was able to reconfigure a space to be used for clothing exhibits. Sheppard said, "I like to have clothing that reflects the current season. I'll change the current exhibit to winter-themed clothing as winter approaches."

The current exhibit showcases five formal dresses among several dresses donated by Olive Robinson. The dresses, displayed on manikins, are arranged to connect to events in Olive's life spanning a half century. Olive and her husband, John, owned and operated the Anchor Ranch in south Blaine County for many years. Originally from Miles City, they moved to the Anchor Ranch when a lease they were on near their hometown lapsed. Olive recalled they had a number of cattle to place and no land in their home area. That's when circumstances brought them to Blaine County.

The exhibit space in the museum

The space devoted to displaying clothing is in the basement of the museum. Basically, it is a room with one wall removed which allows museum guests to see the entire exhibit room. Sheppard said, "The room was used for many years to show how the California office of Lloyd Sweet, a benefactor to many projects in Chinook, looked at the time of his death. From looking at footage from the security cameras, it was evident that most guests, unless from Chinook, spent little time at the exhibit. Out of town visitors would not know of Mr. Sweet and the items in the exhibit were hard to see and understand."

The museum's board of directors agreed to use the space for exhibiting clothing. A grant helped provide money for wallpapering and other upgrades to the space. Over the years a chest of drawers, from Fort Assiniboine, was donated by the Dickson family and an antique bed was given by Lynn and Nita Mennick. With the addition of some manikins and historical clothing items, the exhibit began to take shape.

Olive Robinson recalls each

dress on display

Olive Robinson had not seen the exhibit or her dresses since it had been organized in the museum. She agreed to come see the exhibit and share some recollections about the five formal dresses on display. She began to describe the pink dress on the left of the exhibit. She said, "That dress was purchased at Epstein's in Miles City. It was the dress I wore to my junior prom." She explained that Epstein's was an upscale women's clothing store in her hometown. The rest of the dresses related to her life after moving to the Anchor Ranch in Blaine County.

At least one or two of the dresses, she recalled, were purchased to wear at the annual Farmer Rancher Appreciation Night. That was an annual event organized by the Chinook Chamber of Commerce and supported by local merchants to show appreciation to their ag-based customers. Olive said, "It was quite an event, very formal with all the ladies in long or special dresses and the men with suits and ties." While the exact dates of the event are sketchy, most people recall the appreciation night first began in the 1960's and continued until the early 1980's.

Don Berger, who was Chamber President during some of that period, said, "It was a community event. We would typically feed about 200 guests with all the trimmings with a live band and a dance after the meal. Many merchants provided drink tickets that their customers could use at the event." The first year of the dinner, according to Berger, some 750 pounds of roast beef were prepared "because we didn't really know how many people would attend." The roasts were prepared for cooking at the VFW Hall, then taken to various locations for cooking since no one place had adequate ovens for that many 30-40 pound roasts. The cooking

would begin in the early morning, then the finished roasts would be taken to the location of the dinner-the first few years at the National Guard Armory (now a county shop on the east side of Chinook) and later at the Commercial Building at the fairgrounds.

In addition to the dresses being worn for the local appreciation dinner, she said, "Many of those dresses traveled with us. John (her husband) was on the board of directors at the bank and we traveled to four different states attending functions related to the bank. Many of those events required formal dress."

Asked where she would buy the dresses, Olive said, "After we moved to the Anchor Ranch I would go to Great Falls or Havre. At the time Havre had several very nice clothing stores for women. I think I bought a couple of these at Lamode. The family that owned Lamode also had a men's store where my husband could shop. There were several places specializing in fine wear for men and women."

When Olive moved from the ranch she had several items of women's clothing she wanted to share in some way. She said, "My family really didn't want the items so I approached the museum to see if they would be interested." Jude Sheppard, at the museum said, "There are some really nice examples of a period we don't often get clothing from." In addition to her own dresses, Olive also donated a dress from her mother as well as one owned by her grandmother.

After several minutes of recalling and sharing stories about the dresses, Olive said, "I'm happy to have a place to give the items and let others have an opportunity to see them. I would have been very sad to just get rid of the dresses." For the museum, Jude Sheppard said, "I'm thrilled to have these dresses. I've known Olive for a long time and appreciate her so much. This exhibit is a real tribute to her and her life in the county."

Olive Robinson poses with one of five formal dresses she donated to the Blaine County Museum. She is standing next to a dress she purchased to wear at one of the annual Farmer Rancher Appreciation Night events held in Chinook. The dresses are part of a clothing exhibit that transitions to coincide with each season of the year. The dresses will be on exhibit until late fall according to museum director Jude Sheppard.

Take a few minutes to stop by the Blaine County Museum (501 Indiana Street at the south end of Chinook's business district) to enjoy the exhibit of the dresses as well as many other interesting historical items from this area. Summer hours are 8am-noon and 1-5pm, Monday-Saturday, noon-5pm on Sunday. See more details at http://www.blainecountymuseum.com or call 406-357-2590.