Mary Garner Hirsch Collection
Finding aid created by Claremont Heritage staff using RecordEXPRESS
Claremont Heritage
2023
840 N. Indian Hill Blvd.
Claremont, California 91711
(909) 621-0848
info@claremontheritage.org
http://www.claremontheritage.org/
Title: Mary Garner Hirsch Collection
Dates: 08/08/2023
Collection Number: 2023.024
Creator/Collector:
Extent: 0.4 linear feet (1 box). Plus, additional miscellaneous items.
Repository:
Claremont Heritage
Claremont, California 91711
Abstract: The Mary Garner Hirsch Collection contains personal objects from the Garner family, providing a material record of houselife
in an American household in the 20th century. Material objects include artifacts from the 1920s to the 1950s. Material artifacts
include an early Philico model television cabinet, board games, ephemera, tapestries, and a heliotherapy device.
Language of Material: English
The collection is open for research use.
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder (if applicable).
[Identification of item]. Mary Garner Hirsch Collection. Collection Number: 2023.024. Claremont Heritage
Items donated by Mary Garner Hirsch to Claremont Heritage on August 8, 2023.
Biography/Administrative History
Mary Garner Hirsch is the granddaughter of Bess and Herman Garner, builders of the historic Garner house on Indian Hill Boulevard
in Claremont, California. Herman Garner, who founded the Vortox company, is considered an important historical figure in Claremont
who played a significant role in its economic development. The Vortox company designed air filters for agricultural equipment,
including oil bath air cleaners for tractor engines. The Mary Garner Hirsch Collection, donated in 2023, includes a collection
of physical artifacts from the Garner family and provides a material record of family life in the Garner household in the
early to mid-20th century. The collection documents the kinds of objects found in a middle-upper class home in mid-century
America and reveals how a family from this period would live.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection contains various household objects. The collection includes shoes, bags, blankets, curtains, a surfboard, Paul
E. Johnson Inc. Physical Therapy Equipment, puzzles, games, lamps and lampshades, a table, projector lenses, a Realist Stereo
Viewer, and a Philco Television and Turntable.