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.

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.

0.4 linear feet (1 box). Plus, additional miscellaneous items.

Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder (if applicable).

The collection is open for research use.