Child’s dress, 1964

Child’s Dress, 1964 2006/9

Boom This dress belonged to Ellice Schrader, who was born in 1961 during the Post-World War II baby boom. The Baby Boomer generation were born in a time of unprecedented affluence and economic security. Time Magazine awarded their ‘Man of the Year’ title to the generation in 1966, explaining that due to their access to money, leisure, and education, Baby Boomers would remake the world. Pink This dress is pink, a colour now commonly associated with girls and femininity. The practice of assigning pink for girls and blue for boys emerged in marketing during the 1950s. The opposite was true in the 1920s. Pink was perceived as a more vibrant and active colour and therefore more suitable for boys. Childhood Ellice Schrader’s grandmother gave her this dress as a present in 1963. Ellice grew up in Belmore and every year her grandmother would take her out to buy a new dress for her birthday. She would wear the new dress to her church’s annual Sunday School Picnic Day, which coincided with her birthday. The dresses were so special to Ellice, she kept all ten for 45 years before donating them to Newcastle Museum. Nylon This dress is made of Nylon, a plastic material first synthesised in 1935. Nylon was a cheap alternative to silk and initially used to make women’s stockings but shifted to military equipment during World War Two. After the war high demand for nylon led to riots. In Pittsburgh 40,000 people lined up for just 13,000 pairs of stockings.