The objects in the Collection can be divided into three major categories: textiles, domestic goods, and agricultural and industrial items. In addition, the Eastside Heritage Center has items unique to the Eastside, such as the "F" from the Frederick and Nelson's Department Store sign from the Bellevue Square store; a sign from the Lincoln Ferry, and bottles from the "Phantom Lake Dairy."
textiles
This is the largest category of objects, comprising about half the total of the object collection. Included in this category is clothing and household linens.
The clothing is primarily of women's and young children's from late 1800s to 1960s. While the outerwear is quite distinct, the collection of white undergarments has some redundancy. There are several articles of men's clothing, including one collection of clothing from the 1970s-90s, men's dress wear (suits and tuxedoes) and several unique pieces: a logger's suit, and military uniforms.
Hats and other clothing accessories help complete the picture of what people wore. Hats range from the practical to the fanciful, homemade bonnets to haute couture. There are mostly women's shoes and baby's shoes, with the latter being predominantly from the early 1900s, with one notable exception: a contemporary pair of child's "light-up" athletic shoes!
The household linen collection is filled with assorted bed linens, kitchen linens, and other household linens. There are over 300 handcrafted doilies, collars, and other decorative pieces.
The quilt collection is quite large with over 70 quilts and quilt pieces, some made locally, and some brought to this area from elsewhere. The quilts date from the second half of the 1800's to the present. Traditional quilt designs include "Seven Sisters," "Square in Square," "Double Wedding Ring", "Lady of the Lake" (or "Birds in the Air"), and "Dresden Plate" and there are also many "Crazy Quilts". Some quilts were made by local groups, such as the Redmond Nokomis Women's Group, Rose Hill Elementary "Lunch Buddies", and a Bicentennial Quilt made by students from Chinook Jr. High.
domestic goods
Domestic goods include over 200 pieces of furniture, mostly wooden, such as bedsteads, bureaus, sideboards, cabinets, and dining table and chair sets. Several pieces were the subject of an exhibit at the former Marymoor Museum, the highlights of which include a hand-carved cabinet from the early 1800s that was floated by canoe on the Sammamish River to its final destination, and an oversize table and settee designed exclusively for the Clise Mansion at what is now Marymoor Park.
Other interesting pieces include two kitchen tables that have metal drawers that were used for storing flour and sugar. Several examples of early electric refrigerators and washing machines bear little resemblance to those used today. There are several cooking appliances, such as stoves and ovens, which span the last two centuries. The collections are well stocked with a wide variety of kitchen items used for the preparation and serving of food (over 1200 items) and smaller household appliances for maintaining the home and its inhabitants, such as carpet sweepers, early vacuum cleaners, and hair-dryers.
The toy collection is constantly growing, with both hand-made and store-bought toys and games. The doll collection is quite extensive, with over 100 dolls of various ages, types and sizes. Recreational items include sports equipment and paraphernalia.
Music is well represented by records and "Victrolas" (record players), sheet music, and vintage musical instruments.
agricultural and industrial
The agricultural and industrial items reflect the historical occupations, namely farming, logging and mining. There is an extensive collection of farm equipment: plows, cultivators. The logging industry is well represented by two-man saws, springboards and pike poles. Mining equipment includes carbide lamps, candleholders for use in the mines, and lunch kits.
There is a large selection of business machines, most hand-operated, such as typewriters, an early Braille typewriter, mimeograph machines, adding machines, etc. The collection of items from the local computer culture is still in its infancy.
There are several distinct hand-tool collections, as well. A carpenter's tool chest is filled with over 60 different tools, including chisels, gouges, files, planes, drills, and drill bits. Items from two donor sources make up a fairly complete blacksmith's shop with tongs, an anvil, and other shaping tools. A printer's table came complete with drawers filled with many different sets of lead fonts.
