Finding Aid for the Peggy Hamilton Adams papers, 1911-1976
Processed by Charlotte Payne, Lilace Hatayama and Dydia DeLyser, February 1989; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline
Cubé
UCLA Library Special Collections
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/scweb/
© 1998
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Peggy Hamilton Adams papers
Date (inclusive): 1911-1976
Collection number: 1373
Creator:
Adams, Peggy Hamilton
Extent:
58 boxes (29.0 linear ft.)
57 oversize boxes
Abstract: Peggy Hamilton Adams was a fashion designer, editor of the
Los Angeles Times rotogravure fashion page (1921-34) and a host for local radio programs (1929-33) that dealt with fashion concerns of the
modern woman. The collection consists of materials related to Hamilton's career as designer, fashion editor, and socialite.
Language: Finding aid is written in
English.
Language of the Material:
Materials are in English.
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library Special Collections
for paging information.
Selected digitized images from this collection.
Administrative Information
Restrictions on Access
Open for research. STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library
Special Collections for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UC Regents. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the
creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright
owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Peggy Hamilton Adams, bequest, 1984.
Processing Note
Processed by Charlotte Payne, Lilace Hatayama and Dydia DeLyser, February 1989.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Peggy Hamilton Adams papers (Collection Number 1373). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles
E. Young Research Library, UCLA.
Biography/History
Born Mae Bedloe Armstrong, Hamilton began work as a costume designer; at Triangle film company, she designed for such stars
as Mr. Julian Eltinge and Gloria Swanson; she worked at the
Los Angeles Times as editor of its rotogravure fashion page (1921-34); known as Hollywood's dictator of fashions, she featured such celebrities
as Gloria Swanson, Myrna Loy, Norma Shearer, Delores Del Rio, Joan Crawford, Betty Davis, and Greta Garbo posed in gowns by
designers such as Adrian, Travis Banton, and Howard Greer; Hamilton promoted Los Angeles as the Paris of America in many fashion
shows, including the first fasion show in an airplane (1928); she was appointed official hostess of Los Angeles County by
then Supervisor Frank L. Shaw (1931) and was named Queen of Olympias of the Mythical Kindom of Olympia in an effort to publicize
the 1932 Olympic Games; she hosted local radio programs (1929-33) dealing with fashion concerns of the modern woman.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of materials related to Hamilton's career as designer, fashion editor, and socialite. Includes paste-ups,
scrapbooks, photographs, various issues of the
Los Angeles Times fashion page, clippings, printed ads, radio scripts, and ephemera.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Adams, Peggy Hamilton--Archives.
Fashion editors--Archival resources.
Socialites--California--Los Angeles--Archival resources.
Genres and Forms of Material
Scrapbooks.
Mechanicals.
Photographs.
Online resources.
Container List
Beckman Fur Advertisements
Box 1
Paste-ups and printed ads, 1930-1931.
Los Angeles Times Fashion Page
Box 2
Paste-ups, 1924, 1925 and 1927.
Box 4
Paste-ups, 1928, 1930 and 1933.
Box 32
Various Issues, 1932-1933.
Box 32
Various Issues, January-June 1933 and July-December 1931.
Box 34
Issues, January-July 1925.
Box 44
Paste-ups (boards), 1925.
Box 45
Paste-ups (boards), July 1924.
Los Angeles Times Fashion
Box 54
Scrapbooks, copy of celebrities, 1932.
Fancy and Period Costumes
Box 26
Scrapbook no.23, also hostess book no.2.
Honeymoon Trip to East Coast
Box 27
Scrapbook, diary, 1910-1911.
San Francisco Automobile Show, Fashion Pageant
Box 30
Scrapbook--Radio scripts, primarily KHJ.
Box 34
Miscellaneous newspapers.
Box 35
Miscellaneous newspapers and news clippings.
Box 36
Drawings and photographs.
Box 46
Key to city of San Francisco, January 27, 1931.
PH's First Annual Biltmore Fashion Pageant
Boxes 37, 38
News clippings, printed papers, etc.
Boxes 41 -43
Photographs, news clippings, etc.
Box 49
Scrapbook, ca. 1922-1924.
Box 50
Talkback records (for sending messages via records) - 3 boxes.
Box 52
Magazines, news clippings.
Box 55
Scrapbook, magazines, letters, envelope of damaged photographs.
Box 56
Photographs, clippings and memorabilia, 1932.
Boxes 61, 63 - 66, 68, 77, 79-81, 84-88, 91-92, 97-115
Boxes 62, 67, 69-75, 78, 82-83, 90, 98,
Photographs and Miscellaneous, n.d.
Box 95
Radio scripts and Peggy mine sheet music, n.d.
Box 96
Radio scripts and film magazines, n.d.
