Costume Balls: Dressing Up History, 1870-1927

The opportunity to reimagine oneself as a noble hero or heroine from the past was no less than a chance of a lifetime. Participants acquired extravagant costumes and flocked to the photographer’s studio, as witnessed by the sheer abundance of mementoes of these occasions in the McCord Stewart Museum’s collections. But beneath all the anachronistic exuberance, these balls reinforced core myths of colonial destiny and imperial futures.