The Douglas County Historical Society has been collecting artifacts and documents since 1933. To honor the founding of the society, the Watkins Community Museum of History is hosting a series of small exhibits to celebrate the society’s 75th anniversary. This is the second exhibit in the series.

“Celebrating 75 Years:Of Fashions” is open now through Aug. 30. There have been seven decades of fashion since the Douglas County Historical Society was organized. The 1930s were beautiful satin ball gowns and little girls’ blue gingham dresses that were fashioned after Dorothy in the “Wizard of Oz.” The ’40s ushered in WWII and a decade that brought the military look of shoulder pads mixed with fine silk stockings. The 1950s began the decade of rock ‘n’ roll and an emphasis on home and family life. June Cleaver was the example of the perfect mother wearing a “day dress” around the house as she cooked and cleaned, while daughters dressed in pink prom dresses attended the “sophomore hop.”

Nothing could have prepared the fashion world for the invention of the “mini-skirt.” There seemed to be no limit on how high it could go. Sanity prevailed, and by the 1970s the “granny” dress came into vogue with hemlines falling down to the ankles. From the 1980s until the present day, fashions have become a mixture of the preceding decades. From “thrift-shop chic” to retro-fabrics, everything old is new once again.

The Watkins museum, 1047 Mass., is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. For more information, call 841-4109.