It is very exciting for us when we receive an artifact along with images which highlight the artifact in a historical context.  For Christmas this year, we are highlighting an artifact...a Santa costume...that has a rich provenance that gives insight into the culture of Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA).  Founded in San Diego, PSA was known for affordable flight and friendly service. The airline became a San Diego institution, expanding beyond air travel, oftentimes having local charity events to benefit the local area.  Front and center in these events were the PSA Flight Attendants, known for their outgoing personalities and revealing uniforms.  One such uniform was donated to our Museum by a former "Stew" as she said they were called at the time....a Santa outfit, complete with a hat and undergarments.  

This arttifact is on display for a limited time in our Museum, next to our "Santa One" Sleigh! 

Katherine made this Santa outfit by hand! 

The donor also gave us a collection of images which we have digitized.  In this collection we have several images in which the outfit is shown.  The costume was used in a "PSA Circus Time at Xmas Time" which appears to be an event to collect toys for the needy, which occurred in the late 1970s.

Promotion for the event went all out, including the use of an Elephant! 

This Santa outit is just one of the many we have in our collection from PSA.  You can visit the Museum to see many of them in our PSA Display, or search of Flickr stream which has both a PSA image collection and a Curatorial object collection!