Doggie Diner head, 1940s–1950s

One of the world’s greatest collection of artifacts and documents on the history of California can be found at the Oakland Museum of California. The million plus photographs and 200,000 artifacts represent the passions of our curators and benefactors over the last 35 years. The History Gallery displays only about 5,000 of these objects, less than one percent of our collections. The artifacts in storage not only span the history of California, they represent the stories of cultures around the Pacific Rim.

Playing Favorites presents the treasures of the house, many of the most rare and rarely seen artifacts from the museum’s renowned collections. Unlike most exhibitions, this special presentation reflects not only selections from the History Department’s curatorial staff, but also from the community-at-large: students, teachers, representatives of our multicultural advisory committees, trustees, docents, and members of the guilds, CirCA, and the Women’s Board—all have chosen two of their personal favorites from the vaults of the museum.

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