PHS held annual public exhibitions in venues throughout the city. The society built its first Horticultural Hall in 1867 on Broad Street, Philadelphia. The most remarkable display in the first grand exhibition featured pears, grapes, plums, quinces, and pomegranates shipped from California, the first offerings from that state in a PHS show. The hall was destroyed by fire in 1881.

For many years the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Ladies Reception Committee organized annual events in June at Horticultural Hall. This Ladies Reception souvenir may be from 1876, when all eyes were on Philadelphia as the host city of the nation’s centennial. Or, it may have been from the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the society, celebrated in 1877 with 1,250 attendees.