I enjoy sifting through museum collections online. It feels a bit like a treasure hunt and is way healthier than doom scrolling on social media. I'm grateful to the institutions who have made so much of their holdings available to members of the public like us. And, I want to … [Read more...] about Dress Fabrics of the 1830’s, 1840’s and 1850’s: A Reference.
19th century
Romanticized Myth or Pioneering Reality? [Mid-19th Century Sunbonnets, Part 2]
The Sunbonnet: Genuine frontier clothing, or inaccurate cliché? Picture in your mind a woman of the 1800's living on the American frontier. What do you see? She is probably riding in a covered wagon or hanging laundry nearby a log cabin. This woman is likely wearing a printed … [Read more...] about Romanticized Myth or Pioneering Reality? [Mid-19th Century Sunbonnets, Part 2]
Snarky skincare advice for backwoods women [Mid-19th Century Sunbonnets, Part 1]
Why did 19th century women wear their sun bonnets, or not? Women who don't wear bonnets... ...according to a Missouri newspaper column published in 1849. * A rennet-bag is the fourth stomach of a ruminant (cow), a traditional natural source of enzymes for making … [Read more...] about Snarky skincare advice for backwoods women [Mid-19th Century Sunbonnets, Part 1]
