Sprigged & Spotted

Tag: material culture

  • Snarky skincare advice for backwoods women [Mid-19th Century Sunbonnets, Part 1]

    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…

    • make themselves “as rough and coarse as ever [they] can, by way of being independent.”
    • look– at age 26– “like a runnet* bag that had hung six weeks in the chimney corner”
    • make themselves “too ugly for any use except scaring the crows off the corn”

    …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 cheese.

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  • Project Log: How to Make an 18th Century “Housewife” Sewing Kit

    Project Log: How to Make an 18th Century “Housewife” Sewing Kit

    Meet the Housewife

    In this case, a housewife isn’t a person.

    I’ve got a notion

    I like the word “notion.” It can mean a personal inclination or a general concept, but it can also refer to little tools and supplies. When used to describe physical objects rather than ideas, “notions” usually refer to common sewing tools and consumable necessities such as thread and buttons. Type the word into an image search on your favorite search engine and you’ll see collections of needles, thread, straight pins, safety pins, thimbles, ribbons, pincushions, snaps, measuring tapes, and more. Notions often enter into project planning as an afterthought, once primary fabrics being used to construct a garment have been selected. But, having the perfect bits and bobs right at hand when you need them can make a project come together much more smoothly than if you have to stop working to find what you need.

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  • Vintage Book Review: A Woman’s Story of Pioneer Illinois by Christiana Tillson [A Vibrant Retrospective]

    Vintage Book Review: A Woman’s Story of Pioneer Illinois by Christiana Tillson [A Vibrant Retrospective]

    A first-person account of log cabin living as a young wife and mother.

    Most of us can name at least one or two historically significant memoirs, such as Elie Wiesel’s Night or the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Such first-person accounts of history add richness and personality to the dry study of dates, places, and politicians which usually dominate history lessons. While getting a bird’s eye view of historical events is important, well-crafted memoirs written by those who survived the trials of past events provide us with the “story” part of history. This year, I had the pleasure of encountering an unusual and underappreciated historical memoir of this kind, A Woman’s Story of Pioneer Illinois by Christiana Holmes Tillson.

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  • Grinning Pumpkins: Why Jack-O’-Lanterns are the best part of Halloween

    Grinning Pumpkins: Why Jack-O’-Lanterns are the best part of Halloween

    Jack O’Lanterns might be my favorite part of the American tradition of Halloween. Perhaps this is because I don’t have much of a sweet tooth or love of the horror genre, but I genuinely enjoy carving pumpkins and seeing my neighbors’ creations. Walking down a neighborhood street, following clumps of Trick-or-Treaters, and seeing the flickering faces of orange orbs adorning doorsteps and pathways makes the effort worthwhile.

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  • Obsolete & Antique Tools Quiz – Easy

    Obsolete & Antique Tools Quiz – Easy

    See if you can identify these objects which were much more commonly used in a bygone era.

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