Mary Lincoln's Fashions

[Eva Elisabeth]

Toia - AFAIK all photos of Mary are in the Ostendorf collection, have you checked this out?

Very nice website and pictures, Anita!

Bathing machines were popular here, too This photo shows one at the beach of the German North Sea island of Norderney in 1910:
   
BTW, until the 1670s, nude female bathing in the spas was the norm, after that time women bathed clothed.

[LincolnToddFan]

Hi Eva E.,

Thanks...I will check it out!

[Eva Elisabeth]

I wonder how and how often these dresses were washed? Also I wonder what personal hygene and the respective facilities looked like in the White House, and if there Napoleon's custom of "Don't wash!" and using lots of Eau de Cologne instead was the fashion of those days, too?

[LincolnToddFan]

Eva., our minds think alike. I have always wondered how people-particularly ladies-managed in the hot summer months under all those crinolines and wool dresses. It cannot have been pleasant.

OMG...you are making me blush talking about Napoleon's directives to Josephine. He had a real fetish it seems, in the opposite direction of cleanliness. Yuck!

[L Verge]

Having periodically spent quite some time in authentic 1860 fashions while serving at Surratt House, I can assure you that summer is not pleasant - and I cheated and left off certain under-garments! God bless showers, good soap and shampoo, and washing machines.

It is safe to say that the situation could become quite toasty and odorific; however, remember that one's sense of smell adjusts quickly to different odors, and one soon forgets that there is a stink in the room. One's wealth also helped in being able to afford better quality soaps (instead of lye soap), perfumes, scented powders, etc. Better homes also had alternatives to outdoor privies, but they still had to be cleaned frequently.

I think it is safe to say that most, slightly cultured folk, washed face, hands, and feet at least daily. A full bath was unusual and was often what you got from a basin and water and cloth and towel. Bathtubs such as we expect were unusual, and even hip tubs (we display one of those at Surratt House) submerged only a small part (the unmentionables) in water, unless one was a child.

As for dress, there were definitely light-weight clothing materials for summertime wear for both men and women. Even muslin was lighter weight than what we are used to today. Women had work dresses that required no crinoline and fewer petticoats. In fact, the crinoline was considered a blessing when it came along because it was basically a light weight cage that replaced a number of layers of stiff petticoats. I used to catch myself standing and swaying on hot days because the crinoline (hoop) would create a little breeze on my legs.

Dresses and men's shirts also had detachable collars that could be removed for cleaning without having the trouble of washing, lifting, and drying many pounds of wet cloth. Fancier women's dresses had undersleeves that went up under fashionable pagoda sleeves. The undersleeves reached from wrist to just over the elbow and could be easily cleaned also. With work dresses, one could also pull old stockings through holes cut out for hands and cover sleeves to avoid some dirt. Again, easier to wash than a full dress. When all else failed, a really dirty garment went into a washtub (I'm not sure about ball gowns).

To me, the most uncomfortable undergarment would have been the corset -- winter or summer! Several of our guides insist on wearing them at the museum, and they insist that they are comfortable and also help them stand straight for hours while giving tours. This late-19th century description of them also shows the dangers:

" That our dress may be more healthful, it must first be made looser about the waist, as loose as a man’s." The Household 1874

No description of the lives of women in the late nineteenth century would be complete without a discussion of the constrictions of clothing and the influence of style. Once again, the expanding mass culture, expressed in popular magazines and women’s publications, promoted the latest fashion styles to women of all classes, whether those styles were practical for their lifestyles or not. Elaborate dresses, with bustles, and nipped waists and yards of heavy fabric and lace, illustrated the pages of these magazines. One account reported that the "well-dressed" woman of the late nineteenth century wore 37 pounds of clothing in the winter, 19 which hung from her corseted waist.

Probably the most disputed piece of clothing during this period was the corset. Both physicians and early feminists decried their use. One report stated that a fashionable women’s corset exerted, on average, 22 pounds of pressure on the internal organs. Long term results of wearing the undergarment included fractured ribs, collapsed lungs, displacement of the liver and uterine prolapses. Physicians rallied around the idea that corsets compressed the genitals, thus weakening the woman’s ability to bear children. Another theory, proposed by physician Orson Fowler, was based on the assumption that " compression of any part produced inflammation." Consequently, the compression due to wearing a corset would cause blood to flow to the woman’s head, thereby putting pressure on her nervous system, causing, in Fowler’s theory, a personality change.

Feminists attacked corseting because of its potential harm to internal organs and its restriction of movement. They advised physicians to counsel their female patients on the dangers of corseting. Even popular literature, where illustrations of the latest fashions prevailed, commented on corseting. One woman wrote to the Household in 1879, "I omitted corsets when speaking of underthings. They have been banished from my wardrobe so long I had almost forgotten there was such an article... One feels so perfectly free and easy."

I'm afraid that I would have been one of those "loose ladies" that went without her corset whenever possible (that's where the term came from). I would also have made sure to be wealthy enough that I could take to my chambers every hot afternoon, close the shades, remove layers of clothing, lower the mosquito netting, place a cool cloth on my brow, and emerge in time for supper!

[LincolnToddFan]

Fascinating Laurie, thanks. The depth and scope of your knowledge of Civil War era social customs is always astonishing to me.

And I totally agree...I would definitely have forsaken certain undergarments in all that heat and been a "loose woman". Just reading your description makes me feel uncomfortable!

[Eva Elisabeth]

(08-24-2014 02:17 AM)LincolnToddFan Wrote:  Fascinating Laurie, thanks. The depth and scope of your knowledge of Civil War era social customs is always astonishing to me.

I totally second this!! Thanks for all the fascinating info, Laurie! Also I was just going to add the question how much a winter outfit weighed - I guessed a lot, but not 37 pounds!!! Just wearing that seems to me some sort of exercise!

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As for the corsets - Dorothea Dix promoted similar - she lectured young women on that corsets had a baneful effect on women's health. When one unreasonable girl said she would "rather be dead than out of fashion", Dix replied: "My dear...if you continue to lace as tightly as you do now, you will not long have the privilege of choice. You will be both dead and out of fashion."

[BettyO]

I'll have to say that in my reenacting days (including docenting at Surratt House) I was one of those corseted women.... they are comfortable to an extent - provided one doesn't lace too tightly! Then you can just "pop the busk" (front of the corset) and undo it; i.e. you don't have to lace each time you put it on - you just lace once and be done with it. I couldn't wait to get out of one, however (and dress back in jeans and a t-shirt!) and yes, I've worn them outside at reenactments in 100 degree weather. I, too left off certain undergarments - particularly the pantaletts - to me, those things are simply horrid!

[Gene C]

It's getting a little warm in here.

[STS Lincolnite]

I do a talk on Political Cartoons in the American Civil War and this discussion brings to mind one of my favorites. From Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, July 9, 1864. Mid 19th century ladies' fashion influenced by war. Unleash those ankles!

[BettyO]

Wonderful cartoon!

Ladies in the 19th Century certainly were supposed to stay in their place. Poor Dr. Mary Walker was utterly reviled for her "Bloomer" costumes - and she was even arrested in Richmond, VA as well; with much being made fun of because of her costume.

Wonder what the Victorians would think of us ladies in our jeans and boots now?!

[LincolnToddFan]

(08-24-2014 03:59 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  

(08-24-2014 02:17 AM)LincolnToddFan Wrote:  Fascinating Laurie, thanks. The depth and scope of your knowledge of Civil War era social customs is always astonishing to me.

I totally second this!! Thanks for all the fascinating info, Laurie! Also I was just going to add the question how much a winter outfit weighed - I guessed a lot, but not 37 pounds!!! Just wearing that seems to me some sort of exercise!

---

As for the corsets - Dorothea Dix promoted similar - she lectured young women on that corsets had a baneful effect on women's health. When one unreasonable girl said she would "rather be dead than out of fashion", Dix replied: "My dear...if you continue to lace as tightly as you do now, you will not long have the privilege of choice. You will be both dead and out of fashion."

I have always LOVED that quote....perfect!!

[L Verge]

Someone asked earlier about facilities for bathing in the White House. I found this on a White House site, but couldn't get the prints and photos to transfer:

This 1853 print illustrated a presidential reception in the East Room

The White House of Franklin Pierce represented the best domestic technology of its time. This 1853 print illustrated a presidential reception in the East Room.

1850s

The 1850s saw many improvements and expansions to the mansion's existing conveniences. By this time many Americans who had gaslight wondered how they had ever lived without it. President Zachary Taylor ordered an enlargement of the gas system into the White House's offices, family quarters, and basement. Millard Fillmore determined that the house should be comfortable in any season and had the heating system improved. The White House of Franklin Pierce came to represent the best domestic technology of its time (1853). The heating plant was modified again with the addition of a hot-water furnace that was more efficient and healthful because the air was warmed directly by coils rather than "cooked" from outside the air chamber. Pierce also made significant improvements to the plumbing and toilet facilities, including the installation of a bathroom on the second floor with the first permanent bathing facilities. The new bathroom was luxurious in having both hot and cold water piped in. Before 1853 bathing on the second floor required portable bathtubs, and kettles of hot water had to be hauled up from the existing east wing bathing room.

Source: William Seale, The President's House, 283, 291, 315-16; and William Seale, The White House: The History of an American Idea, 90.

1860s

... The Lincolns also had the added convenience of cold running water for washstands in their rooms. During this time the gas system was also expanded, and a new spring-bell system enabled Lincoln to signal the reception room and his secretaries without leaving his desk. With the remodeling of the office areas in 1866, Andrew Johnson installed the first telegraph room in the southeast corner room next to his office. As the decade drew to a close, an electric call- bell system was added to the mansion, connecting the State and second floor to the servants' hall, and additional stations were added to the old manual system which was activated by levers and cords.

Source: William Seale, The President's House, 379, 385, 426, 469.

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Another interesting site about the history of bathing in the White House: https://www.plumbingsupply.com/pmwhitehouse.html

[Eva Elisabeth]

Many thanks, Laurie, I asked about this! The bathroom facilities the Lincolns had were better than I expected!
RE: "Actually the first bathtub at the White House was the Potomac River." (on the linked site) - John Quincy Adams was said to swim nude in the Potomac early each morning.

[L Verge]

...until someone walked off with his clothes one morning, and he had to yell for help until a young boy ran to the White House to summons someone. Wasn't he the President with a pet alligator? Wonder if he took Al into the river with him?