The Assassination on the Screen - Comparisons

[L Verge]

John, think of those scratchy crinoline petticoats that girls of our age wore in the 1950s. They were half-slips that could slip off just like our silky ones today. Hoop skirts were actually called crinolines in the 1860s, but they were row upon row of graduated wire hoops that began at the waist and got larger as they descended downward. Sort of like a bird cage. They were/are very easy to get out of - but only in private (I hope).

I have to tell the story of one of our guides (members of the Surratt Society will know her, so no names given) who was working the upstairs hallway during one of our Victorian Craft Fairs on the lawn. She left her post without knowing that she had left her hoop behind. It had literally come untied from her waist and slipped to the floor. I don't know how she missed tripping over it as she started to move, but when I spotted it there was no one around. I just picked it up and went looking for someone missing a hoop skirt - they're easy to spot. She was standing chatting on the front lawn and was quite embarrassed when I handed her hoops back to her. I wonder how many times that happened at functions in the mid-1800s?