The Spangler Connection

[J. Beckert]

I wonder how often he changed his clothes. There are so many pictures of him wearing the same clothes and the clerk from the National ID'd him on the Montauk partially by the vest he always wore. I wonder if in that time, before dry cleaning, if they just brushed off their clothes and wore them until they fell apart.

[L Verge]

You are exactly right as to everyone's proclivity to keep wearing their clothes without laundering them frequently. Mr. Booth had a more extensive wardrobe than most men of his day. I believe the average man of the first half of the 19th century had maybe three work outfits and two "Sunday-go-to-meeting" suits.

[Jim Garrett]

I believe Laurie is pretty much on the mark. I remember my grandmother telling me her father essentially wore one business suit of clothes all year long and had it clean once a year. He was a pharmacist. He would place his suit between his mattress and the springs every night to press them.

[L Verge]

When we first opened Surratt House, we did an exhibit entitled "Never Done," which discussed what women went through on a daily basis as housekeepers. One of our members at that time had an extensive collection of housekeeping tools to share.

One of our visitors to the museum was a 90-year-old gentleman who regaled his guide with his memories of seeing his mother doing chores. One thing we learned from him was his mother's system of cleaning woolen clothes in the days before dry cleaning establishments. She would wait until a very cold day, immerse the clothes in water, and then hang them on the line to dry with plenty of water still left in the fabric. When the clothes froze solid, she then took a rug beater to them to chip away the ice. Supposedly dirt particles in the fabric froze into the ice and were knocked out by the beater. Now, that was eco-friendly!