Mary Lincoln Jewelry, etc. at Lincoln Heritage Museum

[RJNorton]

http://www.illinoishomepage.net/ciliving...6oRjBvMhUQ

[L Verge]

(04-11-2015 09:43 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  http://www.illinoishomepage.net/ciliving...6oRjBvMhUQ

What a unique brooch. I had never seen nor read about it before. Thanks for the posting.

[Gene C]

Join us this October when the Springfield Tour visits this wonderful museum

[L Verge]

Gene, you have no idea how I wish I could go along on some of these tours.

[Eva Elisabeth]

(04-11-2015 01:07 PM)L Verge Wrote:  

(04-11-2015 09:43 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  http://www.illinoishomepage.net/ciliving...6oRjBvMhUQ

What a unique brooch. I had never seen nor read about it before. Thanks for the posting.

I second this - fascinating!!! THANKS for posting!

[LincolnToddFan]

Roger, this is fascinating stuff...THANK YOU for posting it!!

[Donna McCreary]

Gene, when you visit, see if you can look at the documentation on that brooch. I would like to see a dated receipt. I have spent years studying mourning attire and jewelry and have never, ever seen one piece of mourning jewelry that is blue. It looks like a presentation piece, not something that was actually worn. Also, a mourning fan is not suppose to have spangles. Mary was a typical Victorian fashion plate. She may have exaggerated a fashion, (such as flowers in the hair - her arrangements were larger than most) but she did not break fashion rules.

[Gene C]

We will certainly try. Want to join us?

[L Verge]

(04-21-2015 08:34 PM)Donna McCreary Wrote:  Gene, when you visit, see if you can look at the documentation on that brooch. I would like to see a dated receipt. I have spent years studying mourning attire and jewelry and have never, ever seen one piece of mourning jewelry that is blue. It looks like a presentation piece, not something that was actually worn. Also, a mourning fan is not suppose to have spangles. Mary was a typical Victorian fashion plate. She may have exaggerated a fashion, (such as flowers in the hair - her arrangements were larger than most) but she did not break fashion rules.

I thought the same thing about the fan when I saw it sparkle at me, Donna. You are very likely correct in suspecting that the brooch is a presentation piece because it certainly does not have any of the characteristics of a mourning piece (or coming out of mourning piece).

[LincolnToddFan]

Did Mary don permanent mourning in 1862 after the death of Willie...or was it after the assassination in 1865?

[RJNorton]

(04-22-2015 06:30 PM)LincolnToddFan Wrote:  Did Mary don permanent mourning in 1862 after the death of Willie...or was it after the assassination in 1865?

Toia, I have a book entitled Mary Lincoln's Dressmaker: Elizabeth Keckley's Remarkable Rise from Slave to White House Confidante. The author, Becky Rutberg, writes as follows:

"For more than a year after Willie's death, Mary Lincoln wore black mourning clothes, even though the custom called for wearing black for only six months. Her headgear was so rigidly constructed, she was unable to turn her head. She wore jet-black jewelry. She used writing paper bordered with thick black margins.

Eventually, Mrs. Lincoln dressed in half-mourning colors of lavender, gray, and somber purples with a bit of white, colors denoting the next stage of grief."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Jennifer Bach writes:

"After Lincoln's assassination, his widow buried herself in mourning garb for the rest of her life. Although many Victorians observed long, ritualized mourning periods, Mrs. Lincoln's more than seventeen years in black far exceeded the two-and-a-half-year custom for widows."

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jala/2629860...w=fulltext

[Donna McCreary]

Roger -- are you telling me that you looked in something other than FASHIONABLE FIRST LADY for information about Mary's clothing?? Someone, please, hand me a bottle of smelling salts!

Mary did wear mourning longer than necessary for Willie. However, she also came out of mourning when the occasion required it such as on February 13, 1863 when she wore a pink silk gown to the wedding reception held in honor of Charles Sherwood Stratton (Tom Thumb) and his bride. By August 1863, Mary was completely out of mourning attire when she vacationed in the White Mountains and was wearing a chequered (sic) riding habit. Mary was forced back into mourning when her brother, Levi Todd (the only brother who supported the Union) died. Before she was out of mourning attire in honor of Levi, her uncle John Todd passed away. John had been a father figure to Mary when she moved to Springfield. Custom required wearing half mourning for each of these men. Mary was still wearing half-mourning when Lincoln was assassinated.
She chose to wear mourning for the remained of her life -- but so did many other women. Mary's half sister Emilie wore mourning for her husband Ben from his death in 1863 until her death in 1930.

[Eva Elisabeth]

At the second inauguration ball, "Mrs. Lincoln, with jasmine and violets woven in her hair, wore a white satin off-the-shoulder gown".
I read Tad asked her not to wear mourning on his 18th birthday, and she allegedly she satisfied his wish.

[Donna McCreary]

(04-23-2015 06:36 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  At the second inauguration ball, "Mrs. Lincoln, with jasmine and violets woven in her hair, wore a white satin off-the-shoulder gown".
I read Tad asked her not to wear mourning on his 18th birthday, and she allegedly she satisfied his wish.

Eva, I have also read that Tad asked her not to wear mourning on his birthday. One source said that she set aside the deep mourning and wore a softer shade of black that day. Whatever she wore, she did not wear the white dress with ruffles that costumers have her wear in the play "The Last of Mrs. Lincoln."