Mary Todd Lincoln's faux pas (plural), worse, and much worse

[Eva Elisabeth]

Or, are you suggesting that the 1867 newspaper report was based upon a complete fiction?

Yes. I consider it likely, and you can't prove the opposite unless coming up with at least another contemporary account, at best a witness' name. To me it seems most likely someone who disliked the former First Lady expanded and embellished his memory to add his share in the delight the press had in the clothes scandal.


My question remains - why did the story (if true) not spread at the time when it was current and rather of interest than two years later?