9 million pounds of Skirt Hoops!

John Hartwell

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Scientific American for March 28, 1863, reports on a French calculation that French-made steel hoops for skirts weighed a total of 2,400,000 kg. Those made in England comprised another 1,200,000 kg; while those made elsewhere were estimated at 500,000 kg.

That's 4,200,000 kg, or more than 9,259,415 pounds of steel skirt hoops. I didn't even know they were made of steel.

Those ladies must have been exhausted!
 
Scientific American for March 28, 1863, reports on a French calculation that French-made steel hoops for skirts weighed a total of 2,400,000 kg. Those made in England comprised another 1,200,000 kg; while those made elsewhere were estimated at 500,000 kg.

That's 4,200,000 kg, or more than 9,259,415 pounds of steel skirt hoops. I didn't even know they were made of steel.

Those ladies must have been exhausted!

Yes, and quite a few thought it silly enough, bone hoops not being unwieldy enough, a kind of fashion coup was attempted- the Dress Reform Movement. I'm no fan of the whole hoop endeavor. Given how simple, elegant and comparatively unencumbered were women of the Austin era, it seems to me an horrific slide backwards to panniers, corsets and lacings, like walking around in a giant kennel, on a leash.

The anti-hoop, steel or no missed the mark, too however. Good Heavens! Just because the suffering for the sake of ' pretty ' had become torturous, what was offered as an alternative was a very unhelpful! This is Dr. Cox embracing the movement, and understandably. There were stories of wounded harmed further by women in insisting on wearing their hoops, bumping hospital beds. She would also have wished to be unencumbered while performing some pretty physical work.
dress reform dr cox.jpg


But? Over reaction? Surely, surely, we could have mailed all those steel cages back from whence they came, raised hems out of hearth's way yet not contrived to leave behind every vestige of femininity? Predictably, the movement largely failed.
 
Don't forget the lady whose life was saved when a bullet fired at her bounced off her skirt hoops! :wink:
Wow. How would that even happen, the way they swayed so much, and as small (narrow) as they were? I mean, because the hoops swayed, wouldn't the minie ball just knock it aside and continue toward its target? I'm not sure what the ballistics would be on a moving target like that. I'm thinking the wire of the hoop would be about half the width of a minie ball, maybe less. I suppose it could happen--with all the shots fired in all the directions, anything is possible.

Was that something a man could have made up in the period, or was it the woman herself telling the tale? I'd be curious to see the original story. There was a sort of genre of stories about how crazy those foolish hoops are that women insist on wearing, so it's possible this fit within that.
 
Oh, who knows, right? Of course it's an eye popping story but the thing is, the war is full of near miss stories which make us gasp- the artillery shot which soared exactly into the mouth of a gun on the opposing side, bullets found fused together, having met in mid-air ( and not an ebay, bullet-through the belt buckle, tourist buy ), the shredded Bible saving a soldier's life- even reading through journals where a soldier hears a bullet missing him by a thread. Still awfully lucky, just a shot which occurred a million times with no record or proof.

Honestly not arguing with you, James- and have learned to ( try! ) to look at a good, balanced picture because you and a few others here at CWT draw on fact and historical record. Some stories, like the poor fictitious woman 150 years pregnant from a bullet wound we know Snopes would disdain to investigate ( or should ). Quite a few others are getting jumped on- like the Confederate soldier at Antietam whose only crime was giving water to wounded Union soldiers? Because no one thought to record his deed on Instagram at the time, all of a sudden it's probably myth. Sorry to drag him in here- this made me think of that thread.
 
Crinoline hoops.

Early 19th century women began their dressing routine by first putting on their stockings, held up by garters, and followed that with drawers, two separate legs attached to a waist band. Next they put on a chemise, an undergarment that was similar to a nightgown. Several starched petticoats were then added to create a bell-shape silhouette. Next came the stifling corset and finally the dress itself was donned to complete the effect.
The dressing process took quite some time to complete and the difficulty was compounded due to the fact that women in the early 1800’s often changed clothes several times during the course of a day.
The crinoline hoops were made of spring steel or watch-spring steel, a material that was flexible and allowed the hoops to be pressed out of shape for storage and transportation. The bendable hoops also made it easier to get in and out of carriages.
Apparently the hoops were originally made from Whale bone, horse hair and cane, I guess that those women were quite happy with the invention of crinoline.
 
I have been told (although not sure of this) that the first steel produced in the US went into hoop skirts, not guns.

Anyone know for sure?
Do you mean any steel, or spring steel? I'm betting hoop skirts used up more spring steel than anything else, and therefore would be a desperate and profitable market. In fact, what other uses are there of spring steel? Watches? Were wagon springs of spring steel? That would use quite a bit, but I dunno, there was probably a woman for every wagon, and hoops wore out and changed with fashion, while wagon springs lasted forever. What other major market would there be for spring steel?
 
Do you mean any steel, or spring steel? I'm betting hoop skirts used up more spring steel than anything else, and therefore would be a desperate and profitable market. In fact, what other uses are there of spring steel? Watches? Were wagon springs of spring steel? That would use quite a bit, but I dunno, there was probably a woman for every wagon, and hoops wore out and changed with fashion, while wagon springs lasted forever. What other major market would there be for spring steel?

James,

All I heard was the word 'steel' not any variation of it.

Sorry,
Unionblue
 
The steel hoops that came out in the mid 1850s were considered liberating because they replaced up to half a dozen heavily starched petticoats, which weighed a lot more. They were also cheaper! The total poundage of steel for millions of women was of course considerable, but a single "cage" with two petticoats (one under, one over) was lighter than the alternative and also airy (better in hot weather).

Women who did chores (not everyone had servants) obviously didn't wear their cages while scrubbing floors or milking the cow! And nurses were not supposed to wear hoops while on duty. Judging from the photos, they did hasten to don their hoops before posing for photographers!

BTW, the corset was donned before the petticoats. One of the purposes of the corset was to distribute the weight of the petticoats, transferring part of the weight to the upper hips. And the corset couldn't be tightened over multiple petticoats!
 
I still can't get over how fashion seems to have traveled backwards from the much lighter, simpler days of Regency dresses. Didn't everything seem to be moving in the right direction for comfort, weight and appeal, too? Is it just me, thinking gosh, after the relative freedom enjoyed during Regency days, how awful to stuff oneself into all those layers and a cage?

regency 1.jpg

regency 2.jpg
regency 3.jpg

Pinterest
 
Do you mean any steel, or spring steel? I'm betting hoop skirts used up more spring steel than anything else, and therefore would be a desperate and profitable market. In fact, what other uses are there of spring steel? Watches? Were wagon springs of spring steel? That would use quite a bit, but I dunno, there was probably a woman for every wagon, and hoops wore out and changed with fashion, while wagon springs lasted forever. What other major market would there be for spring steel?
I think piano wire was made of spring steel, also springs for beds in fact spring steel was used on anything where the metal was expected to deform or compress. I'm pretty sure that spring steel was also used in the sword making process, apparently spring steel is made from a mixture of steels, it was the carbon fibre of its day.
 
Don't forget the lady whose life was saved when a bullet fired at her bounced off her skirt hoops! :wink:

Wow. How would that even happen, the way they swayed so much, and as small (narrow) as they were? I mean, because the hoops swayed, wouldn't the minie ball just knock it aside and continue toward its target? I'm not sure what the ballistics would be on a moving target like that. I'm thinking the wire of the hoop would be about half the width of a minie ball, maybe less. I suppose it could happen--with all the shots fired in all the directions, anything is possible.

Was that something a man could have made up in the period, or was it the woman herself telling the tale? I'd be curious to see the original story. There was a sort of genre of stories about how crazy those foolish hoops are that women insist on wearing, so it's possible this fit within that.

Ah.......that was just a joke, though as JPK says, anything could happen :wink:
 
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