Baby It's ( Still ) Cold Outside

JPK Huson 1863

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
Joined
Feb 14, 2012
Location
Central Pennsylvania
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With " snow pellets " coating our deck and Christmas around the corner decided an edit of this thread would remind us again how much we share with our ancestors, " snow pellets " notwithstanding. I could title the thread " In Memory Of Sleet ", our National Weather Service informing us all these years we've been misinformed. No longer ' sleet ' but ' snow pellets '. folks.

What this will do down at USPS seems more chilling than the prospect of another few inches of snow and snow pellets today. " Through Rain and Snow Pellets and .....The Mail Must Go On. "

It seems to me despite how much more difficult it was 150 years ago to battle the elements our ancestors went far beyond what we seem willing today. Certainly, photographic evidence may not be representative because only those who could afford ' extras ' indulged. Regardless, sheer feminine style coupled with immense practicality given what we know were living conditions beats, hand's down, anything I've seen women wearing during snow pellet season 150 years later.

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Pinterest, Ebay
 
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Wonderful photos, thank you!! But that green dress with the decorative Buttons from the shoulder down to the hem of the skirt make me cringe. That ultra-slim waist!! How could she breathe, not to speak of eat just one tiny bit!! Must be size minus 4!!! But extremely elegant. And is it pure coincidence that so many of these ladies in winter attire seem to be pregnant? Or were more children born in winter?
 
My first thought: Carrying all that around must have been an excellent workout.

My second thought: Upon returning home after a winter evening party, undressing must have been at least a little funny.
*off comes gloves and hat* *off comes layer #1* ... 5 minutes of struggling ... *off comes layer #2* ... 5 minutes of wiggling...*off comes layer #3*
 
Wonderful photos, thank you!! But that green dress with the decorative Buttons from the shoulder down to the hem of the skirt make me cringe. That ultra-slim waist!! How could she breathe, not to speak of eat just one tiny bit!! Must be size minus 4!!! But extremely elegant. And is it pure coincidence that so many of these ladies in winter attire seem to be pregnant? Or were more children born in winter?

I thought the very same thing with that teeny-tiny green dress! Puts Scarlett O'Hara's 16 inch waist to shame! Goodness it looked 12 inches around - if that! The owner of that dress must have done a great deal of fainting and very little eating!

I wonder if the pregnant ladies were so attired to hide their pregnancy? I know it was something that was not discussed and women did try to mask it, so maybe they had a rare opportunity to have their photo taken because the roving photographer showed up in their town and they just happened to be pregnant, so they chose to hide it despite the season? Think about it - how often do we take photos with all our winter gear on not unless we're on ski slope or building a snowman, etc. Of course maybe they were showing off their wealth, too with the fur muffs and capes, too for all I know. Just surmising a possible reason for the abundance of winter bedecked pregnant ladies.
 

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This at first appears to have been taken at the same instant by one of those four-lensed cameras, but if you look closely at the veil and her expression I believe you can see that they were more likely instead two different exposures, right and left made one-after-the-other. Stereopticon or stereo cameras featured twin side-by-side lenses in order to create the double images necessary for the three-dimensional viewers so popular at the time and later. They could also be used in photographing images for CDV's that would allow more than a single exposure at a time, and sometimes these had even more lenses like this appears to have had.
 
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I found an interesting variation on this winter hood (also called a "Little Red Riding Hood" after the folk tale, whose French title is "Le Petit Capuchon Rouge"). This one (also shown above) is from the January 1862 Peterson's magazine:
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In a recent blog post by Anna Worden Bauersmith https://annaworden.wordpress.com/2015/10/30/research-brain-implosion/
she mentions finding an article in an English magazine showing a very similar cape and hood, recommended for use before and after sea bathing. Made of merino or cashmere, it would keep your head warm while your wet hair was drying (no hair dryers back in those days!) on the chilly beaches of England or northern France.
 
I wonder if those narrow waists shown on some of the dresses (far too incredibly narrow to be believable) are pinned back behind the dress form! We'll never know unless we are allowed to walk behind the originals, which is unlikely! I got to examine a fairly large collection of original 19th century dresses during a workshop last spring (very carefully, wearing white gloves). None of them had waists that narrow!
 
I wonder if those narrow waists shown on some of the dresses (far too incredibly narrow to be believable) are pinned back behind the dress form! We'll never know unless we are allowed to walk behind the originals, which is unlikely! I got to examine a fairly large collection of original 19th century dresses during a workshop last spring (very carefully, wearing white gloves). None of them had

I'm thinking no responsible archivist would do such a thing to a garment of that quality....doesn't mean someone else wouldn't, though!

However, my Exhibit A -- actress and dancer Vera-Ellen--with no corset. :smile: Possible, indeed. (Not common, certainly!)

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Staying warm in the Winter is one thing, but try fighting a war in Winter conditions. Soldiers from the Deep South were ill prepared for the weather in Virginia.

Many a soldier spent a cold Winter night thinking about their loved ones at home.

Thank you for posting these photographs.


http://www.3gvi.org/ga3history.html

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(left to right) Columbus C. Taylor, killed at Malvern Hill, July 1st, 1862. Jas D. Jackson, killed at Malvern Hill, July 1st, 1862. James H. Porter, detailed for railroad service... discharged January, 1862. All three enlisted in Co. D, 3rd Reg. Ga. Vol. Inf. April 26th, 1861. The photo was taken near Richmond during the winter of 1861-1862. Their uniforms, weapons, and acoutrements (note Georgia oval belt buckles) were typical of those used in the early campaigns of the Regiment.
(Confederate Museum)
 
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This at first appears to have been taken at the same instant by one of those four-lensed cameras, but if you look closely at the veil and her expression I believe you can see that they were more likely instead two different exposures, right and left made one-after-the-other. Stereopticon or stereo cameras featured twin side-by-side lenses in order to create the double images necessary for the three-dimensional viewers so popular at the time and later. They could also be used in photographing images for CDV's that would allow more than a single exposure at a time, and sometimes these had even more lenses like this appears to have had.

Too cool thank you, so that is what is up with these? Yes, did not notice- and now that you mentioned it the images are different! Little silly not to have noticed since her entire veil has been arranged over her face.

Bet I can't find it at this moment- this explains an image which has always baffled me! One of these- 4 images like this supposedly the same on a sheet. It's a shot of a wharf, Pamunkey, supply ships, etc., soldiers on shore. There's one man bathing in the water, right under the dock. Everything else in the images remains the same- doesn't move- this man is somewhere else in 3 squares, missing in the 4th square. Never been able to make sense of it because I've always thought these were just print outs of one photo! OH wait- have one of the squares, the one with the man missing. Maybe you've seen it? Off thread, will get back on moderator, promise! This is too distracting!

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In the other shots on the same sheet, a man is bathing in the water, right around the area at the end of that dinghy.
 
Wonderful photos, thank you!! But that green dress with the decorative Buttons from the shoulder down to the hem of the skirt make me cringe. That ultra-slim waist!! How could she breathe, not to speak of eat just one tiny bit!! Must be size minus 4!!! But extremely elegant. And is it pure coincidence that so many of these ladies in winter attire seem to be pregnant? Or were more children born in winter?

Everyone seems to have noticed her teeny, tiny waist, right? Wonder if ok, the photo itself was manipulated- you know, like they manipulate photos of fashion models? I'll go poke around because somewhere in my memory this outfit exists on a normal person! @MaryDee yes, I'm thinking more the photo is not real rather than pinned? Good thought except as you said, these old things are fragile? Can't imagine a curator allowing pins or clips?

Now, why anyone would feel this is more attractive than a normal person, no idea. I also apologize for posting it! Really had not taken a good look at how absurd the proportions were- I'll replace it with it's original when found. It's a lovely piece but gee whiz- in the day when it was produced, this female would not have had gentlemen callers. TB loomed large as a disease which killed nearly all diagnosed- a female this frail? Consumptive.

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We had muffs as little girls, anyone else? Used them, too. I don't think they were just trendy.




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Military coats must have been hugely warm- the experts here would know. They look to be very thick? Perhaps it depended on the supplier- just remembered the various scandals where shoddy became the word it is today. Fabric ' shoddy 'supplied to our armies literally melted in the rain, so cheap.

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