JPK Huson 1863
Brev. Brig. Gen'l
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2012
- Location
- Central Pennsylvania
Yes, he faced unimaginable hazards to make it home from the war. Who knew he was almost as lucky to find her alive and well as she was to get him back? That's a slight over-statement; it's still true.
Like we didn't have enough problems. Between legal and social inequalities and not being able to vote for MEN with the faintest interest in correcting any of them, being born a girl 150 years ago wasn't all giggles, lace and cotillions. It was also a dangerous enterprise, if they but knew. In fact, any time you see someone of the era refer to their grandmother please be amazed. Some female navigated the waters of chick-dom long enough to see grandchildren.
The ' down ' scale on this hysterical ' Stages of Life ' illustration ( pre-war ) features quite a few women the artist seems to have invented out of thin air and ink.
You'd be looking at a woman so genetically gifted you couldn't beat her death with several sticks.
Posted before on most of these- as a collection it's a little eye-popping. WHY are any of us here?
Just a day in the life. There's been a lot of conjecture as to the cause of Mary Custis Lee's illness. My opinion is she had some form of auto-immune disorder but she also took a ' blue pill '. That was a commonly prescribed medication for women for everything from aches and pains to ( my favorite ) ' hysteria '. It was mercury, a substance so toxic they no longer use it for thermometers.
Crinoline- aka ' hoops '. This death-by-fashion caused so many deaths and was the cause of so many accidents Queen Victoria finally outlawed them in England Women were dragged to death when their hoops caught on carriage wheels, burned to death when they brushed fireplaces, drowned when they fell helpless and encumbered into water, stabbed when springs let loose and impaled them and in at least one memorial instance died by lightening strike. Men loathed them- try kissing a female wearing those things much less dancing with her much less sitting next to her. That iconic, uber romantic outline of the era was an intrusive death trap.
Crinolines were lampooned viciously in the press but the fashion persisted until just post war, to be replaced with the slightly less preposterous bustle.
Corsets- crinolines only ' worked ' as a means to accentuate a wasp-waist and er, ample bosum. That was achieved by what can only be called a pulley system, stays and laces hauling in as much flesh AND bones as could be stuffed into as small a space as possible. There was some truth in our famous, era fainters. The poor girls couldn't breath. Beyond that, doctors began screaming. Your innards were getting displaced, darn it.
For some reason the practice of ' enameling ' doesn't get discussed. Makeup on crack, you went to ' salons ' to get shellacked with white paste. It was like being embalmed while alive. Practitioners claimed they could cover you for a week, month or forever ( which meant you couldn't wash your face ). Main ingredient? Arsenic.
There was a dye called " Paris Green " weirdly not banned for import ( swear this is true ) until 1920. SO toxic it once took out a father and his 2 sons whose living room wall paper was green and created lethal air heated by a toasty fire, women's gowns, fake flowers, shoes and ribbons were dyed with Paris Green. A LOT of women became ill, some died. Marie Tepe in fact committed suicide by deliberately drinking green paint- she knew the arsenic in Paris Green used in that paint would kill her. And it did. Read where a gown dropped arsenic laden dust as a woman danced.
It's a little macabre- this era ad in Demorest's? Probably had Paris Green in the dye used for the paper.
There's more although I'm running out of time. Time for one more today, anyway. I've always wondered about this- HOW could those lovely, flowing riding habits not cause accidents? Been on a horse most of my life, did every stupid thing to try to get myself killed while up there, too. You just don't need this kind of help. I won't post the whole article, you get the idea.
Haven't gotten to some of the medical hazards. Women's medical care wasn't actually as barbaric as it's been made to sound but a few aspects sure contributed to a shortened life span. Con't Thursday- out tomorrow.