1919 Corset Ad

I came across an ad-article for Gossard Corsets in the March 1919 issue of Women's Home Companion, and was intrigued by their take on "What the War Has Taught Us About Corsets." Or rather, I was interested in how the conclusion presented is almost diametrically opposed to every modern narrative I've heard about how corsets interacted with women's expanded sphere of activity during WWI. 

What the War Has Taught Us About Corsets 

NEVER in in the world's history has any one article of clothing been so prominently brought before the world as an economic force, as has the corset by the part it played in the Great War. 

It was demonstrated to the Governments of Europe in the early stages of the conflict that women could not stand the burden of their unaccustomed duties unless they were properly corseted. 

Thousands broke down under the strain of the new work and production suffered. When these same women were put into proper corsets, sickness decreased and in many instances production was practically doubled. 

From then on corsets were recognized as an essential in war work and when America's women responded 35,000,000 strong to their Country's call GOSSARD Corsets The Original Front Lacing Corsets [emphasis original] were privileged to contribute, in a large way, to the important duty of preserving their health and efficiency. 

Daily it was demonstrated that the correctly corseted woman was capable of greater and more sustained effort than her uncorseted or poorly corseted sister. The hygienic body support of a correctly designed and fitted corset kept thousands of willing workers well and sustained that splendid woman power that was one of the greatest forces contributing to the conclusion of a successful peace. 

Not only has the war taught every thinking woman the value of correct corseting; it has taught her the wisdon of buying only corsets that are hygienically correct; it has taught her to be fitted carefully and to adjust her corset each time it is worn so she may realize its full benefit and service. 

Gossard Corsets are the complete expression of modern corsetry. If possible, the new Spring and Summer corsets are superior to those of the past season which were generally acknowledged to be without equal in meeting the needs of active womanhood from the stand point of comfort, hygiene and style. 

Even allowing for bias (the whole point of this ad is to sell corsets), the fact that this ad was written in this way indicates that someone in 1919 thought 'corsets help you work better and achieve more' was a plausible and persuasive line or argument for other people in 1919. Which is a useful data point to keep in mind when evaluating the claim that corsets fell out of favor because women started doing a wider variety of active work during the later 1910s.

Foods in Season: September, 1861

It's a new month, so it's time to once again check Beeton's Book of Household Management to see what's in season (in/around London) in September:

Fish- Brill, carp, cod, eels, flounders, lobsters, mullet, oysters, plaice, prawns, skate, soles, sturgeon, turbot, whitling, whitebait.

Meat- Beef, lamb, mutton, pork, veal.

Poultry- Chickens, ducks, fowls, geese, larks, pigeons, pullets, rabbits, teal, turkeys.

Game- Blackcock, buck venison, grouse, hares, partridges, pheasant. 

Vegetables- Artichokes, asparagus, beans, cabbages sprouts, carrots, celery, cresses, lettuces, mushrooms, onions, pease, potatoes, salading, sea-kale, sprouts, tomatoes, turnips, vegetable marrow, various kitchen herbs.

Fruit- Bullaces, damsons, figs, filberts, grapes, melons, morella-cherries, mulberries, nectarines, peaches, pears, plums, quinces, walnuts.

While overall diversity remains high, September sees multiple changes in almost every cateogry. Fish saw extensive turnover, with 11 removals and 5 new varieties added. Pork has come into the meat category, making the first change there since May.  Buck venison did come off the meat list, but only because it moved to the game category, which saw the addition of partridges and pheasants. Poultry saw ducks and turkeys replace ducklings and turkey poults (understandably), as well as larks and teals replacing plovers, wheatears, and wild ducks. Cauliflower, cresses, endive, and radishes are all off the vegetable list, though tomatoes have come onto it. Bullaces, damsons, morella-cherries, and quinces have replaced currants, gooseberries, pineapples, and raspberries on the fruit list.

The "green goose" listed back in August refers to its diet: a goose culled in summer that has been eating green grass versus the "stubble goose" of the autumn that is turned loose on on harvested grain fields to feed. It's not clear to me whether Beeton is using "goose" in the list here to mean "stubble-fed goose" or in a more general sense indicating that multiple varieties are available. Stubble-fed geese, I am told, are traditional at Michaelmas in late September, so this might be a case where there's variation between what is available at the beginning and end of the month.

Original: 19th Century Bathing Costume

 For August, how about a late 19th century bathing costume?

 

Wool bathing costume bodice with later "skirt"
From Historic New England.

The wool flannel I expected, though I would love to know when and why it acquired that printed 'skirt.' Also impressed that the stockings, trousers, and top have all survived and stayed together so long. I wish there was a photo of the trousers, and one showing the shirt with a sleeve out (to give a better idea of the shoulder position and sleeve shape).

August Mending

 More little sewing tasks built up this month: I got to repair several spots on my 1850s corset, mend a torn seam on my sunbonnet (?!) and fix the petticoat tie that tore off at our last Homespun Happy Hour of the summer.

Blackberry Jelly

Blackberry Jelly, this time, from The Improved Housewife (1845, 20th ed 1855)

 

Very visually interesting blackberry jelly.

My plan is to use it for creams or molded jellies later this year, as described in Beeton's. I wouldn't have bothered with jelly otherwise: jam is much easier to make, yields more per pound fruit, and tastes the same on scones. However, the seeds and pulp would be a problem in a jelly mold, and I had another large haul of blackberries, so jelly it was.

For this pint, I used about 3 lbs of blackberries. I put the berries though through the food mill, and then strained the juice through a cloth, but some seeds seem to have gotten around the edges. Fortunately, most of the seeds stayed in the fibrous pulp in the first place, so the jelly's relatively clear.

Per the receipt, I added 1 lb of sugar to the pint of juice successfully collected, brought it to a boil with a partial egg white (aiming for 1/3 per the recipe ratio, but this was pure estimation), took it off the heat to skim the resulting foam (some of which even adhered to the egg white), and brought back to a boil. After a second skim, I transferred the jelly to a clean pint jar and processed for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.

After making so much jam, the yield was a bit of a disappointment, though that's entirely on me. If this works out well for a molded jelly or cream, I'll likely make more jellies next year for the same reason. If not, I'll probably stick to jams for the bulk of my fruit preserves, as they are much less work and leave me with fewer dishes to wash. 

Blackberry Jam, 1846

More summer preserves, this time Blackberry Jam from Miss Beecher's Domestic Receipt Book (1846; 3rd ed, 1856.) 

Blackberry Jam. Allow three quarters of a pound of brown sugar to a pound of fruit. Boil the fruit half an hour, then add the sugar and boil all together ten minutes. 

 

I ended up with 68 oz of blackberries (4 1/4 lbs, or just short of one ice-cream tub full), and thus used 51 oz brown sugar. Anticipating about 4 pints of jam, as previous batches seem to produce just under 1 pint jam per pound berries, I was pleasantly surprised to get 5 pints (1 pint, 6 half-pints, 4 quarter-pints to be precise), which I must put down to the extra sugar, and no material being lost to skimming. Processed 10 minutes, based on my current elevation.

Obviously, this receipt was very similar to the jams in Eliza Acton's book, but with a higher proportion of sugar, and the specification to use brown sugar with the blackberries. I had planned to follow Acton's advice about skimming, but found it unnecessary, as no scum of any sort rose to the top of the mixture (perhaps why Beecher makes no mention of it). As usual, I consulted modern recipes for safe water-bath processing times, and to check that the sugar to fruit ratio is high enough. These historic receipts generally resemble the modern ones quite closely, except that they rely on boiling the fruit alone to thicken the preserves, instead of adding pectin.

 

Foods in Season: August 1861

Back to Beeton's Book of Household Management to see what's in season (in/around London) in August:

Fish- Brill, carp, chub, crayfish, crabs, dory, eels, flounders, grigs, herring, lobsters, mullet, pike, prawns, salmon, shrimps, skate, soles, sturgeon, thornbeck, trout, turbot.

Meat- Beef, lamb, mutton, veal, buck venison.

Poultry- Chickens, ducklings, fowls, green geese, pigeons, plovers, pullets, rabbits, turkey poults, wheatears, wild ducks. 

Game- Leverets, grouse, blackcock.

Vegetables- Artichokes, asparagus, beans, cabbages, carrots, cauliflowers, celery, cresses, endive, lettuces, mushrooms, onions, pease, potatoes, radishes, small salading, sea-kale, sprouts, turnips, vegetable marrow, various kitchen herbs.

Fruit- Currants, figs, filberts, gooseberries, grapes, melons, mulberries, nectarines, peaches, pears, pineapples, plums, raspberries, walnuts.

Fish again is the category with the most changes, with nine new additions and three removals. The meat category remains the same as in July (and June).  Pigeons have been added to the poultry category, while leverets have moved into the revived category of game. Potatoes are back in the vegetable category. Fruit has seen the most changes after fish: apricots, cherries, and strawberries have passed out of season, replaced by filberts (hazelnuts) and mulberries.