Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1856-09-10
4 DEFENCE OF HOOPS-THEIR UTILITY AND
-..--.....- BEATTY,

Hoped skirts were an experiment last
year, put forth with many misgivings; bul
this season Roman triumph. :. The ladies'
by that union which is strength, have prac
tically put the vexed question at rest by
hopping themselves lin the language ol
Daniel Webster) to the fullest extent. And
not only do they take possession of the
streets of our cities, these victorious hoops,
but in our rural district they pass out Of
doors of every pleasant farm house, and in
our villages they sail up the aisles of. every
church. We 60 with the ladies {uot in thus
enclosing our lower limbs) but, in our deci.
dsd approval of this piece Of 'restare-and
stand prepared to render our reason for SO
doing. ~: D. - ~. "a .... :.
might state, but . / would. hardlysrely
upon reason, which a good.natured friend
suggested in behalf of hooped skirt, name.
ly, that it would act admirably in certain
cases as life-preserver. If lady thus
robed should happen to fail down from the
roof Of q house, the faH.spread skirt would
let her down to the ground as gently rs
thoughsshe.already shad on pais Of fangels
wings. Or, if she were cast far out upon
the deep water, some ill.fated steamboat ex.
plosion, tnot a wild conjecture in these days.
instead of displaying the common alacrity
in sinking" she would float majestically as
swan on the surface, liable to be mistaken
for some fair. mermaid, or for another Venus
rising compfety in womanhood and beauty
from the waters She would thus ride upon
the wings of the wind, and sit as queen
upon the foods. r.''n>'a '-,.,.,. = = -
But old fegyism grows red in the face al
all novelties, and puts its sharp nose into
every :musty record of the past in search o.
precedents. 1t worships the former times
and deems that the fashion Of those times
having no SAVIOR of young America, must be
only wise and good. But the timid old
fogy may learn that the famous Queen
Anne and the accomplished ladies Of he,
court stood out with hoops to the formida.
bic dimensions of havstacks, and doubtless
the great Marlborough threaded with the
mazes of many dance.
And in later times, and in our own land
in the very golden age of American history
these skirts sat in the lap Of the Father Of
his Country, in the person Of Martha Wash
ington, who, with her dressed back from hei
forehead and encased with ample hoops, is
represented to us in the picture as very
model of gracefulness and dignity. Though
they do look amazingly like young Ame ics
and in keeping with the fast times in which
we live, these hoops belong in fact to the
old school, and commend themselves 10 the
favor Of the backward gazing conservative
as much MS to the onwsrd.marching pro.
gressiye,
1t is enough for me, though excessively
timid, that my good old grandmother wore
hoops and by so doing sancti6ec them.
But we turn to what some would deem
the higher considerations Of utility and
beauty. An oldiashioned quilt is objectiona,
bic on many grounds; what then shall We
ssy OF half dozen Of them, with other
heavy skirts, worr together for the sake OF
giving fulIaess to .stheu shapee What an
amount of.material they required! not for.
getting cotton, cord, candle. wicking and
Tops.. What labor to stuff and put together
ono sf them to the requisite degree Of stiff.
ness a s.andonatiyeness, the female neigh.
sboss hssiBg frequently to leave their own
most useful avocstions to aid in the great
TSAh eEeu ytba wtb suru Uas % assist in