The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1858-04-08
HOOP SKIRTS.

ueSITnate all classes ana cOnuitlOnS or en-
pensive female under-garmcnts, of whatever
material. In this country, the genuine ar
ticlc is not frequently met with, cheaper
substitute, in which hoops are made to give
the desired amplitude OF periphery, being
better suited to the means of our fair com
munity at large. These hoop skirts were
first brought into favor i'll New York,
through the enterprise of two youg dry
goods dealers of that city, who, some half
dozen years ago, set their wits to work to
take advantage of the growing demand for
crinoinc. Many methods f"rsupplying this
poupardcmand has been advised the origi-
nal crinoinc being far too expensive to be i'll
dul.rd in by the many-but the substitutes
invented and manufactured by these two
dealers were tue only ones that ut all salts
fled the public want; even their first at
tempt was only partially successful, the ar
ticle still being too dear for the .naSs of
wcarers, but i" good Time they hit upon the
idea of the skeleton skirt constructed of
hoop, which, although at first dcridcd and
plentifully abused, rolled itself rapidly into
universal favor, and its inventors and pro-
p:ietors into Il fortune. 1t is believed to bc
a fact, that the hoop skirt was made 10y the
firm in question, then in Canal-slrcct, New
York, about six years ago
Since that time the hoop skirt, like all
modern institutions, has undergone various
changes and improvements, until ut last the
principle Of construction seems to have be.
come finally established. The "crinoline"
of the present day is no crinolinc at ali, but
a number of steel hoops Of different de-
grees of circumference, large near the hem
of the skirt, and decreasing in regular
graduation as they approach the waist, which
are held in place by st'ips of tape, forming
the skeleton, or, a somewhat more elegant
style, are inserted in light muslin, scientiii-
cally cut and fashioned into the true SYM
metrical form. Great difficulty was at first
experienced there are difficulties to be
overcome in all inventions-in obtaining
proper material for the hoops Themselves
Rattan proved to bc clumsy, stiff and un-
manageable; wl,alebonc was found excel
len. in warm weather, but liable TO snap
short in winter; gutta pcrclla, which can
be applied to almost any Use. failed i'll this
connection; brass wire, coilcd around cord
was tried, but was too expensive flat bands
Of brass had their turn, but did not possess
tl.e necessary elasticity, and nconveniencrd
the wearer; finally steel was looked upon
rs dernicr resort, hut WAS thought entirely
too costly. 1t was nevertheless used, at
first by nattcning round steel wire, which
called to give satisfaction, on account Of its
liability to break, except where it was SO
large as to be heavy and too expensive.
The method at last adopted, and which
is now in use, is this English shcrt-stccl
that comes four and half to eight feet
long, in bands about eight inches wide, is
cut into ribands 10y steam-drivcn shears
These ribands are tempered and straigl,tcncd
and afterwards smoothed and polished by
the following ingenious process They arc
put into long cylinder with a quantity o
old broken glass, and the cvlndcr set re
volving for some hours. When opened i
is found that the glass is all ground into
small cubes, and the rough edges Of th'
steel rounded and made smooth. Last 0
all the ribands are passed between large
heavy rollers, which set the temper ant
leave them so that they will always return
to their place when bent. After these pre-
parations they have only to he made read
for the skeleton pattern, hy being cove ret
with cotton thread braided over The steel.
Some statistics of the extent Of busines
of these two manufacturers before mention
ell, and the amount of material used b.
their EMPLOYEES, cannot fail be of interest
In the department where the skirts ar
wrought together and finished, Qhc stce
:. work is separate affair, and is cprried o.
in Connecticut where sixty hands are EN-
s. ployed,) they. give occupation to four hun
,dred persons, nearly the whole Of then
American girls, one hundred and eighty c
.yhom are at work upon sewing machine
which, with the hand sewing, use up evor
mouth two thousand dozen spools of cot
ton thread. An average Of thrce thousan
skirts are manufactured every day, at pr
ces varying from SO cents, to SO a piece
and comprising more than fifty patterns
The, latest style is worth describing-it wi
be Of profound interest to feminine, "a
though ,mysteriopsly incomprehepsibIe t
mascplfne, readers. Itis a skeleton. mad
of thirteen and a half yards of inch-wid
tape, and three yards of nagrov tape an
some strips Of muslin, and three and aha
yards Of corset lacing, with fifty-ono mets
clasps. slides, tubes, eyelets and hooks, an
seven atesl hoops, measuring ffty-four fee