Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1858-04-08
HOOP SKIRTS.


The seat of the General Government
HOOP SKIRTS.
The term Crinoline," although properly
belonging only to skirts manufactured of
hair and thread, is now commonly used to
designate all classes and conditions Of ex-
pensive female undergarments, of whatever
material. In this country, the genuine ar
ticle 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 cf our fair COM
munity at large. These hoop skirts were
first brought into favor in New York,
through the enterprise of two young 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
crinoline. Many methods for supplying this
popular demand has been advised-the O.
riginal crinoline being far too expensive to
be INDUCED in by the many-but the SUBJ
stitutes invented and manufactured by these
two dealers we're the only ones that at all
satisfied the public want; even their first at
tempt was only partially successful, the ar.
ticle still being too dear for the mass of
wearers, but in good time they hit upon the
idea of the skeleton skirt, constructed of
hoop, which, although at first derided and
plentifully abused, rolled itself rapidly into
universal favor, and its inventors and pro-
prietors into fortune. It is believed to be
fact, that the hoop skirt was made by
the firm in question, then Caual.street,
New York, about six years ago.
Since that time, the hoop skirt, like all
modern institutions, has undergone various
changes and Improvements, until at last the
principle of construction seems to have be-
come finally established. The "crinoline"
of the present day is no crinoline at all, but
a number of steel hoops Of different degrees
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 strips of tape, forming the skeleton,
or, somewhat more elegant style, are in
serted in light muslin, scientifically cut and
fashioned into the true symmetrical FORM
Great difficulty was at first experienced
there are difficulties to be overcome in all
inventions-in obtaining proper material fol
the hoops themselves. Rattan proved to
be clumsy, stiff and unmanageable; whale
bone was found excellent in warm weather,
but liable to snap short in winter; gutta
percha, which can be applied to almost any
use, failed in this connection; brass wire,
coiled around cord was tried, but was toe
expensive; fat bands of brass had their
turn, but did not possess the necessary elias
ticity, and inconvenienced the wearer
finally steel was looked up0n as a dernier re-
sort, but was thought entirely too costly. II
was nevertheless used, at first by Aattenine
round steel wire, which failed to give salts
faction, 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 sheet-steel, that
comes four and half to eight feet long, in
bands about eight inches wide, is cut into
ribands by steam-driven shears. These ri
bands are tempered and Strengthened, and
afterwards smoothed and polished by the
following ingenious process: They are put
into long cylinder with quantity of old
broken glass, and the cylinder set revolving
for some hours. When opened it is found
that the glass is all ground into small cubes,
and the rough edges Of the steel rounded
and made smooth. Last of all the ribands
are passed between large, heavy rollers,
which set the temper and leave them so that
they will always return to their place when
bent. After these preparations they are only
to be made ready for the skeleton pattern, by
being covered with cotton thread braided
over the steel.
Some statistics of the extent of business
of these two manufacturers before mentioned,
and the amount of material used by their
employees, cannot fail to be of interest. In
the department where the skirts are wrought
together and finished, (the steel work is a
separate affair, and is carried on in Connec-
ticut, where sixty hands are employed, } they
give occupation to four hundred persons,
nearly the whole of them American girls,
one hundred and eighty of whom are at
work upon sewing machines which, with the
hand sewing, use up every month two
thousand dozen spools of cotton thread. An
average of three thousand skirts are manu-
factured every day, at prices varying from
so cents to Sc piece, and comprising more
than fifty patterns. The latest style is worth
describing-it will be of profound interest
to feminine, although mysteriously incom-
prebensible to masculine, readers. Itis a
skeleton made of thirteen and q half yards
of inch-wide tape, and three yards of mar
row tape and some strips of muslin, and
three and half yards of corset lacing,
with ffty-one metal clasps, slides, tubes,
eyelets and hooks, and seven steel hoops,
measuring ffty-four feet in length, covered
with braid; With three hustle hoops of
whalebone, eight and half feet long, cloth
covered-the steel hoops being made to ex.
pand by slides, to suit the most expansive
ideas; and yet the whole fabric weighs but
twelve ounces and althoug h it will keep its
place, it can be folded up small enough to
put in carpet-bag or band-box without in