Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1873-11-15
Making her own Hat.

Mr.. Howard Paul, in his entertain
ment, says " that when a sudden sharp
fever of economy attacks a woman, and
she determines to make a hat or a
bonnet for herself, for brief period
between the formation of the resolution
and the contamination of the deed her
mind passes through various amusing
stages of agitation. First, she gets
herself up in her most attractive guise,
and proceeds to purchase a shape >
as believe the fragile outline or frame
work of the future structure is called
then, taking the bus home, she drinks
in the details of every hat that enters,
and learns them all by heart, and does
mental sums over the cost of the rib
bon, and makes up her mind to have
flowers in hers like those worn by the
woman in the corner, and lace like that
gaudy-looking creature in the middle.
The next day she walks down the street,
aud studies all the hats that come along;
and, when woman passes her with one
on, she twists her neck round to see
how it looks behind, and is disgusted to
see that the woman is also dislocating
her neck to see how she trims her hat.
When she arrives in front of milliner's,
she fingers until she has analyzed all
the hats in the window, and she de-
termines to trim hers nineteen different
ways, and decides not to have flowers
like the woman who sat in the corner.
Then she shoots into the shop, and
asks to see hats with the air of per.
son who wishes to invest small fortune
in head-gear. She examines every hat
in the establishment, overhauls ter
bushels of flowers, gets about fifteer
shillings' worth of work out of the
saleswoman, and then says she will
look farther. Then she gets home
with her mind fixed on thirty-eight
or nine different styles in which She
wants to trim her hat. After a while
she begins to think she ought to have 6
feather in it, and she passes two OF
three sleepless nights trying to decide
whether to put one in or not. At las
she resolves she will. Then she liet
awake for two more nights endeavorine
to determine whether it shall be red Of
blue. She settles on blue. She buys
the trimming, and sews it on in twenty
successive positions, her mind filled
with deepest anxiety as to whether thu
feather should go on the right side, th,
left side, or on top. She puts it on tn,
right side; but just then Mrs. D,
Boots passes the window with feathe
on the left side of hers, and so sh,
changes it the next morning. Mrs
Fitzbrown calls, and her feather is OF
the right side, and then another chang
is made. At church next day Mrs
Smith has feathers on both sides, ant
Mrs. johnson has one on the top. Thel
more sleepless nights and painful un
certainty. At last, in utter despair
she takes the hat to milliner, and pay
thirty shillings to have it trimmed
When it comes home she pronounces i
hateful, and picks it all to pieces, ant
broods over it, and worries and fret
and loses her appetite, and feels life t.
be a burden for two weeks longer, unit
suddenly she has just the right thing
and becomes once moro serene ant
happy, and puts the hat on and goe
out and makes millions of other womel
miserable because their hats are no
trimmed exactly like hers. AS wife
woman is blessing; as q mother
naught can compare with her; as al
organizer of new hats, she is simply al
object OF amusement Decomposition.