Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1876-03-09
Seven Dollars Year for Dress Expen-
SEES, Etc.

There are at least two women in Massa-
chusetts who have proved that extrava-
gance in dress Is not an essential charac-
teristic of womanhood. A Fitcfburg
newspaper Is entitled TO the credit OF hay
ing discovered these remarkable women,
and ascertained the exact cost of their
recent clothing. One Of them has spent
but eleven dollars yearly in dress for
several years, and the other, who Is "a
lady In high social position" asserts that
her annual expenses for clothing, Doctors
and dentists bills for the last eleven years
have averaged less than seven dollars per
annum. The latter is unquestionably the
cheapest lady of whom the world has any
knowledge, and IL she is not exhibited ut
the Woman's Pavilion in Philadelphia
next July, it will be because the managers
OF the Exhibition are sadly inefficient in
the discovery of meritorious women.
Sneering deriders of women will proba-
bly, assert that the mere fact OF a woman
having spent but seventy seven dollars for
clothes, medicines and teeth in eleven
consecutive years does not prove that she
has not lived in the utmost luxury. OF
course, ii Is possible that the lady in gues-
ton bought full complement of teeth
more than eleven years since, and being
careful not TO allow the children To play
with them, has had no subsequent need
to employ dentists services. SINH
larly, she may have either enjoyed perfect
health for eleven years last past, or she
may have been the wife of sn apothecary,
and thus obtained her medicine free of
cost. In either case she need not have in
Cured any Doctors bills. As TO her hair,
it Is not impossible that she laid In a
large supply at the same time that she
purchased her teeth. One dozen switch.
es," the same number of sets OF curls, and
say gross OF "rats" of assorted sizes,
would probably be more than sufficient
for any one lady's use for even longer
period than eleven years. To be sure, 1t
Is not the usual feminine custom to buy
hair at wholesale and in large quantities,
but our astute New England woman
might easily comprehend the saving
which could be effected by such meas
ure. Finally, the misogynists may pre-
tend that newly married ladies are fire.
quently In the possession Of sufficient
clothing to last them a lifetime. especial
ly II little skill and care are exerted in
remodeling obsolete patterns Of skirts and
waists Now that the vast skirts of the
last decade have been succeeded by the
narrow pull skirts of the present
day, nothing Is easier than 10 put new
girls--so TO speak--into old dresses. In
deed, an economically. disposed woman
can convert an old dress into two new ones
for herself, and have enough remnants
left TO clothe large number Of children.
While it Is thus clear that the New En-.
gland lady may have spent but seventy
seven dollars for clothing and dentists and
doctors bills In eleven years, and yet pre-
sented as marked y contrast to the sim.
plicity Of the lilies of the field as did the
ladies of Solomons court, there Is, never.
the'ess, no reason 10 believe that the lady
discovered by the Fitchburg newspaper
was guilty OF any. such hollow mockery.
Until IL is conciusively proved that she
bought her hair at Wholesale, and pro.
vided herself with an incxhaustible sup
ply ofclothes At least as lar back as 1855,
we should accept her statement in its lit
eral meaning. How she apportioned the
seven annual dollars which she spent
among dress-makers, doctors and dentists,