The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1878-10-24
The Human shirt.
New York raNrI


1t Is manifest that the human shirt
has passed through series Of import
ant notifications, The shirt Of the store
age did not open in the sense that the
contemporaneous shirt opens either in
front or behind. 1t had simply u large
hole for the reception of the head and
neck, and was devoid Of either studs or
buttons. At a later period the shirt de-
veIoped an opening in front, and little
later studs wherewith to temporarily
close this opening, This type Of shirt
was remarkably persistent, and, in fact
became extinct at about the same time
as the great ark Of Newfoundland, or
in other words, AZ late as the beginning
of the present century, In the existing
shirt, which is one of the most widely
dihused Of human garments, the front
opening is closed, and an opening in the
back has taken its place. studs, which
are now useless, exist merely in Il rudi-
mentary form, and what was once the
horn button of the stud is now merely Il
frail growth Of spiral wire. What has
produced these successive developments
is one of the most interesting inquiries
which the Darwinian investigation can
undertake.
The first appearance of the shirt with
the opening in front was contemporary,
according to paleontologists, with the
first efforts of man to navigate the
water, In the stone age, boats OF any
kind, from logs up to Cunard steamers,
were unknown, but, in course of time,
man began to paddle across rivers, say
from Albany to New York, on the SIM
pie log now in use among Australians.
Naturally, he frequently got very wet,
and hence it became an object to him to
remove his shirt with ease and rapidity,
Hence the front opening was developed
substantially as it appears in the shirt
of the period Immediately preceding the
stone age.
1t is agreed by all the anthropoIogists
that the iron age, or the age when Hat
irons came into use as domestic weapons
succeeded the stone age. The shirt.
bosom naturally followed the introduc,
ton of Hat-irons. 1t is obvious that no
woman of the period could have pos
SeSSeu '''V-l'p" "''''o", "'''Lts ~ ''o''
sol'lc'nlns WIN ~ an" , .LIo 'a ta DDU'' ont
About the same time studs appeared.
They were needed to keep the shirt
bosom closed so that the owner could
shuV hlm8e'i lil7lut @ vi ~ % M,,t q ''e" oVi, ~
privacy, "no "e'' Iiie uc',', W " ''"l'L'
among "io'l' ''e'u''I "," '",v"", @ ",,"'
nS conSTg ,C uelce' nu..o,'' "',u o"''' ~"
Known; nus ~ we G"'' ti"'' =! Inot." .,I,'
I've ""u M'l',u'il"vu 'sopa 'I lL.t w " ~,
hehU ol inc Luoe uuio''neu H!'', "a W ''t ~,
Syohe aye Why" was r,y, u'ua!,y, "'S"o 10 "
tl'e coarse c'otn7 ili"n'''"u.uiIu VI 1;, H';''
Days ana co'!oh n''rH' u"',i I'v ,al'
WIN WI open,nS III ,, i'o"' ""L hn, n',I, ~,
poSo', 9u" !''Iee ~ w, i' ,'Io " ",
SPec''' e'aSo'il1" W NY ,.i;ia 'iG','"''
SiSIS' uilu'' V',c ''"'''o ''''N '"'''
became the ruIlhg Vype;s ,...,,.,.,,.,
Ooe " our 'l1oaV lo,UGr" ,;f .i M"o'o' t Wv ""
men, WHO nus "eto'.G .lio ,.; .i,lo ~ .ta' ,'''
SIuuy ol 'hir.S' - ol 'le %p'nlon oi. VIA .,'.
Ghe opening aV 'he . p"cA VI tle l!I ,iecN "'u ~
'lrSI "eVeloPeu el'''el ~ ISov'''t' AZ
ABOUT Ine peT'oa Whg,n r, omo in"HV ," VI a. IN
gyie erected ms famous pos , W ~
America 'oon Nl'el vne c.iiy Ly '''i,o oo'o'';'o
maze ihe a' ua''llaHce VI ti'I ,ioS,l l;II t,Io
ihlS IpoIy IS ''gTn'o1; an" Ph'"''iV'i& tht IL &
p"t 1t Is open 10 lne opJ'v''Gn oIf'' f lit ~ =
!'o1 'r''e. lnG h'p,.Il" % SE'V'.oo W o",' ~ =,
II oiaer U''"I 'nc i,uNV ,, VI N'G' a . p?o.'
or thc carry selllehchI "l AMY iV''
D3uptl9ss IL M"1 ;Ju,an ~ oo pIGH,'", j.
auaPVeu lor %0coI|isn % : n,'u nl"'4 @ unvo i,, pu,,
poses ana lts [aplu a,T ,igte1'G may ne,!
possibly nave Geell . enec'Gu ny ~, eoInte' iattd,
lrrlVahV tpnSlueIa''ori1' . out % .,t' ,",'o, ,,o
were nov ''le c"usc =, uno at;,, ati', .'"iiT ~
whlcn we are HOW eI,,I lhytI.is"si"s, s, .l,nt we
can, however, coinucHI'y a''oiV s,'"'
TINS chanse to'K pace P, III 'l,,s I c?u"Si! -; ~,
soon alter us settlement, @ anu E n In f.t ia'
Slanu soon a''Gr W t'e bassase " '''o - >, :,
greaV hel"rih pll'' lh"' 10 ~ '"y' IT
! look pace Wlltn utHldgOgutS Dtpdll W