New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-12-17
EIGHTY YEARS SINCE.

80 ;,ferest He has carried out his novel enter
ovsc NOR over, with surprising and delightful
completeness III the mechanical part OF the Work
The external appearance OF the book IS unique
The back aud corners of tuckskin. the sides OF
brown old-fashioned board the title labels on back
and side are Of canvas stitched imitation OF the
samplers of our grandmothers, the end-papers are
of iust such chntz as the same venerable old par
ties were wont to make hedfurnittre out Of and the
marker il samper-sttched like the titles So odd
aud fascinating an outside is a much more faithful
indication of the contents than were the fiarno
p,ctoria signs which used TO adorn the exterior OF
the booths al Richardson's Show and Bartholomew
Fair. Indeed, Mr.. Tuer has made but one mis-
take. and that consists in Understanding the
popular appreciation of his antiquarian
collection. Because Of this doubt ne
has confessedy omitted from his introduction
n gathering of "half-forgotten odds and ends re-
lating TO the manners and rethods OF our grand
fathers which there can be no doubt would have
been rellshed as keenly as any of the good thngS
he has here preserved. AS TO the method of the
book il is peculiar. like everything else about IT,
Mr.. Tuer has taken some two dozen OF the maga-
zines Of 1907 and out of them he has made up
fictitious monthly which he entities " The foles
and Fashions of Our Grandfather" The liustra-
non of these monthly parts is of three kinds. FIRST
there is series of fashion plates all taken from me
similar Illustrations of the period, but retoucned
and in many instances heightened with gold and
silver Next there are reproductions of the por-
traits of celebrated people. as. for example. Rom
ney's pictures OF Lady Hamilton. several OF
Hogarths works, etc, And last there are coored
engravings of hunting and coaching scenes, and
embroidery patterns and other matters OF that
kind.
The fashion plates alone are worth the price of
interested by them. Though fashions change so
often and so radically, nothing seems harder than
to put ones self in the place of ones grandfather
in regard to clothing Que cannot help wondering
how the old folks can have refralned from laughing
at one another all the time when they were
rgced up in their coats with high rolling
collars, their frilled shirts, their comlcal
pantaoons or brooches and boots, and their amaz-
ing hats, aud how did the young bucks md II so
easy to fall in love with the girls OF the period,
with their waists under their arms, their hmpy,
skinny skirts, their porteatous coa-scuttlc bon
nets, and all the paraphernalia OF toilet that
seems so outiandsh to 1SS6f Perhaps we shall
better understand this when as wandering shades
in the Eyslan Fields. observe the superior
smile with which our descendants. eighty years
hence, examine the fashions of the present year of
grace.
III.
for the sex which perhaps takes most interest III
the fashions and fOllies of our grandmothers. by
giving each month a long and elaborate fashion
article Local intelligence is representa- by plenty
of items about sporting events such races, box
ing and fencing matches, cock fights. odd wagers
and other incidents illustrating the tendencies of
the time. full account is given of n seriousacci-
dent at Newgate, whereby, at an execution. be-
tween forty and fifty lives we're lost through the
pressure of the crowd. The notices of fashionable
events are often perfectly delicious, fragrant are
they with the aroma of funkeyism from Which
age has eliminated the oifensiveness leaving only
delicate perfume of class distinction. Thus the
opening of the Argyle Rooms is announced
with the following tine flourish: 4" grand suite of
apartments, upon magnificent scale. has been re-
Gently erected in Argyle-st for the laudable pur-
pose of rendering the amusements of the rich and
great conducive to the interests of the Fine Arts.
and the Professions of Science and Taste AS
illustration Of the survival of the fabulous there is
an extract soemny relating how Captain Blythe
way" Ia IS found at sea I" a wonderful natural Curl
oslty called the Goose Tree, Barnace Tree or Tree
bearing Geese" THIS legend of the barnace prob
ably antedates the Travels of SIR John Vaudeville,
but that unveracious aathOr was the first to intro
duce the yarn to an English audience and as we
see 1t lived two hundred years in spite of the
eighteenth century.
Perhaps the dlsmaest things in the time of our
grandfathers were the jokes. TO us the JohnsOnese
In winch most of the magazine literature is clothed
compcnsates for the dulness of the humor, but the
inventions which our revered ancestors viewed as
evidence of the possession of "a pretty wit"
they would have said. would if translated into
English as she is spoke" be more apt to provoke
tears than merriment. Here IS an example of the
delicate persifage of the period
"THE MUsrACHrO.-Our young bucks Of dis
tinction. not content with their enormous
whiskers, have mounted the Jewish mustachio
on the upper lip The ladies at first affected dis
like to this odious barrier but as modern fashion
boon reconciles the sex to any novelty, the mus
iachio salute is not only sanctioned by dowa-
gers of the whiskerando tribe. but voted by
the young smooth-lipped bellies 10 be funny
enough!'"
There are sundry short essays on various SUBJ
jects. Most of them are evidently modelled after
the Spectator papers, but they are not within hall
ing distance of the original, though by no means
without interest. One of the features of this COL
lection which is most effective the familiar men,
ton of names which already seem to belong to a
hoary past. Here. for instance, is bit of current
gossip about Madame Cataani. She had short
fit of illness which Obliged her to stop singing
and among the reports set ahoat was to the
effect that her husband twho is with her in Eng
land had been private secretary to Bonaparte
when he was First Consul: that having been dis
covered to be spy here. he was ordered to quit
the country, and that Madame Catalani would
sing no moro, as she was obliged to depart with
him" This Infamous fabrication" is contra
ilcted officially. There is long criticism of Mr.
Kembe's Hamlet. as performed at Covent Garden.
and the critic does not "thiuk Mr.. Kembe per-
Eectly accurate in his conception of the character
and prefers Eliison's reading in some parts of the
play.
There are accounts Of several duels notably that
between Sir Francis Burdett and Mr.. Paul, and ad-
REFRESHMENTS besides editorial condemnation OF |
lie lotteries which 6nnrished IanklY at the time