Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1891-11-21
TIE TEST OF TASTE.
DECKING or THE HEAD AND DRAn-
ING or The FACE.

The Mate savase's Love of Personal or
nansentat ias'--iswning Artistic Taste
Masculine Attire in the as.ddte Ages.
Boots, Gloves aud Hlsh HAT.
The bead has always heen the test OF taste
In csythzet countries, where tailordom oh
tains and millinery means more than a
length of fringe and a string OF beads, sleeves
have run the hesi,is hard, and skirts have
made a good third Shoes, too, have not
been out Of It, and ornamentation has been
as "A congertes of minor little impss frisking
about the bigger competitors for the wreath
Of mlngied feathers, flowers, lace and Jewels,
made and offered by the genius Of bad taste
From the earliest times when man first
tinds that he has hands and can use them ne
puts part of his newly acquired powers into
the decking Of his head and the draping OF
his face. Now he twists his hair into mon
strons shapes. standing out from his scalp
like "A hunchbacked aureole; now ha contents
himself with a more symmetrical nimbus,
whereof each snaky stiifeued ray extends he.
ycnd the breadth Of his shoulders Anon he
sticks a few feathers among the clay tiaubed
mass, and anon he lets it hang down in
greasy ELF locks to his neck, taking care,
however, to travcsty the natural shape Of his
head hy fiiets, which bind on to II every kind
Of frightful and nngniuly excrcscence; or he
paints his face in patterns of red and yellow
and blue, or makes that painting permanent
with tattooing ueedles and indigo; or he
hangs heavy weights in his ears; or destroys
the shape of his under lip, or does something
insane with his teeth, or IN some way ,hstorts
and dstigurs himself under the name Of or
aamentation and with the idea of making
himself a very smart fellow indeed
In savage life IL IL the brave who thus
smartans himself up with most intention
The squaw follows humbly at a distance
walking on the same road but IN a narrower
groove, and with more modest niien The
brave is the one who is ZEN evidence" the
squaw has simply 10 work for his comfort
AMI bear children To keep the tribe alive
But he must strike terror into the hearts of
his enemies, as well as make himself an object
Of admiration 10 the docile females. who nc
cept ham ut his own valuation. and are wooed
exactly as birds and beasts are woo-.d--one
part by the display OF masculine charms,
another part taken by force. Hence he
pranks himself out in paint and feathers--in
the teeth and claws and skins Of the Wild
beasts he has overcome-in the scalps Of the
enemies he has slain--in this rude attempt to
express dawuing artistic sense, and that
botch mt ornamentation which Is disfigure
ment and not establishment in this way aud
that he makes himself a love worthy oh iect
To the girls of his tribe; a model to be here.
after initiated to the boys, a terror To his
foes who count his deeds Of prowess by his
questionable trophies, and something i'm.
measurnbly hideouS and disgusting to all
civilized solk with whom he comes in contact
This lavish personal establishment of the
male savage continued far into the eays OF
civilization, When the middle ages were
the wedge between classic times and modern
days we had mail clad nights with plunles Of
portentous size and sweep, or close fitting
skin dresses left nothing to be desired in the
way of simple and something in the way
Of modestY, Wine the modcnm of human
force, whch can never be got rid of, ex.
pressed Itself III parti coIored legs, and shoes
that were surely the design Of some maniac
at large. Hats AMI cloaks and purified
breeches points aud tags and lace frills at
the wrists and knees-boots which would
have carried small child in the upper gap
curied wigs that were iutrinsieally ~ ugly
as Zhlu's clay danied amhus--waistcoats
that came nearly 10 til. knt.s breeches too
/ tight for prae',sable stting-~every kind of
absurdity wnlcn bad taste could invent and
folly consent to wnnr, have we poor silly
| humans undergone IN our zeal for fashionable
martyrdom and only quite Of late years has
the mascaline common sense declared itself
once for all in favor of simplicity and demo.
cratic unity, and a costume that IL useful
and possible 10 all alike
But even now our exgnisites torture them
selves IN tight bouts and tighter gloves, as
well as in guillotine collars; while that per-
ennial high hat, which will not fade down to
its roots whatever the cold blast of criticism
may blow ON it. is the true survival of the
savage's wondrous headgear. Which brings
ns round To the point OF our paper-the test
of the head-that last stronghold OF lad
taste and folly-that stumbling block OF the
assthetically weak, Here We have u still in
| force With the comfortable, useful, unfine,
democratic and national body clothing Of
men, we have still this remnant Of barbarism
| this reminder of the time when the men of
| the world made their hair into hunchback
| anreoles. wore feathers such as We sae in
| Albert Durer. or fua bottomed wigs ss in
the time Of Queen Anne and the first three
Georges Of England, a.h wrecked themselves
on this fatal rock which Is 10 good taste what
| Sinbad's hland Of loadstone was To all the
ships that sailed thereby New York Home
/ Journal.