The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-04-04
A CLIPPING GALLERY.
Some Amusing Stories of Early
Waahington DAYS.

Washington Days
Some of the forgotten amusements.
luxuries and customs of old Washing
ton were recently brought to mind in
an entertaining way by a student OF
this city's antiquities in a talk with
Post reporter.
4 am a great reader of the old Ma
tional Inteliigencer,p said he. and on
several occasions I have called the at
tention of young men to extracts, adj
vertisements and articles in that old
journal concerning things of which
they were completely ignorant. For ex-
ample, in looking over the file OF the
Inte1ligeneer for 1925 found a curious
notice, which, I venture to say would
seem meaningless to the majority OF
moderns. It reads thus:
TO THE LADIES OF WASHINGTON
AND GEORGETOWN.
Mrs. Macdaniel having concluded to
close her Gallery of Cuttings the last
of this month, once more takes the lib
erty of calling the attention of her fell
low-citizens, members of congress ana
strangers to her simple, yet much-ad-
mired exhibition, and feels conndent
that all who possess taste and good
feelings will not think their money
mis-spent in giving the Gallery OF cut
tings a call.
I have omitted to mention in former
advertisements what were the SUBJECTS
that composed my exhibitions, and
think it as well to state them at the
present time. which are as follows.
A View of Mount Vernon
A Piece of Departed Innocence
A Piece of Flowers and Time.
A Young Spiders Web.
The first thing that a person nova
days would ask would be, What IS
gallery of cuttings In this adVertlse-
ment we have a notice of what at one
time was as great a fad in Washing
ton and other American cities as the
art of Gibson, Remington and Thomp-
son is at the present time Dul1nS tue
DAYS preceding the revolution the emil
dren who attended the little log school
houses of New England and the Mid
die states whiled away their spare time
cutting flowers, dolls and other opJects
out of paper with pair Of scissors
Some of them were more artistic than
others, and turned out better work, so
that as time went on the public schools
of the country came to be decorated
with the product of their art
Some of this work was greatly al
1nired and after the revolution prizes
were given to those who handled the
scissors to best advantage ana turned
out the neatest work. From the schools
the craze for fancy paper work sorea q
everywhere A considerable number OF
grown persons took it up, first Tor
amusement and later for profit. Ihose
who were able to produce the best and
most striking objects Of paper and
carved things that had real merit. re-
curing time, skill and patience in their
execution, took to giving exhibitions OF
their work.
today any of these Cuttings as they
were called. left There may be lev
here and there. but being of a perlsh-
able character. they did not last lonS.
It IS really a pity that some of the eX-
amples of this curious art were not. pre-
served, for it came nearer being r.
strictly original and Indigenous Amer
lean art than anything know Of It
4E,se4 wv q.
ticed exclusively by Americans. and 1t
seems too bad that it became so CONF
pletely lost that It is today unknown TO
the great body of Americans.
"The simplicity of the Washington
people of the early part of the nine
teenth century seems almost ludlcrOus
in the eyes of moderns. Today the up
t0-date bookseller adEsrtises Al Is,. OF !.
realizing that publ taste demands
something fast and exciting, but such
was not always the case In 1925 the
leading bookseller in the capital an
nounced in the largest advertisement IL
the Intelligencer the following gems
from the pens of recent writer's:
The American Commonplace Book
to Prose"
THE Frugal Housewife. dedicated to
those who are not ashamed of economy
BY the author of Hebomak.
Thoughts on Domestic Education"
THE Manual for Invalids"
The Natural History Of Enthusi~
asrn.''
For all that they appeared sober and
strait-laced in the matter Of amuse-
ments and reading. one has only to
glance over the columns of the old
papers to see that the people Of thai
day drank, gambled and specialized
about as much as those of today Beer
was unknown to the American people OF
that day and mixed drinks were few
and far between. They disposed of q
good deal of whisky and brandy. and in
the matter of wines they were exceed
ingly fond Of port, sherry and Madeira.
Champagne appears to have come into
fashion along about 1860, for prior TO
that time one never sees it mentioned
On the other hand. port and sherry
were imported in large quantities.
Many of the Georgetown residents
owned vessels that traded direct with
Lisbon and Oporto, taking cargoes of
Georgetown -four to those ports in re-
turn for heavy Portuguese wines. From
1910 to 1870 there is hardly an issue of
the Inteligencer which does not con-
tain an advertisement to the effect that
some one had Just received so many
butts of straw cOlored sherry or
heavy old port which the owner as
sures his patrons is not fortified with
brandy, but possessed that natural tone
and body which come of great age, etc
LAS for speculation, people were then
on the threshold of what Mark Twain
calls the 'Gilded Age They were just