Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-10-06
ABOUT COLLARS.
Marks of Mans First Step Toward Civ
ilization.

ABOUT COLLARS.
Marks of Mans First Step Toward Civ
Iization.
There is much virtue in a collar.
Many philosophers believe that 1t is
the real distinction between barbarian
and a civilized being; but this Is going
little too far for the idea Of the COL
lar Is evident even in primitive man.
Those are nearer the mark who say
that the real qualification Of a gentle
man-one more inherent than birth,
breeding, or the right to bear arms
Is the ability to wear a clean collar
without looking conspicuous. But all
are agreed that man without collar Is
a poor thing, and that unless he has
one Of the sort in vogue for the time
being he is sadly lacking in dignity,
and a possible burglar or pickpocket.
All through history, with one remark
able gap, the collar has been the sign
Of the superior person, one Of the in
sigma Of authority and the mark which
distinguishes the really respectable in
dividual from the Bohemian. The COL
lar of the knightly order and Of the
mayor of borough must have been
vastly imposing in the days when to
wear a collar was to be an exception.
Mans first real step forward toward
civilization was the assumption of a
collar. It is true that the early collar
was more of a necklace, and that 1t
was made Of teeth or cowrie shells,
the teeth being the spoils Of some enc
my, such as a man Of another tribe, or
wild beast which it was credit to
have killed And it is a curious thing
that the neck should have been the
first part of the body to be decorated.
It comes before the head, with the band
Of grass, or hide, into which feathers
were stuck, and which evolved into the
crown in one direction and into the hat
in the other. 1t comes before the
wrists, on which bangles have develop
ed into bracelets and the kindred cuffs;
before the waist and long before the
fingers. 1t was this primitive instinct
for adorning the neck that led the Afri-
can chieftain to reject all other forms
of European raiment and to bedeck
himself with the paper collar Of the
wandering white man. And the more
important q man became the greater
was the number Of strings Of shells or
teeth that he put round his neck, until
he became as swathed as Beau Brum-
mel or the Prince Regent, and no doubt
as dignfied. But then comes the curl
Gus gap in history. The ancient civil
izations were not habitual collar wear
ers; but that was probably because
they lived round about the Mediterra-
mean, where it is too hot to wrap up
the neck, and because they looked on
il as a barbarous thing to do, a habit
to be left to the outlandish tribes. In
fact, the Babylonians, Greeks and Ro-
mans classed collars with trousers as
things which no one but barbarian
would wear, and that is the real reason
why our civilization is so superior to
theirs.
The white, or linen, collar Is quite
modern invention. 1t turned up sud-
denly in the Middle Ages in the form
of the ruff, which was said to have been
invented to hide a scar on some royal
personage's neck. 1t reached its height
in Elizabethan times, and then sank
down into the lace collar Of the caval-
ier, and the starched and plain linen OF
the Puritan In Georgian days the COL
lar was merged in the stock only to
come to the front again in Byronic
times, when the poet wore the turned
down collar which almost proclaimed
it's wearer a free thinker. Next came
the Regency collar, with its folds upon
folds Of cravat, which was worn in a
modified form by old gentlemen even
in the seventies, though twenty years
before smart young men in London had
worn a small all-round collar, just like
that which Is known today as the mil
itary." Then in the sixties there was
painful lapse into the Byronic collar,
which for some reason or another was
called the shakespeare" perhaps from
linen Diapers idea that one poet was
as good as another.
For the last thirty years the all
round stiff collar has reigned supreme,
with such little eccentricities as turn
ed down corners and butterfly fronts;
though of late it has been threatened
by the double collar, variously known
as the "Roddy Owen" or the Bar
maid" By all the rules, If a single
collar adds dignity to the wearer a
double collar should increase that dig
nifty; but this Is not the case. In fact,
it is one of the mysteries Of collardom
that the wearing Of double collar in
evening dress is a hideous and mex
piable crime.
The great thing about a collar, that
which gives it it's Importance, is its
aloofness from the coat. A coat collar
has no dignity and is merely fraud,
pretending to be that which it is not.
The true collar must be sovereign and
independent; it must encircle the neck
Justly, and neither hang round it like
a necklace. nc, compress 1t like a boa
constructor. md, above and beyond
all, it must wear the white flower Of
a blameless laundry-LOndon Globe.
-o@D->