The sun., 1908-10-04
ExTRAYAoANcEs lsoYEARs AGO.
Modern HOusehOId and Dress Bills Gem
pared with Those OF Our Ancestors.
From nc london Daily Mail.

| pared Win Fhone OF OUR AneebtOfs'
From me london Daily Mail
We hear Il said everywhere-at the be-
ginning and at the end OF each season-
that modern extravaganza is appalling.
that women overdress. that they spend
more for a single hat than their grand
mothers did for their whole tronsseau.
Like many other often recurring general
statements, this is far from beiag accurate.
The well known French writer M.sHenry
de CALLER contributes to the current issue
OF la Rerue n remark able study on "Spehd-
Ing Money In Days OF Yore.
From statistics carefully complied, from
private documents OF one or two centuries
ago. from letters and bills dating from
those distant days, 1t appears that ex-
travagance was far worse then.
The greatest change In the matter Of
expenditure Ia that during the seventeenth
and the eighteenth centuries men spent
quite as much--if not more-as women for
their own attire.
To-day the average man spends con-
siderably less than the average woman on
clothes, and In the wealthy. classes the
difference Is more marked ST! since II
was recently stated by queen OF fashion
that while a man could be quite elegant
by spending G4oO n year on himself a woman
needed e4oO a month to dress stylshly,
In the middle class, as in the aristocracy,
i6O years ago more things we're required
by man. BE wore night cuifs of lace, his
black suit cost G5 tof our money, his hats
he needed half a doZen-ei each. He
required silk stockings. woollen stockings
and skin +" stockings and Ave or six different
kinds OF boots.
He had to spend several pounds year
at the barber and wismskers The middle
class woman OF those days mana ged to dress
In a cheaper way. though dress WAS the main
expense.
| Diaries and memoirs establish The curious
fact that the upbringing of three children
cost third less than the clothes required
by their mother, modest womaRi Men
wore ribbons, lace. embroideries, and
jewelry I'm as large quantities as women.
Certain gentlemen's suits cost as much
as Ge00 and three OF these were required by
each guest for great wedding festivals.
These we're exceptions. however. An ele-
CANT man could manage" with ak summer
and six winter suits, at El00 apiece. This.
needless to add, does not include the gold
or silver buttons or the lacel Let US turn
to women. In 1870 Mile. de Tournon mar
ried In Paris. IL was an elegant marriage,
but by no meant great affair. Her aunt
offered her f7oofor fans. bags. and garters. I"
The bride herself bought several gowns at
| prices varying oTOn El5O 10 14uU.
These were ordinary things" For the
court she required a long gown OF white
velvet. elaborately embroidered cost $500.
and the same dress could be worn on few
occasions only.
| But gowns are not everything. Under
! wear and other tribes" have to be con-
sidered. Nine. de. choiseul, the wife OF a
Minister Of Louia Nv. wore several thou
sand pounds worth of lace on her evening
dresses.
The inventory after her death OF Nine.
de Verrues properties revealed the fact
that she possessed zoo dozen cambria
handkerchiefs. $50 shirts and 90 pairs OF
/ stays.
As for jewels. men formerly wore dia-
monds and pearls on their clothes, shoes
taste Is satisfied with modest ring, simple
links, a little pearl as a shirt stud and q
large stone as scarfpin.
Hospitality then was on far greato
scale than II Is now. II would he difficult
even for the wealthy owner Of great man.
sion to place all the year round 200 beds
at the disposal Of his friends, as did NJ. de
Rohan at his castle OF Saverne. One hun
dred and eighty horses were always ready
to be saddled for his guests and COO beater'
were nsed daily by him during the shooting
sea son.
People OF moderate means had thret
days out of six from twelve to twenty
guests at time. People who called Oh
business were invited to dinner and given
a room.
The bills" OF Nine. de Choiseul prove
that thirty sheep month and 5000 chick
ems per annum were required TO feed her
guests. Three hundred pounds OF bread
was necessary daily.
These receptions were elaborate. vet the
guests enjoyed the greatest freedom. They
called with as many servants, horses and
dogs as they pleased. They were at liberty
to take their meals ID the rooms placed at
their disposal or in the main dining hall
Domestics-which so many people believe
we're very cheap in those days-were, as a
matter Of fact. more expensive than they
are now During the seSe nteenth century
a kitchen woman was paid CO or ca a
month, not including wine and lard,
Gambling went on in most houses. There
were games OF Hansauenet" and pharaoh
even in the salons OF embassies! Servants
asked their masters to stake their wages for
them. Fortunes were lost and Won In q
few minutes. People staEed their horses,
their houses. their estates. The Duke de
Rohan once staked his diamond order. He
had not one sou left.
Lawsuits deserve a special mention.
They we're another craze Of those days.
Suits were everlasting; the SOP took up
cases where his father had left them and
transmitted them to his heir later on.
II was the fashion: II was a luxury The
costs were colossal. A gentleman was
able to say at the beginning OF the nine
teenth century: My grandfather had thirty
| three suits: he won every one OF them and
1t cost him several thousands.
! The amounts mentioned in the article are
/ not Of course the amounts appearing in
ancient documents. but their equivalents
/ in modern English money.