The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1908-10-13
Mans first real step forward to-
ward civilization was the assumption

ward civilization was the ASSUMPTION
"l 4 collar. II Is true that the carry
collar WAS made of necklace, and
! [ hat II was made Of teeth or cowric
shells, the teeth being the spoils of
some enemy, such as Il man Of anoth-
er tribe, on 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. 1t 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 9TH
CT. If comes before the wrists. on
which bangles have developed into
bracelets and the kindred cuffs; be-
fore the waist and long before the
fingers. 1t was this primitive instinct
for adorning the neck that led the
African chicftain to reject all other
forms of European raimcnt and to
bedeck himself with the paper col
lar Of the wandering white man. And
the more important Il man became the
greater was the number Of strings Of
shells or teeth that he put round his
neck, until he became rs swathcd rs
Beau Rrummcl or the Prince Rc"cnt.
and no doubt rs Identified. But then
comes the curious gap in history. The
ancient civilizations were moi habi-
tual collar wcarcrS: but that was pro-
bahlN because they lived round about
me Mediterranean. where il IS too
not |" wrap up the neck. and because
they looked on Il as barbarous
thing to do. Il habit TO be left to the
outlandiSh tribes. In fact. The Baby
onlanS, Greeks and Romans classcd
collars with trousers aS things which
II" one but Il barbarian would wear.
and that is The real reason whv om
civilization is :" superior to theirs.
The white. OF linen. collar j. quite
Il modern invention. Il turned mn
suddenly in the Middle Ages in the
form Of the ruff. which Was said 70
have been invented to hide
scar on some royal parsonage
neck. 1t reached its height in Eliza
bethan times, and then sank down in
to The larc collar Of the cavalier. and
Starchcd and plain linen of the Puri
tan. In Georgian days the collar
WAS merged in the stock. only 10 come
t" the front again in Byronic times.
when the poet wore the turncddown
collar, which almost proclaimed its
wcarcr a frce-thinker. Next came
the Regency collar, with its folds up-
on 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 Lon
don had worn small all-round, lust
like that which is known today rs
the 'military.' Then in the sixties
there was painful lapse into the BY
rome collar, which for some reason
or another waS called the "Shakcs-
pearc, perhaps from a line drapcr's
other.
idea that one poet was as good as an
F"r IL" last thirty years the all
round stiff collar has rcigncd su-
prcmc. with such little ccccntricitics
rs turned down corners and butterfly
fronts: though of late ii has been
threatened by the double collar. var
l"nsly known as the "Roddy Owen"
or the Rarmaid.' BY all the rules.
df single collar adds dignity to the
wearcr, double collar should in
crease that dignity: but this is not
the ease. In fact. it is one of the
mysteries of collardom that the wear
ing Of double collar in evening drcs:
Is hidconS and incxpiable crime.
The great thing about a collar, that
which gives ii lis importance. is its
al"ofncSS from the coat. \ cnat-col-
lar has n" dignity. and is merely
fraud. pretending to be that which il
Is not The true collar must be SOY
crcign and independent ii must en-
circle the neck justly, and neither
hang round it like a necklace. nor
compress it like boaconstrictor
And, above and bnvonJ oil - ,,,,,c,