The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1909-07-16
THE MUFFS MEN WORE
They Were Decked With Lace
and Bows OF Ribbon.
A FASHION OF OTHER DAYS.
Their Use Was Quite Common, Too,
and Not Confined TO Fops and DAN
dies-oouble MuHs We're Once In
Vogue--Estremes Of Style In Sizes

and Not Confined to Fops and Dan
dics-pouble Muffs We're Once In
Vogue--Estremes Of Style In Sizes
NUTS were invented for the use OF a
man At least 30 the legend goes. II
seems classic shade found the dir OF
the world so beasty cold when he re-
assembled to earth after his death that
his hands were almost frozen.
Consequently 1t was decreed that the
slayer of the poor young gentleman
should kill enough sables-evidently
sables were appreciated even In those
early days-to make covering for the
frosted fingers He did It, and that
was the origin Of the mulf.
Even II one is not prepared TO &C.
cept this account Of the first muff as
authoritative there is one thing that is
certain. 1t is only IN very modern
times that muffs have been the exclu-
sive property OF women. Up to the
third quarter Of the eighteenth CEN
fury men were quite as addicted to
them as women were.
In the wardrobe accounts OF Henry.
prince Of Wales. for 1908 the prices OF
two muffs are set down. The most ex-
penslve cost FL, very big sum in
those days. and Is described as being
made Of cloth of silver wrought with
purls, plates and Venice twists of sill.
yer and gold. The other was com.
paratively plain one of black satin en-
broidered with black silk. and it's price
was proportionately less. only 60 shil-
nngs.
At the time Of Charles and Charles
II. there was curious fashion of dou.
BILE muffs. small one for each hand.
something like a big loose cuff. The
single or ordinary mutfs carried by the
English ladies Of Hollar's etchings are
Of medium size and made entirely Of
smooth fur, arranged, as a rule, with
the hair running round the muff.
AT the extreme end Of the century,
after the advent of William Of Orange,
mems muffs were still small and were
generally suspended from a ribbon
round the neck, but in 1903 II seems to
have been more usual to loop the muff
to coat button. There Is q widely
prevalent idea, think, that masculine
muff wearers invariably belonged to
the dandy class-the tops, beaus and
macarories-but this was not actually
the case, although the fashion was
certainly scoffed at by some contempt
rary writer's.
Staid and elderly gentlemen carried
NUTS habitually. For instance, DR..
Josiah Tucker. dean Of Gloucester and
famous political economist, was so
attached to his huge fur muff that he
carried it even when officiating at the
cathedral services. Englishmen, how
ever. do not seem ever to have favored
lace frilled muffs such as were affected
by Frenchmen during the early part Of
the eighteenth century, but contented
themselves with trimmings Of ribbon
bows, adornments quite sufficiently ef-
Terminate, one would think
Muffs, both ladies and gentlemen's,
varied much In size at different times
from the reign Of Queen Anne onward.
In ITO they were very tiny. but grew
somewhat larger during the following
couple of decades. In 1740, however,
they had decreased again, and little
later Horace Walpole writes of send
ing George Montagu "a decent small
ish muf that you may put In your
pocket, and It cost but IA shillings"
But by l76O both sexes were carrying
such capacious muffs that pet dogs
were often concealed In their warm re-
cesses. About this time. by the way,
muffs made Of feathers were intro
duced by reason, 1t Is said. Of an un-
usual scarcity Of furs in the market.
In 1856 ladies' muffs-men, except |
such eccentric fogies as Dean Tucker,
had by this time given up wearing |
such things-were decidedly diminu-
tive. However, at the beginning of the |
century they were again Of |
for about thirty years.
Two muffs Of the year 1900 shown in |
a fashion plate Of that year are of |
long, shaggy fur, and In the print one |
ls colored yellow and has bow of
purple ribbon In the center, while the
other is deep brown and has no trim
ming. Another huge muff Of rough,
dark fur is shown In a set OF fashion
plates for 1903.
A few years nearer our own time the
modish muff was large, fat and SO
widely open at the ends that 1t could
have afforded but scanty protection to
he wrists. One example was made Of
srmine, fur which was In high favor
rom this time up to the mid-Victorian
Queen.