Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1909-06-12
THE MUFFS MEN WORE
They Were Decked With Lace
and Bows of Ribbon.
A FASHION OF OTHER DAYS.


and Not Confined to Fops and DAN
dies-pouble Muffs Were Once In
vosue-Extremes Of Style In Sizes.
Muffs were invented for the use Of
man. At least so the legend goes. 1t
seems n classic shade found the air OF
the world so beastly cold when he re-
assembled to earth after his death that
his hands were almost frozen.
Consequently It 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 n covering for the
frosted fingers. He did It. and that
was the origin OF the muff.
Even II one is not prepared to ac-
cept this account OF the first nun as
authoritative there IL one thing that is
times that muffs have been the exclu-
sivc 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 zoos the prices OF
two muffs are set down. The most ex-
pensive cost e., 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 n COM
paratively plain one of black satin en-
broidered with black silk, and Its price
was proportionately less, only 90 shil-
llngs
At the time Of Charles I and Charles
II. there was n curious fashion Of dou-
bic muffs. small one for each hand.
something like a big loose cuff. The
single or ordinary muffs carried by the
English ladies Of Hollar's etchings are
OF medium size and made entirely Of
smooth fur. arranged. as rule. with
the hair running round the nun.
At the extreme end OF the century,
after the advent OF William Of Orange.
mems muffs were still small and were
generally suspended from ribbon
round the neck. but in 1903 II seems to
have been more usual TO loop the nun
TO coat button. There is a 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
muffs habitually. For instance, DIR.
Josiah Tucker. dean OF Gloucester and
a famous political economist, was 30
attached to his huge fur muff that he
carried Il even when officiating ut 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-
faminate. 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 muff that you may put In your
pocket. and 1t cost but ii shillings."
But by 1IG0 both sexes were carrying
such capacious NUTS that pet dogs
were often concealed in their warm re-
cesses. About this time. by the way,
NUTS 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 thlngs-were decidedly dlminu-
tive However. at the beginning OF the
nineteenth century they were again OF
monster proportions and so continued
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
is colored yellow and has a bow OF
purple ribbon In the center. while the
other is deep brown and has no trim
ming. Another huge nun Of rough.
dark fur Is shown In set OF fashion
plates for 1903.
A few years nearer our own time the
modish mum was large. fiat and so
widely open at the ends that It could
have afforded but scanty protection to
the wrists. One example was made Of
ermine. fur which was In high favor
from this time up to the mid-victorian
period.-London Queen.