The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-06-21
1.-THE MUFFS MEN WORE
They Were Decked With Lace
and Bows Of Ribbon.
A FASHION OF OTHER DAYS.

Thetr Use was 0utte Common, 90,
and Not Confined to Fops and Dan.
dies---DoubIs 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 classic shade found the air Of
the world so beastly cold when he re-
ascended to earth after his death that
bis 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 1t, and that
was the origin Of the muff.
Even if one is not prepared to ac-
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-
sivo property OF women. Up to the
third quarter of the eighteenth CEN
tury 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-
pensive cost e., very big sum in
those days, and is described rs being
made Of cloth of silver wrought with
purls, plates and Venice twists Of ST.
yer and gold. The other was com.
paratively plain one of black satin en-
broidered with black silk, and Its price
was proportionately less. only 60 shil-
lings.
At the time Of Charles 7 and Charles
IT. there was curious fashion of dou-
BILE muffs, small one for each hand,
something like big loose cuff. The
single or ordinary muffs carried by the
English ladies' Of Holar'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 mum
to coat button. There Is widely
prevalent idea, think. that masculine
nun wearers invariably belonged to
| the dandy class-the fops, beaus and
macaropIes-b 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. DR.
Josiah Tucker, dean Of Gloucester and
a famous political economist. was so
attached tc his huge fur muff that he
carried Il even when officiating at the
| cathedral services. Englishmen, how
ever, do not seem ever to have favored
lace frilled lnuffs 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 Of
| 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 llttl'
later Horace Walpole writes Of send
Ing George Montagu "a decent small
ish mum that you may put In youl
pocket, and It cost but IA shillings.'
But by 1850 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
nineteenth century they were again OF
monster proportions and so continued
for about thirty years.
Two muffs Of the year 1900 shown ir
a fashion plate of that year are OF
long, shaggy fur and In the print one
Is colored yellow and has q 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 set Of fashior
plates for 1903.
A few years nearer our own time tho
modish nun was large, nat and SC
widely open at the ends that II coult
have afforded but scanty protection &c
the wrists. One example was made OF
ermine. fur which was In high favol
from this time up TO the mid-Victoriar
period. d.-London Queen.