The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1917-19??, 1917-09-06
HOW STYLES CHANGE

When we look upon some group o.
mOrtals who were active years ago a!
we are active now, and when we SEE
how they looked and dressed anC
compare their odd appearance with
what we now consider the proper
thing, we are moved to eXclaim How
styles changel"
Only recently in looking at the many
pictures with which today's periodi-
Gals are filled we wondered how these
views of the worlds greatest struggle
compared with those of our own Civil
War of the Sixties.
Turning to a Photographic History
of the Civil War, we were much in
terested in comparing the appearance
of the Boys in Blue" who were march
ing down Fifth Avenue to tentrain at
Jersey City for the South and the
Boys in Khaki" of Co. F, Sd Tenn,
stepping brisllly up the street last
Monday.
The contrast was very striking, but
without placing any slight upon our
brave soldiers of half century ago,
it must be said that the Boys in
Khaki looked a bit like the real
thing than their fathers and grand
fathers in blue; for while the latter
gave the impression of being preened
up for parade, the Boys in Khaki"
looked fit to jump at command from
the street into dirty trench and
fight right off the bat In word,
the blue of the coat may have been
made to match the sky; the lighter
blue of the trousers to match the sea
in a sombre day, but the head-to-foot
khaki shade of our soldiers of today
was made to match just plain dirt or
clay of trench or country road or field
somewhere in France" How styles
changei'
Paging little further on in the pho
tographic History of the Civil War, we
came upon picture quite different
from those of fife, drum, seige or sally
"A picture of an administration ball
at Washington in Lincoln's day. Need
less to say the tall, gaunt form of the
"great imancipator" was not in evil
dence. He was possibly in some re-
mote corner wondering how he could
best enforce the draft; how he could
raise money to keep the game going,
or possibly how he could so conduct
himself as to silence his carping crit
ics-the hardest job of all. But, If we
suppose that he was at the ball, there
would hardly have been room upon
the floor even for his thin form, and
all because of crinoline-not Madeline
or Adeline, but just plain crinollne; :
not because of the ladies themselves,
but of what they Wore.
And the ladies are not the only ones
that bow at the beck of style or tash-
ion. Men also fall in line when the
tailor, bootmaker. harberdasher or
some other style autocrat calls. once
if was knee breeches, buckled slippers
and powdered wig; later on the
breeches were heightened but with
straps to hold them down; then 1t was
suspenders to hold them up, and these
indeed are still worn by old-timers'
but not by the up-to-date boys of the
nresent day. It's belts for them. And
then there's hats. Once it had TO De
the "silk hat" so called, or plug hat
or "stovepipe" whether for business or
pleasure.
And these changes for the most part
are for the better as in the case OF
hats and collars; and not confined to
dress but to ways of living and OF
thought, For example, men and wom-
en- of about all ages now go in for
golf, tennis. bathing and other out
door sports instead of sticking at home
or at a club knitting, drinking or hold
ing so-called "gab tests"
This means health conservation
disease prevention and longer life FOR
this generation and for those that are
to come.