The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1922-09-12

c...l paris ot i.e%:.o.n straw hat.
crowns and bri,n<. with bis OF faded
ribbons still attached 10 them. | dc
not know why they We're preserved
unless it was in memory OF days OF
Auld Lang Syne. They suggested to
me. however, Il. Bit Of the story
am trying to write. Italians in ius-
cany grew these Very s;Eaws. cut
them green and beautifully b.eacned
them with great care for they knew
tina. there We're heads i'll America
itching for them, 10 matter what
they cost. These Leghoyn straw
hats were cheap however when COM
pared with CommodeS ana Beavers.
The Commodes, worn by the colonial
danes and damsels, We're at Least a
foot high, covered With ai&rets, os-
tr:ch p!umes and costly ribbons. II
I742 Legholn straw hats were adver-
t:sed in the colonial papers ranging
in price from fifteen 10 twenty &n!l-
lings, or roughly speaking from four
% thirteen dollars in our money. We
have already seen that milk-mad in
Virginia wore rough beaver with a
beiewcled band Beavers cost from
| four to six pounds apiece in England,
doubtless they were higher when eX-
ported to America, Yet they were
worn al a cost Of from not less than
twenty dollars up to thirty. He who
thinks that our colonial progenitors
were less fond Of costly headGear
| than the women Of today does not
.hink in accord with the facts Of MS
:ory. In New York, Maryland, Viz
y;nia ard South Carolina very cost
V headgear was Worn by women.
There were many Cavaliers settled
aspecially in South Carolina and Viz
yinia. There was no Puritanical re-
:trict:on in dress in these colonies.
The Cavaliers inherited their predis-
position to costly dress from their
:athers across the Atlantic. Their
dress was a kind of badge Of the class
o which they belonged. They scE"-
| oulously held to the practice Of their
fathers in personal apparel as IN 9TH
ar matters. The colonists Of Mary
| and, especially with those on the
| coasts of Virginia and South Caro-
ina were much given to wearing fine
clothes. Many styles of hats with
cold bands and costly feathers were
n vogue both for men and women.
As early as 1894 in Virginia, as we'll
IS in the colonies farther north. black
| ,eaverettes were worn at cost OF
Two pounds a piece-aoout ten dol
srs in our money. In 1853, l know
| lot how much earlier, BLACK &
| White & Black Horsehair Hats" were
| old in Charleston. There were al
20 tissue satin & Ch:pt Hats sold
n Charleston and in all the stores Of
he colonies that dealt in ladies dress
| material. Fine beverettes with Tab
| " lining" were also sold in our Old
City by the Sea. Did beverettes mean
,eaverettes? Proba bly, so. What
Use could the word mean? In 1913
White Beaver Riding hats were
:ommon throughout the colonies.
| A few years later than the last
late Hessian officer wrote While in
New York of the prodigality Of dress
among the women, especially the
-oung women of that state:
"They are great admirers Of clean
mess and keep themselves we'll shod.
They friz their hair every day and
gather it up on the back of the head
into chignon at the same time puff
ng it up in front. They generally
walk about with the heads uncovered
md sometimes but not often wear
,ome light fabric on their hair. Now
md then some country nymph has
Ter hair flowing down behind her,
oraiding it with a piece of ribqon.
Should they go out even though they
| )e living in /, hut, they throw silk
wrap about themselves and put On
gloves. They also put on some well
made and stylish little sunbonnets,
| from beneath which their roguish
eyes have a most fascinating way of
meeting yours. In the English colo
! lies the beauties have fallen in love
with red silk or woolen wraps. The
wives and daughters spend more than
| their incomes allow. The man must
fish up the last penny ne has in his
| pocket. The funniest part Of it is
The women do not seem to stea! it
from him, neither do they obtain it
by cajoling, fighting or falling in a
faint. How they obtain i IS MS