Closets

When I was about six or seven years old, I was sitting on my grandmother's bed, watching her while she was preparing to change from her cotton housedress and apron into a more formal outfit. We were going to go shopping downtown with my mother and my little sister shortly, and I was looking forward to a wonderful afternoon! The sun was shining through the dainty lace curtains hanging in my grandmother's bedroom windows, and as the light filtered through them, I noticed how it gave a soft glow to the pink and blue flowers on her bedroom wallpaper.

I loved visiting my grandparents and found them always glad to see me too. I enjoyed being with them, asking questions and learning new things. It was my grandfather who especially liked to talk about the "olden days," and he would tell me lots of interesting stories about what it was like when he was young.

Today, I was chatting with my grandmother. She had just finished selecting the dress she was going to wear to go shopping and was hanging it on a hook on her closet door. The closet door was open, and I could see almost everything in it from where I was sitting on her bed. That was when I noticed a pair of shoes in the closet that I had never seen before. They seemed quite unusual, and I wondered why they looked so different.

"Grammie, what kind of shoes are those?" I asked, pointing at them.

She turned around, reached into her closet, picked up the shoes, and brought them over to the bed to show them to me. She said that they were an old pair of high-button shoes and that she didn't wear them anymore. I asked her why she didn't, and she said, "Because they are way too old-fashioned and too small anyway, and would be very uncomfortable." I looked at the shoes even more carefully now. They were of black leather with little heels and had many small, black buttons on the front. I had never seen shoes with so many buttons before! They were very interesting indeed.

While I was thinking intently about buttons, evidently my grandmother was noticing how much attention I was giving to the shoes, because she walked to her dresser and picked up a strange-looking instrument from a small crystal vase. She brought it over to show it to me and said that it was a tool called a "buttonhook." Then she showed me how it helped to button the shoes for her. I was fascinated! My grandmother also told me the shoes were made of very nice kid leather and that when she was young and they were in style, they made her feet look tiny, and she used to love to wear them. She playfully winked at me and said, "Those shoes bring back some good memories from long ago."

I continued to watch my grandmother, and we kept right on chatting while she changed from the dress she was wearing into a more formal-looking one. That was when I happened to notice something else that made me curious. She was wearing an interesting-looking undergarment. It had lots of laces pulled very tight and sort of reminded me of the shoes we had just talked about, and so I felt I had to ask her about it. I was told that it was called a corset, and she said that when she was young, she had "quite a figure wearing it." Then she said, "In those days, we all wore them because having a tiny waist, like tiny feet, was also very desirable, and a corset was needed to help keep one's figure in shape for the fashions worn then." My grandmother also told me that through the years she continued to wear one. "Now," she said with a sigh, "I can't manage without it because of wearing one for so long." She zipped up her dress and then walked over to her dresser to comb her hair.

I happily observed my stylishly dressed grandmother who was now all finished changing clothes and watched her as she put on her jewelry. When that was all done, she turned toward me with a smile, took my hands, and told me we were now ready to go shopping! She helped me down off the bed, and as we walked out of her bedroom, I looked back at her closet with delight, silently wondering to myself what other kinds of treasures might be lurking inside. I think that afternoon was the very beginning of my interest in old-fashioned clothing.

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Now, as we begin our journey together, I would like to start by discussing some of the material in my preceding story. I titled it "Closets" because many searches for answers regarding what to do with aged textiles, clothing, and other related objects begin with what is discovered in closets.

If you were to look into your closet, you might realize that you are somewhat sentimental about a particular garment or other item there. Perhaps it is one you wore when you were younger for a special occasion, and you still treasure the memories attached to it. If so, then you would understand how others might feel the same way. Of course, some might have worn it in a different time period many years ago, but like you, they thought it was important to keep the particular item. Perhaps they were hoping to use it again in some way in the future, but that future use never materialized, and so the object remained sequestered for a long time. Eventually, it was found by someone else and then made its way to another person, the trash, a secondhand shop, an antique shop, a theater, or museum collection. Where it went next would determine its future.

Strange as it may seem, I have spoken with people who found textile objects and even shoes in quite unusual places, including between walls and behind fireplaces, when they were renovating very old houses. I was told that some very interesting textiles were found in the ground beneath an old, deserted outhouse that was on a farm. It was not uncommon in the past for people to have an area on their property where things no longer needed were just piled up over the years, to decay in a mound behind the barn. Some of these actions relate to customs and habits long forgotten. However, occasionally some of those long-ago discarded items surface, and in the process, they prove to be historically important and quite valuable.

But let us not underestimate the closet. A closet containing aged clothing and other such items can be quite exciting, especially when you find something that you think is very interesting. Perhaps the object you find is a dress that was in fashion many years ago. Now try to imagine how the woman who originally wore it felt when she was wearing it. Was it tight? Was the fabric rather heavy with that long skirt, making the dress hard to walk in? Think about the shape. Perhaps it was worn with a corset, and the lady also wore a shawl over her low-cut neckline to stay warm. Look at the waistline and see how very small it is and note that the whole bodice is rather stiff when you handle it. What is making it feel that way? Are there stays or other kinds of support sewn within the bodice? Notice the trimmings on the dress. Are there buttons, ribbons, or lace accents perhaps? Are they rather plain looking or very elaborate? You might find it is intriguing thinking about what time in history that garment may have been worn and for what kind of occasion. You may also wonder if you could find out who the original owner was.

By asking questions and searching for the answers, one begins the research process. Although we will not get into great detail here concerning dating objects, we will discuss it briefly. When discovering old clothing and other textile objects that look rather strange or different to us (because they are from a time we are not familiar with), often research needs to be done. Dating objects is important, and to an inexperienced eye, it may seem difficult, but of course you can seek help online and from other sources. The more one learns about the different periods in fashion and textile history, the more one will understand.

We may indeed find that there are clues presenting us with some of the information, if we just begin to look for them. Let's just think for a moment about my grandmother in the story and her high-button shoes that I admired as a small child. Knowing the birthdate of my grandmother might help tell us when she would have most likely worn those shoes. Finding dated photos of her wearing them could certainly provide us with some information. But, unfortunately, not everyone writes down dates on the backs of photos.

One would want to do research on the time periods when high-button shoes were in fashion and compare the different styles of such shoes. High-button shoes were worn in several time periods with subtle differences in styles. They not only were an example of a style of the time but had a practical side as well that related to the clothing and activities of the period. Studying the history of such types of shoes may help one find the particular time when the use of certain types of buttons, shoelaces, toe and heel shapes, and so on were in fashion.

One way to identify period clothing is to look for characteristic construction and silhouette. Remember that we also discussed restrictive clothing items in the story about my grandmother. Corseting has a long history of note and was popular in many periods, helping to keep the person in the shape needed to fit the outer garment. There were many different types of constriction used, such as cording, ties, pieces of wood, and bone of various shapes. Some corsets were like the one my grandmother wore when she was young, but there were lots of other types worn in many different periods long before.

Men are not to be forgotten, for they wore various restrictive clothing items over the years as well. An example would be heavily starched collars and cuffs, which were actually very stiff and almost razor sharp, worn with dress shirts in different periods.

Another type of corset for women, worn in our early years in America, had a different kind of constrictive device in it called a busk. I had the opportunity to study several that were worn in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. One busk was five or six inches long and was inserted into a hand-sewn placket located in the center front of a cloth corset. (It had the shape of a large tongue depressor.) The back of the corset was laced, but it was evident that the busk in front was placed there to help maintain a certain posture, which was flat and stiff, made for the fashions of a particular period. I have seen other busks as well in different shapes and sizes, but they are all a rather rare find.

Not all busks were made of wood. Some were actually made of whalebone and had scrimshaw designs of sailing ships and other nautical scenes. These denote a time in our history in America when whaling was popular. They were often done by seamen aboard whaling vessels to be given to a special person as a gift. Some have inscriptions with names of ships or sweethearts, or maybe a poem that might help to date them.

Again, research is important if we want answers to our questions, and there are many places where one can begin. Individuals and small institutions store artifacts of all kinds in closets and attics of old houses. Historic house museums, historical societies, and some shops may even possess items they are totally unaware of owning — items that were stored away by others long ago and that have remained out of sight for many years. Staff might have changed numerous times, and records showing where such artifacts were put away could have been lost, misfiled, or destroyed. Some of these may be historically valuable items that need special care and are just waiting to be rescued.

A while ago, a well-known historical society received a grant to hire me to organize their textile collections that were in the attic of one of the society's oldest buildings, built in the eighteenth century. The director told me that what I would be working with was a collection of textile objects that had been put away many years before. He said that because the main focus of that historic house was the furniture and not textiles, the contents of the attic had been pretty much forgotten about. He had decided it was time for them to be better identified and to receive more proper care. Because of my expertise, I was to examine and document everything in the attic and make sure that the inventory was complete. When I finished that part of the project, I had to design a new storage area for the textiles, clothing, and other objects.

The attic was very dark with few windows in that eighteenth-century building that had been someone's home long ago. The roof had been leaking off and on over the years and patched whenever necessary, and in certain places there were stains that the leaks had left on the interior walls. There were a lot more items in the attic than anyone previously had thought, and because I had been asked to inventory everything there, it was quite time-consuming.

While moving about in the dimly lit attic, I noticed there were many storage containers. I had to carefully empty all the old cabinets and trunks one by one, identify the objects, and make lists of all the contents. While doing that, I came upon a solitary item that was not in a cabinet but actually hanging on a huge iron nail on a wall along one side of the room. It was hanging straight down in a darkened area, and as I looked at it with my flashlight in hand, I noticed it had a few stains, probably evidence of rain that had leaked through the roof at some earlier time. The object looked like a man's garment and was quite long and fairly heavy. It seemed to be constructed of linen-like fabric and was of a neutral color. It appeared to me to be a very early cloak, with a large collar or hood. I examined the cloak carefully with my flashlight and found a rectangular paper tag attached to it. There were a few numbers written on the tag in old-fashioned handwriting or script. I sensed that this object was something valuable and was quite excited with my find. As I studied the cloak a little more, I was convinced that it was from the seventeenth century, and I thought that it had once probably belonged to a man of importance, because of the quality of the fabric and the garment's construction.

I contacted the director and informed him of my discovery. He was unaware of the cloak, and I told him what I thought it was, and we speculated on who might have worn it. The tag said little, and I needed to examine it more closely and try to retrieve information, if any existed, in the society's records. It would take time, and so the cloak and tag were put aside temporarily for further study. Eventually the cloak was fully documented, and we found it to be quite a treasure, for it was a good example of the type of clothing worn by those who were settlers of note in early New England.

These discoveries still happen occasionally but not as often as some of us would like, partly because old historic houses are often changing hands. Not everyone knows what might be important when they find aged items in an attic or other places in old buildings, and they may just throw them away. Hopefully they don't and realize that they may have something of value and donate them, or perhaps loan them to their local historical society or other such facility, but one never can be sure.

I do believe that there are still treasures to be found. Of course when any old building, historical society, or house museum has an attic, cellar, or other buildings close by, there very well may be old artifacts, including textiles, somewhere on the property. This is true particularly when no one has moved in a long while or searched the attic. And if objects are found that have been sequestered for long periods, and no one there is particularly knowledgeable about what they are, they may certainly be in danger of being destroyed unknowingly. It is important to remember that a valuable piece of history may be packed away somewhere in a closet, in a trunk, or even hanging on a nail in an attic, just waiting to be rediscovered. Be aware and you may find a treasure!

Different Times

During our lifetimes, we have numerous experiences leaving us with unforgettable memories and often some surprises as well. As I sift through my memories, I remember one that happened years ago when my great aunt passed away. I had been invited by family to go to her house and choose a few remembrances. She had a very large, beautiful old house with wonderful antiques. Other relatives had recently claimed some of the furnishings, but there were still some treasures remaining.

I quietly walked through the house, thinking about the times I visited my aunt when she was alive and enjoyed her homemade butter cake, hot tea, and conversations. I also remembered listening to the old clock on the table that chimed quite often, and how much I admired the colorful needlepoint cushions she had created that decorated her front parlor. I also thought about how happy she seemed to be whenever I visited her with my little daughter. She would welcome us with a big smile and then walk slowly with cane in hand into her kitchen to get her tiny visitor some milk and a cookie or two. I quietly mused about how sweet and dear my aunt was. Now I had only the memories.