Tag Archive: 1800s

A Fashion Plate from 1835

One of my daughters kindly picked up some old fashion plates at an auction and gave them to me. Let’s look at this one from 1835 — The caption at the bottom has… Continue reading

Celebrating Public Domain Day

Every year at this time, I am eager to explore the works that are entering the public domain each year. For a list of 75 highlights of this year’s works, you can read… Continue reading

Tales Told by the Hemp-Dresser

Imagine yourself in rural France on a cool autumn evening in the 1840s.  After the work of the harvest, what would you do for entertainment? You might find yourself outside in the dark,… Continue reading

An “Infair” to Remember

As I have been working on the archives from my husband’s family over the last 3 years, I have been studiously avoiding one particular folder.  It is full of faint photocopies made in… Continue reading

Glimpses of Textiles in Old Novels, Part Two

Eben Holden, A Tale of the North Country is a coming-of-age story set in the Lake Champlain area in the 1800s.  The story starts when the narrator, Willy, is 6 years old and… Continue reading

Textile Treasures

A most generous reader, Ranger Elaine, has sent me some wonderful treasures from her collection. The star of the show is this tiny silk-covered accordion book with quilt scraps in it.  Elaine thinks… Continue reading

The Video’s Here!

My friend has released his “camping in the 1800s” video that he shot here at the farm. I’m not impressed with my acting abilities, but mercifully I’m only in it for a minute. … Continue reading

On the Trail of a Textile Legend

In the late 1800s, Candace Wheeler was a textile designer, a business partner of Louis Comfort Tiffany, owner of her own design business, a writer,  a founder of a rural artists’ colony and… Continue reading

Jacquard Coverlet

This is a double-cloth coverlet, woven in two panels on a Jacquard loom.  The yarn is 2-ply wool in its natural cream color, indigo blue and (I believe) madder red.  The colors are… Continue reading