Christmas Day (pt1)
Jennie Juneiana: Talks on Women’s Topics by Jennie June (Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1864)
Christmas Day
Christmas is so dearly beloved, so universally honored, that not a man, woman, or child, from the millionaire down to the newsboy, but anticipates its coming with pleasure, and makes, according to their means, preparations for participating in its social enjoyments. Fathers, mothers, sisters, and brothers are met with smiling faces and open purses where Christmas candies are sweetest, where the toys are the newest, and the dress-patterns (for holiday presents) put up in the most attractive forms. They carry their own parcels, sometimes on foot, sometimes in carriages, and sometimes in a democratic omnibus; and so full are they of their own pleasant thoughts and anticipations, that they quite forget how it looks to see little knobs sticking our here, and brown paper parcels there, and little wheels or dolls’ heads in another place. In their own way, every one is joyfully looking forward to Christmas day morning for the solution of delicious mysteries, which are no mysteries after all; and each one is devising in their own way how to arrange the family surprise, whether in the form of a Christmas tree, or to let Santa fill the old-fashioned stockings. That is the important question.
If we could decide, it would be in favor of family gatherings, and a grand old Christmas tree, with its green branches and brilliant lights, and the mingled association of the poetical with the religious and the home element. Filling the stocking will do for isolated cases, or where circumstances absolutely forbid the additional trouble and preparation of a Christmas tree; but all families whose numbers are of sufficient importance, and who are not prevented by any untoward accident, will find the tree the most suggestive and delightful way of memorializing the day upon which our Saviour was born, and the one which clings most fondly to the recollection in after life. We have a weakness for large families, with plenty of aunts and uncles, and brothers and sisters, and cousins, and, if we are married, and had a home, and several little “cares” and “joys,” we should certainly go to work in this way to get up a Christmas tree.
First, we should write to grandmamma, and aunt Mary, and aunt Eliza, and tell them that we are going to have a Christmas tree at our house, and they must be sure to come and bring all the children, and, if they had any thing in the shape of presents for any particular persons, they must certainly send them in time, or come in the afternoon of the day preceding Christmas, and assist in dressing the tree.
The next thing would be to decide upon the gifts. Louisa will have a new pair of slippers for papa, whose old ones are beginning to wear out. Mamma will surprise him with a dozen cambric handkerchiefs, hemstitched, and marked herself; bachelor uncle George must have a nice new dressing-gown; and a “new baby,” in aunt Mary’s family, on complete set of rigging from top to toe. The materials for these muse be bought, and busy fingers applied to them at once. Then grandmamma must have one of the real lace caps, in which she looks so nice, and which are her pride; while Charlie, who is a wag, announces his intention of buying for her a “needle-threader,” (“ladies and gentlemen, only one shilling!”) which Louisa, who takes every thing literally, gravely assures him would be a very foolish investment, as it would take grandmamma longer to thread the threader than it does the needle. Mamma privately thinks Charlie is a wit, and shall get the chest of tools of which he has been dreaming. She thinks, also, that Louisa is very thoughtful, and deserves the pretty writing-desk, completely furnished, which has long been the object of her ambition. The baby is hardly old enough yet to understand the signification of Christmas or a Christmas tree, but he can admire the brilliant color of a new set of coral, and be amused with the antics of an India-rubber roly-poly; so he will be provided for.
Then for the cousins; aunt Eliza’s “Watty,” who thinks of nothing but being a soldier, must have a little Seventh Regiment suit complete; and aunt Mary’s “Frank,” who loves to draw and paint, will be delighted with a set of books, pencils, and brushes. Cousin Lucy, who is fifteen, shall have an elegant fan, to replace the one she lost; and “little Sarah” a doll taller than herself, with a house and furnished parlor in perfect order.
All these articles are obtained by divers journeys and shopping in Broadway, in Canal Street, and even out on the Avenues; and the goods, instead of being sent home, as usual, are tucked in muffs and under arms, and, after they reach their destination, secretly smuggled upstairs, and placed under lock and key, until the eventful moment arrives.
This important part of the work accomplished, we go to Maillard’s and obtain a supply of beautiful little bonbonieres, imported from France and Germany on purpose for the Christmas trees. These are all sorts of quaint and fanciful shapes which can be made to hold anything, and are filled with bonbons, and suspended by colored ribbons from the branches of the tree. Among those we select are little ermine muffs; pull the tiny tassel at one end of the pink lining, and out comes the inside in the form of a hollow tube, full of lemon drops. There are also Swiss baskets; high-heeled green, and blue shoes; fancy circus caps of red satin, with dashing white feather; tall Welsh hats of white felt, striped with the very tiniest of bright-colored ribbons; demure dogs and profound cats. With broad, ruffled caps upon their wise old heads, which open, and disclose sweet comfits or brandy drops, which last have sometimes found a lodgment in other heads then theirs. Every thing that is pretty or grotesque is represented in miniature, with all sorts of queer little baskets and boxes, just the things to put Christmas candies in, and, with their gild and prettiness, to add to the effect of the Christmas tree.
The next step is the lights, which are furnished by small, short candles covered with colored tissue-paper shades. These must also be suspended from the tree by ribbons.
(Continued….)
Gifts that Little Girls can Make
This is a passage I wish I would have read back when I was putting together the 12 gift series. It would have been a nice compliment.
Jennie Juneiana: Talks on Women’s Topics by Jennie June (Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1864)
Gifts that Little Girls can Make
A little girl once asked us, confidentially, what she could make without asking her mother, which she did not wish to do, because the present was for her mother, and she had no sisters, and only two shillings in money. We told her of several things which she could easily make herself, and which would cost within that sum; and now we mention them again, for the benefit of other little girls.
A plain dimity toilet cushion is one of the most useful and acceptable of gifts, and is easily and cheaply made. A double piece of thick cotton cloth – size, six by eight inches; this must be stitched closely round, leaving half of one end open, so it can be stuffed with bran. When it is thoroughly stuffed, wedged well down into the corners, then the gap may be sewed up, and the foundation of the cushion is complete. The cover is made of fine white dimity, surrounded with a frill, neatly hemmed. It is made like a bag, one end being left open, the other side hemmed, and the frill attached to the upper one, so that it can be readily be slipped on and off when it is soiled and needs washing. More elegant cushions may be made just as easily by substituting colored silk or ribbon for the foundation, and transparent muslin for the cover, with a frill of lace.
The pretty silk and satin scent-bags, which cost from fifty cents to a dollar at a perfumer’s, may be made in a few minutes with a scrap of satin, a little piece of gold or silver cord to tie it up with, and sixpence worth of scented powder to enclose in the inside. The more costly ones are embossed, made flat, and surrounded with narrow gold braids or silver fringe. Little circular travelling cushions filled with pins, are also nice, as are handsome morocco needle-books, well supplied with pockets, and with fine flannel leaves; but these are almost too elaborate for little fingers, unaided.
“What do I get my wife for Christmas?”
Please see UPDATED for 2015
Are you one of the many reenacting men who are wondering “What do I get my wife for Christmas?” or “What do I get my girlfriend for Christmas?”. If so, this post is for you.
With such a unique hobby it can sometimes be challenging to find that perfect gift or gifts. This is especially so if you are a military focused man while the love of your life is focused on an ever improving civilian impression. There are questions of authenticity piled on top of the usual questions of personal preferance and fit that go along with buying any woman a gift.
Well, here is a list of mid-19th century appropriate gifts that a woman is sure to love:
- Lets start with the last minute gift just incase it is the last week before Christmas and you’ve been distracted with work, the weather and every other crazy thing that happens this time of year. You can find just about everything you need to make your wife or girlfriend a nice hair basket or box in your local stores. Really. Find a cute box or basket, on that is about the size of a softball and simple. If you happen to see a plain tin covered with a paper label in the holiday cookie/candy/nut section, grab that and take the label off. Head to the hair section. Here pick up a pack of hairnets (the kind the lunch ladies wore when you were in school), a pack of small hair pins, a pack of large hair pins, a pack of the brown plastic pins that look like shell and a pack of the small black elastic bands. Arrange these neatly in the box, basket or tin. If you have time and are crafty, take the items out of their package and put them in little fabric bags or tie them with pretty ribbon. (If you don’t have a bag, don’t open the elastic bands.)
Now, on to the items you can order online….
- Ribbons are something every woman will love because they are so pretty and very useful. My favorite ribbon source is www.ribbonstore.com owned by a lovely woman named Carol. She is also on Ebay under Ribbon Store. The great thing about Carol and her ribbons is she send your ribbons in a pretty presentation inside a candy box. So creative! I highly suggest her silk satin ribbons which come in a variety of widths (pick 1″ and 1.5″ to start) and her German moire ribbons which come in bonnet widths (3″ and 4″). To figure out the right colors, think about what dresses you see your wife or girlfriend in most often at events or a dress she might be working on for herself this winter.
- Picking clothing is very difficult and a good thing to avoid. One expection are stockings. For stockings you want natural fibers (cotton, wool and silk.) I happen to love Sock Dream’s O Basics as well as their O Woolies as they are both very comfortable and nearly 100% natural. For silk stockings check out James Townsend who also has nice thin cotton stockings as well. For stocking colors white and black are the best safe choices. If you know she has a favorite color and might just wear colorful stockings, get one pair in her color. Clocking is good. Avoid stripes.
- If you want to be a little creative, here is a little twist on filling a stocking I’ll call “a pocket full of sundries”. First, buy a pocket, the kind that ties around her waist under her skirts. Here are a couple 1, 2. Fill it with sundries such as – pomade, hand-salve, a fan, lavender soap or sachets and rose water. Then top it off with a reproduction pattern.
- If you have plenty of planning and shopping time, some items you might consider include a custom made box or trunk, or a carpet bag. – If you happen to be a craftsman you can make her a lovely box or trunk. Just about any reenacting woman can use a new box or trunk.
- If your wife loves keepsake gifts, you might consider a parasol, a lace or paisley shawl or a piece of jewelry. If you don’t have a local antique jewelry dealer you trust, here are some favorites – Originals by Kay and Another Time Antiques (who is my local go-to.)
Gift Certificate Ideas – If you want to play it safe or know your wife likes doing her own shopping, gift certificates are a nice idea. A few to try…
- Joann Fabrics, Hobby Lobby, Micheals – A good choice if you have one near by and she enjoys sewing.
- Her favorite seamstress or milliner if you know who she is. May I suggest – Mrs Parker’s Millinery, Timely Tresses, Vivian Murphy’s The Mantau Maker, and Orginals-by-Kay
- Robert Land is a great choice for footwear.
Quilted Hood Pattern Update
Thank you for the wonderful response to the release of my Quilted Hood Pattern. I have been floored, completely floored, by the level of interest. I didn’t expect the stock to run out so quickly, then run out again in days over Thanksgiving. You are all amazing.
As of this morning, I’ve asked my printer for a larger run which he will have available Friday. I put the Etsy listing back up so people won’t get nervous or think they are completely gone. Check here to order.
Looking at the Amount of Jewelry Worn
On my drive home this evening I was thinking about the amount of jewelry a woman wore during the mid-19th century. There would be a number of factors ranging from socio-economic status to personal preference.
I will be using a spreadsheet to go through my CDV images surveying the jewelry worn. I invite my readers to download this Jewelry CDV Survey Template in Word or this Jewelry CDV Survey Template in Excell to survey their own images as well. If you could email it back to me when you are finished, we can put together a good amount of data. If you are unable to open the above files, here is Jewelry CDV Survey Template as a PDF.
Some guidelines:
- Please include the images owned by you.
- The more information you include in each column the better.
- The better you can focus on what you see the better.
- The closer you can look at your image the better. (I love to scan mine on a high dpi so I can zoom in.)
- For image name – I find it easier to do my file names with a code. Please use a code you understand. If you have an image you want to share with others, please put your own name in the file name.
- For Location – Please identify whether the location is the studio of the photographer or a hand-written location.
- For “Sitter” – Please use the name of the sitter if known. Also include factors such as age or marital status as possible.
- For “Dating” – Please include an exact year/date only if it is documented (ie handwritten or tax stamp) otherwise please identify the image to the half decade (early or late) as 1840e, 1840l, 1850e, 1850l, 1860e, 1860l
- For Socio-Economic identifiers – Please note observations about the woman’s status such as attire (fabric, elaborateness of dress.)
- For each column of Jewelry Worn – If nothing is worn, please write “none”. If this area can not be seen, please write “Unknown”. If an item can be identified, please write as much as you can see. If an item is there but not clear, please write “unclear”
- For additional notes – please include other information you feel is important.
- Please include any annotations about the collection you keep and are surveying within the Word or Excell file, such as at the bottom of the chart or the next page, so the notes are kept together. This might include what images you tend to focus on. For example, I focus on shawl images; others may focus on working images or those from a particular area. My hope is with a large sample size any collection biases will be minimalized.
An Assortment of Updates
My updates won’t fit nicely on Facebook.
For those waiting for the quilted hood pattern – I was hoping to have it available for you by now. I am waiting on the printer who has filled me in that they are waiting on a part to fix their machine. As soon as I ‘okay’ proofs, I will open pre-orders. Pre-ordering the hood patterns will be available through Etsy with a special offer for those pre-ordering. I have a running list of those to send a message to about the pre-orders. Let me know if you want to be on that list.
I finished the muff that goes with my hood yesterday. It should keep my hands nice and warm this winter. Photo below. I am impatiently waiting for a green silk to arrive for a custom hood. It has been 21 days. So patience really has gone away.
I’ve done something new with my Etsy store. When you visit, you will see a new banner using the motifs from one of my paisley shawls. I’ll be using this paisley motif for for my store as well as my cards and thank you cards, which will be coming along soon.
Shaker Style Work Boxes
I meant to get this post together over a week ago, but I’ve been non-functional sick. I just had a conversation that reminded me to put this together. This is one of those posts I’ll be adding info and image to over several days.
While at the Geneseo Kiwanis antique show, I saw a display of Shaker or Shaker style work boxes, aka sewing baskets. (I do wish I had my real camera rather than my camera phone for you all.) None of these boxes are dated.
In this box we see a green silk lining around the sides and bottom. The needle-book is a woven straw tied with ribbon to the box. There are two pincushions one in silk and one in an off-white velvet. The exterior shot shows the green ribbon ties which likely held other accessories in place.
This box has a creamy silk lining without any pockets evident and a single tie to the front right. 
If you look online at reproduction shaker boxes, you will see some such as this one with drop in trays including trays with thread spool pegs. As much as I love the idea of keeping my thread neat, I have yet to discover whether this version is appropriate for the mid-century.
This is a Shaker style sewing box finished by Bevin. (The box itself was made by the Rapones at GCVM.) She lined her box and lid. Inside she has a scissor’s case, pincushion and needlepages.
Now, this has little to do with the above Shaker or Shaker style work boxes. This is just another sewing box I happen to love the look of and would really like a reproduction of.
If I Had My Own Blue Box: 
