If I Had My Own Blue Box:

I have been waiting for months to make these straw bon bon baskets.

When I first saw the illustration for a basket made from straw plait in Godey’s Lady’s Book’s 1858 edition, I was nearly giddy. I had been thinking about baskets made from straw for a while. I had seen splint baskets repaired with straw. I had even repaired one with straw. It just made sense to me to make one with straw. I just needed documentation to place them in the nineteenth century. Ta da!

Let’s start with the morning videos.

This weekend’s set up was fairly simple. I made a couple baskets earlier for visitors to see while I decorated one and sewed a third, then fourth yet to be completed.

The baskets are made very much like the crown of a hat. The straw plait, or braid, is sewn in a spiral creating the bottom of the basket, then turned up for the sides. These bases are blocked just like a hat with a little sizing to stiffen them. The handles and decorative edges are straw shaped separately and added. Two are edged with double braided straw. One is edged with a looped design.

The baskets are decorated with the wheat heads, corn flowers, and poppies described in Godey’s.

I found I did not like the look or process of sewing the individual flowers and wheat heads as I decorated the first basket. I also found the wheat heads would block ease of reaching into the baskets for the chocolates. Towards the end of Saturday, I tried soaking some of the what heads, or the stalks of them actually. I was able to insert a wire and shape them. This made it possible to wire several Sunday morning and create a garland of wheat and flowers that could wrap around the basket. This needed only a few stitches to secure.

I have since had friends share additional straw basket images with me. Of course, some of these will need to be made as well.

This week’s question comes from a visitor who wants to begin reenacting as a hobby. They are either just starting out or have been reenacting for a short time. In developing their wardrobe, they know they need a bonnet. They ask “What should be my first bonnet?” or “What bonnet should I buy.”

My answer often surprises.

A sunbonnet.

So many women post about just starting and needing a bonnet. They often waste money on a bad fashion bonnet. I would rather see them buy a sensible sunbonnet and save for the right fashion bonnet. But, no. The bad fashion purchase gets worn far too long out of the feeling of remorse for the expense.

A correctly made sunbonnet is a purchase that will last many years. It will protect the wearer’s face, hair, and neck from the sun. It can also protect the fashion bonnet by allowing it to stay “home” in inclement weather.

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First, I am very grateful to those who helped me purchase this bonnet. When I saw it, I nearly cried because I was sure I would have to pass it up. Your support means I can do the research and work I do.

This bonnet is an excellent example of fine craftsmanship and three braids being set into stripes. The straw braid on the crown is a rich chestnut brown on the outside, a more matte, drab brown on the inside. The straw braid on the brim is a darker brown with a mauve/purple tint to it. This plait has a scalloped edge. Running through the whole of the bonnet is a wider braid with a two tone diamond pattern. I need to get a closer look at this braid. It may be a horsehair or wool. It is tight and fine.

The interior reflects aspects common to the era. The brim, cheektabs, and neck edge are wired with covered wire. The brim and crown are lined with loose weave cotton. Two tags, likely style and sewer, are attached to the back. The neck edge is bound in silk. Less commin but not unseen, the bottoms of the cheektabs have seperate pieces of dark brown plait pieced into the curve.

There are repair points throughout the bonnet where threads previously disintegrated. Additional threads indicate it may have been decorated at some point.

I am trying to write more but the WordPress app keeps crashing.

I noticed the local antique shop was open again. (I moved from a town with 5 antique shops to a town with 1.) Turns out there is a new owner. As I wandered, I saw this heart shaped frame in a little basket. It was such a sweet example of Victorian fancy work, I had to have it. Plus, it was only a dollar. Ya. Really.

The heart is 3 1/8″ tall and about the same wide. The 1″×3/4″ opening for the tintype photo sits about an inch above the point of the heart.

It is made of two layers of pasteboard. The back is covered in dark blue velvet. The front is covered in off white silk taffeta that has disintegrated.

The threads pulling the silk and velvet around the pasteboard can be seen through the photo opening as the photo has slipped.

The whole is bound with a bright golden yellow embroidery floss, likely silk, in a blanket stitch.

At the top of the heart is a red ribbon hanging loop and bow. The ribbon is a silk grosgrain with picot edge. At the bottom is a gold silk pom hanging from cord.

I recreated this heart frame from materials on hand. (Directions in pdf coming soon.) I think they came out quite darling.

I plan to do a semi-regular Fancy Work Friday series with Victorian fancy work focused posts on Fridays. Sometimes these will look at originals, other times they will be about making pieces from original directions. I may bring back some previous favorites for new readers.

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This is one of the hardest questions for me to answer. Why? Because I don’t fully know.

Ideally, I would have a big pool of bills/receipts, an assortment of ledgers from many different milliners, and a few dozen diary entries to create a database of prices based on year, region, area, time of year, type of piece, etc.. Then, I would feel like I had a hint of an answer.

But, I don’t have that. I don’t think anyone has that.

I save every 19th century bill/receipt that comes up for sale. I have even bought a few. I note every diary entry.

I try really really hard not to cry at the auction in front of all those people when a dealer out bids me on the stack of ledgers with a milliner’s ledger in it.

Take a moment.

Yes. It happened. I saw them go out the door.

….

Diary entries like these from Caroline Richards of Canandaigua, NY give us a look at the prices she paid for her millinery:

Wednesday, 1854 – Ann Eliza is going down street with us this afternoon to buy us some new summer bonnets;. They are to be trimmed with blue and white and are to come to five dollars. We are going to Mr Stannard’s store also, to buy us some stockings.

April 12, 1856 — We went down town this morning and bought us some shaker bonnets; to wear to school. They cost $1 apiece and we got some green silk for capes to put on them. We fixed them ourselves and wore them to school and some of the girls liked them and some did not, but it makes no difference to me what they like, for I shall wear mine till it is worn out. …

 Saturday, 1854 – We got our new summer hats; from Mrs Freshour’s millinery and we wore them over to show to Aunt Ann and she said they were the very handsomest bonnets she had seen this year. 

Bills or receipts can show the price of items from particular stores. They can also show the variety of store types as well as methods of keeping track of sales. This bill from 1849 lists several items purchased:

One trimmed bonnet cost $4.50 in May. A pink silk bonnet cost 43.50 in December. Two bonnets and trimmings “last spring” cost $6.35. (This bill also tells us the products and services this shop in Springfield provides, the frequency in which this family of an unknown number of women purchases bonnets, and the delay in payment from “last spring” to April, 1849 for this bill to January, 1850 for the payment.)

If I have to give a price, I can give a window for the mid century of as low as $1 for Shaker bonnets for school to $4.50 for a decorated silk bonnet. But, my answer has holes in that these examples span two different geographic regions and come from two different size cities.

So, the exploration continues…….

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A supplement to the “How much did Milliner’s make?” post.

An Act
Concerning the Rights and Liabilities of Husband and Wife
Passed March 20, 1860.
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. The property, both real and personal, which any married woman now owns, as her
sole and separate property; that which comes to her by descent, devise, bequest, gift, or grant;
that which she acquires by her trade, business, labor, or services, carried on or performed on her sole or separate account; that which a woman married in this State owns at the time of her marriage, and the rents, issues, and proceeds of all such property, shall notwithstanding her
marriage, be and remain her sole and separate property, and may be used, collected, and
invested by her in her own name, and shall not be subject to the interference or control of her
husband, or liable for his debts, except such debts as may have been contracted for the support of herself or her children, by her as his agent.

S 3. Any married woman possessed of real estate as her separate property may bargain sell, and
convey such property, and enter into any contract in reference to the same; buy no such conveyance or contract shall be valid without the assent, in writing, of her husband, except as
hereinafter provided.

S 2. A married woman may bargain, sell, assign, and transfer her separate personal property, and
carry on any trade or business, and perform any labor or services on her sole and separate account, and the earnings of any married woman from her trade, business, labor, or services shall
be her sole and separate property, and may be used of invested by her in her own name.

S 4. In case any married woman possessed of separate real property, as aforesaid, may desire to sell or convey the same, or to make any contact in relation thereto, and shall be unable to procure the assent of her husband as in the preceding section provided, in consequence of his refusal, absence, insanity, or other disability, such married women may apply to the County Court in the county where she shall at the time reside, for leave to make such sale, conveyance, or contract, without the assent of her husband.

S 5. Such application may be made by petition, verified by her, and setting forth the ground of
such application. If the husband be a resident of the county and not under disability from insanity
or other cause, a copy of said petition shall be served upon him, with a notice of the time when
the same will be presented to the said court, at least ten days before such application. In all other cases, the County Court to which such application shall be made, shall, in its discretion,
determine whether any notice shall be given, and if any, the mode and manner giving it.

S 6. If it shall be satisfactorily appear to such court, upon application, that the husband of such
application has willfully abandoned his said wife, and lives separate and apart from her, or that
he is insane, or imprisoned as a convict in any state prison, or that he is a habitual drunkard, or
he is any way disabled from making a contract, or that he refuses to give his consent without
good cause therefor, then such court shall cause an order to be entered upon its records,
authorizing such married woman to sell and convey her real estate, or contract in regard thereto without the assent of her husband, with the same effect as though such conveyance or contract had been made with his assent.

S 7. Any married woman may, while married, sue and be sued in all matters having relation to
her property, which may be her sole and separate property, or which may hereafter come to her
by descent, devise, bequest, or the gift of any person except her husband, in the same manner as if she were sole. And any married woman may bring and maintain an action in her own name, for damages against any person or body corporate, for any injury to her person or character, the same as if she were sole; and the money received upon the settlement of any such action, or recovered upon a judgment, shall be her sole and separate property.

S 8. No bargain or contract made by any married woman, in respect to her sole and separate
property, or any property which may hereafter come to her by descent, devise, bequest, or gift of
any person except her husband, and no bargain of contract entered into by any married woman
in or about the carrying on of any trade or business under the statutes of this State, shall be
binding upon her husband, or render him or is property in any way liable therefor.

S 9. Every married woman is hereby constituted and declared to be the joint guardian of her
children, with her husband, with equal powers, rights, and duties in regard to them, with the
husband.

S 10. At the desease of husband or wife, leaving minor child or children, the survivor shal hold,
possess, and enjoy all the real estate of which the husband or wife died seized, and all the rents,
issues, and profits thereof during the minority of the youngest child, and one-third thereof
during his or her natural life.

A cottage industry at its simplest is product creation in the home.

Product creation in the home, cottage industry, simultaneously provides income for the home, ideally utilizing the resources immediately or locally available, and contributes to the economy of rural and developing areas. When the product created went from the home to a larger manufacturer, as was the case with sewing straw bonnets or hats, this was known as piece work. This is not to say home manufacturing solely occurs in rural or developing areas. Product development can also be done in urban homes, where it is often referred to as home manufacturing instead of cottage industry. In this case, the materials are often provided. Flower making or band-box making would be examples of this.

Straw plaiting and straw sewing as cottage industries in the 19th century were prominent in England and Italy in Europe, and in the New England through New York areas of the United States. (Some areas, such as Luton in England, continued plaiting well into the 20th century.) Straw cottage industry took fibers easily grown in these regions, commonly wheat and rye, and transformed them into money earning product. (more details in From Field to Fashion) The workflow differed between the US and England. In England, straw markets were the norm. Plaiters and sewers exchanged their goods for the best price of the day based on their materials and work. In the US, an industry representative would come to collect finished work in exchange for pay. (I did read a single passage saying a woman could take her work to the local dry goods store with the merchant acting as the industry representative. I need to find additional support for this to be sure of the actuality.) These pieces (bonnets and hats) would then go a factory to be wired and finally sized (blocked and stiffened.) At this point, they were ready to go to straw goods stores and millinery shops.

I used to think straw sewing as a cottage industry in the US faded out by the turn of the century. Then, I discovered this log book for tracking straw sewing from 1904. Likely, this sewing was done by machine. This is based on the year and by the number of pieces this person could get done in a month. The booklet gives directions for sewing and shop regulations inside each cover. The pages give space for tracking: Date – Block – Pattern – Goods – Price – Amount

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In person, as a visitor watches, the question is usually “Are you hand sewing all of it?” or something about the stitches itself. Online, the question I get is about what kind of machine I am sewing with.

Straw plait millinery was hand sewn up until the invention of the straw sewing machine in the late 1860s. The first straw sewing machine was for sewing the bind edge of a bonnet or hat, not the whole body. The machine for sewing all of the straw came just a short time later. These machines came into common, but not universal use, in the 1870s. I say not universal use because some original pieces from the 1880s still show hand sewing for the construction.

I sew my straw millinery as they did in the nineteenth century up through the mid-century: by hand.

I use little stitches on the outside and long, half inch to inch long stitches on the inside.

To this day, I am still amazed by the visible stitches inside many straw bonnets. Here is an original bonnet I have in my TLC collection. The left photos is outside. The right photo is inside. Notice how you can barely, if at all, see the stitches on the outside, while on the inside the stitches are very visible.

From an artistic or craft standpoint, I find I have far more control over the straw when working by hand. I can adjust the tension, slightly curve, shape, or even fold the straw as I work. This allows me to create the shapes of each style including the height seen in an 1860’s spoon bonnet or the straw bavolet in an 1840s bonnet or the V point of a Regency or late century hat. This straw manipulation is the job of my left hand. So, both hands get tired, often very tired and sore, when I push them. I go through a lot of creams and visit my massage person regularly.

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One more week and Summer starts for me.

Well, mostly, sorta, kind. I have a few things to do at school after the last day.

Millinery Shop Plans

My goal is to try to make 20 pieces each month this summer. I want to offer a balance of bonnets and hat, both decorated and undecorated. I have been holding back some woven straw so I can offer some fancy woven pieces. I will be doing some Regency era and later Victorian pieces as well as the mid-century pieces.

In July, some of these pieces will need to go to the museum for the millinery shop interpretation first.

Summer To-Do List

• The future Peppermint doll awaits her body and clothes. I may end up making her dress from red/white striped cotton instead of silk.
• Finishing my new corset is a must early in the summer. I started it weeks ago but got stalled out.
• I am considering making a large block quilt with some of the fabrics from the fabric swaps years ago.
• I really, really need to spend some time walking in the woods and wandering aling waterfalls.
• Then there are a bunch of small things I can’t seem to recall as I write.
• Hmmm….. and its about time I make either my green or brown wool dress.

Events

• This weekend I have a strawberry pin cushion class. This is a modern crafty class at a local quilt shop.
• Independence Day at GCVM is of course tradition.
• Chocolate Weekend is the 16th and 17th of July at GCVM. I will be talking about Victorian fancy work and chocolate while making a straw Bon Bon Basket, or two.
• GCVM’s Civil War Living History Weekend is July 23rd & 24th. I will be setting up the women’s employments interpretation.
• A local Old Fashion Day lands on the last Saturday of July. This is a relaxed event to sew and chat with attendees.
• August is less packed with a tbd day or days for interpreting a new idea I’ve been working on. Plus one last weekend before I am back at school/work at the end of the month.

Additional Question

I have something else I am trying to think through. 🤔 Is there some digital content you wish I made available? Of I had a sister shop, what would you want to see there?

This is a harder question than it seems on the surface. A woman may take many roles from an assistant to an employed milliner to a millinery shop owner. Each of these roles could take place in a larger or smaller shop, in a large city, small city, or small town. 

Skill level and shop sales were factors as well.  In the agreement between Newman and Stout, Emma would initially be paid $8 per week. A clause was included that if after 6 months “if business is good”, her pay would increase to $9 per week. (The full document, with notes is available to Patrons in Patreon.)

There are a few resources that help us understand what a milliner made.  Virginia Penny breaks down many of the rolls within the millinery industry in her book The Employments of Women. Penny looks at their pay as well as the training needed and some of the negative ramifications of some roles such as influence on health. This excerpt shows that overall some women in the role of milliner could make more than those making many other items. but the details show a wide range of income:

Looking at her more detailed sections, Penny breaks down her findings by city and type of job. Millinery shop assistants, who she calls “girls” are noted as being paid between $2.50 and $6 per week in Philidelphia in 1853. These are the young women who decorated bonnets and hats. In New York City, a shop owner would pay “first class workwomen” between $6 and $7 per week. Sales women in larger urban shops are said to have been paid $1 per day (Philadelphia, 1853.)

The workday would be long by our 21st century standards. This was true for both larger, urban millinery shops and smaller goods shops. Some passages I’ve read talk about work days starting before dawn, being fed quickly at the shop, and working until mid-night from Monday through Saturday. Penny accounts as slightly shorter day:

“I called in a small store of dry and fancy goods, with which was connected a millinery. The young lady waited on customers, and in the intervals trimmed bonnets for the store. She received $1 a day, and is at the store by half past seven, and leaves at nine at night.”

It is important to understand the millinery industry was a seasonal one. Shop assistants were often employed for the spring and fall seasons with the work hours running from dawn to past nightfall during the busy times and minimal to no work during the off seasons.

I would be remiss if I did not include this particular passage of Penny’s. She is discussing the work and living conditions in New York City, including how they vary. She notes “On the back streets and avenues in New York, women work longer, and the stores are kept open later than on Broadway. On Division street, large cases of bonnets are exposed for sale in summer on the sidewalks. In the poorer portions of a city, people live much and sell mostly out of doors. Their crowded apartments and the high price of rent account for it.” Her observations differ from this shop owner:

“He [D., on Broadway] says his girls spend all they make on dress. He has two forewomen, to each of whom he pays $500 a year. They never save a cent. He had one to whom he paid $1,000, but she never aid by a dollar. Women, he thinks, have not as much originality of thought as men. They seldom invent. He would give $1.000 a year to a woman who would think for him, and originate styles, and combine and arrage the trimmings of his bonnets with taste. He walks Broadway, and studies the fashion of bonnets; but none of his women ever do. (Perhaps they have no time.) Women, he thinks, never acquire such proficiency as men. They advance to a certain degree in the art, and ever after are stationary. He thinks it is partly because they majority look forward to marrying, and partly because they are constituted that they are not susceptible of acquiring the highest decree of excellence. (I fear that D. does not consider that women have not had as much time nor so many opportunities for improving themselves as men, nor have they as much to stimulate them.) He pays women from $3 to $8 per week.”

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