Coats & Clark - 200 Years

Coats & Clark - 200 Years

Thank you to Janith Bergeron for sharing this site.

4H State Activities Day - Fashion Revue

It is almost time for 4H State Activities Day at UNH, Durham. I am honored to once again have the opportunity to judge the fashion revue entries, which will culminate in a fashion show on Saturday 2 June. Show your support of these young talents. Applaud youth! http://extension.unh.edu/4h/4HSAD.htm

Another great site for historic garments

This lovely sleeveless bodice caught my eye on a recent search for historic garments. Great site for perusal or wish list purchases. 

Current Research: Developing Evidence on the Haverhill Shoe Trade

The very fist entry in the Daybook for 17 March 1793 is in fact for sole leather, purchased by Avery Sanders.  Given Sanders “jack of all trades” status in the community (he also hired out his services via indentures for labor) and the small quantity purchased, one may speculate that he operated as a cobbler, repairing local foot wear rather than crafting it. (The 1790 Census reveals that he was the head of household and the only male, with three females.)  On the other hand, large quantities of sole leather are recorded throughout the year by several different purchasers, including traders from Bath and Landaff.  There is the occasional mention simply of a cost for “tanning” (several times associated with the Ladd family) and random mentions of shoes (but thus far, no reference to boots) appear with some frequency. The well-established and respected Ladd family had a tannery on the Oliverian Brook, in close proximity to the General’s various concerns. (Indeed today, a short walk from the Montgomery Store across the Brook takes the visitor to “Ladd Lane” and “Tannery Road.”)

According to Whitcher, Deacon Ladd notes Phineas Swan (1751- 16 January 1829) as a cordwainer in a deed. Not enough evidence has yet surfaced to establish a tradition of shoemaking, but certainly there is ample information in the Daybook to support significant repairs in leather and the raw materials were available. Further, the Daybook reveals that special order shoes were sold, as in the case of Phebe Ladd’s purchase of shoes at 6 shillings (2 days of a working man’s labor), from the General’s store.

Accessories such as “knit cotton hose” for Clark Woodward cost him dearly – at 5 shillings 9 pence – almost two days of a man's labor. Given the cost and description, plated shoe buckles were also in abundance in the town, standard during this time period, seen in the 11 June 1793 entries.

Courtesy, Smiling Fox Forge

Courtesy, Lynn Museum

For further information on period shoe buckles, see:

http://www.wmboothdraper.com/Buckles/buckles_main.htm

http://www.smilingfoxforgellc.com/shoe_buc.asp?Category=Shoe%20Buckles

Courtesy, Historic Deerfield

Footcandy Friday Visits the Warner House, Portsmouth, NH

MEHITABLE RINDGE ROGERS (1725-1803) & HER LONDON SHOES

 The Warner House in Portsmouth, NH has a small but excellent collection of 18^th century – early 19^th century ladies shoes. The shoes are going off rotation and into storage, so this is a perfect opportunity for examination. 

One pair of particular note are those proudly announcing that they were created by “James Davis, Shoemaker, nr. Aldgate, London.” If you have followed these pages, the name may be familiar to you.  As part of a larger project, the author, with the assistance of Tara Vose, Warner House Board Member, and Bridget Swift, Research Associate, TheBranchCreative, has identified some 10 pairs of shoes in North American collections by Davis or Davis in partnership with Thomas Ridout. This short entry forms part of a larger research and publication project, in collaboration with contemporary London shoe designer, Emma Hope,  which will appear in 2013.

The shoe shown here (Accession #743) was worn by Mehitable (Mehitabel) Rindge (b. 22 September 1725- d. 1803) who married the Honorable Daniel Rogers, of His Majesty’s Council for New Hampshire.  Ten years her senior, the couple were both born and raised in Portsmouth and are buried at the Proprietor’s Cemetery.

An especially elegant shoe of cream (or possibly another color, much faded) silk– note the higher than usual heel at 3” rather than the more typical 21/2” for the Colonial American consumer – it is very well worn.  In addition to the Davis label, the shoe also boasts a strip of subtle pink silk across the interior of the tongue, meant to be exposed ever so slightly as the wearer walked across the room or down a flight of stairs. The contrasting pale pink silk, in combination with shiny paste or jeweled buckles and the sheen of the silk would have created a refined fashion statement and, with the heel, a striking silhouette.

The couple’s oldest child, Mark, was born in 1762, so they most likely married in the early 1760s.  Given the style of the shoe and knowing its maker, a fabrication date falling between 1760-1770 would be appropriate. Further, the higher, courtly heel may have been favored by Mehitable earlier in life, prior to the birth of five children.

Known after the Revolution for his apothecary business, Rogers was examined by the New Hampshire Committee of Safety for “being unfriendly to the liberties of America,” on Thursday, November 23, 1775. No evidence was found against him and so he was dismissed without incident. He would subsequently resign his post due to the Acts of British Parliament.

Thank you to Carolyn Roy and Louis Richardson, Co-Curators, Warner House, and Tara Vose, Warner House Board Member, for their assistance.

For information on the house, its history and collections, see

The Warner House: A Rich and Colorful History. Joyce Volk, ed., The Warner House Association, 2006.

Kimberly Alexander, Ph.D.

Department of History

University of New Hampshire, Durham