Possible Civil War Widow
Description:
This photo was purchased by me at the flea market in Dayton, OH
Date & Place:
Unknown
None / Unknown
Added
Updated Oct 14, 2015
Related Topics
Followers
Kyle Rambo
Added this photo
N Hertel
191 favorites
Daniel Pinna
540 favorites
Cynthia Tidwell
83 favorites
Bethany Cope
20 favorites
Karen Hedrick
13 favorites
Megan Hadden
14 favorites
Colleen Sutton
12 favorites
Sveta Lute
90 favorites
Sabrina Nelson
68 favorites
Mary Ruessing
108 favorites
Steve Newby
51 favorites
Stephanie Bell
18 favorites
Mollie Wilkins
157 favorites
Debra Riedle
29 favorites
Rodney Jackson
10 favorites
Lola King
35 favorites
Hyla Smith
13 favorites
Daniel Pinna
6.44k+ favorites
Tarah Thomas
5 favorites
Comments
Ancient Faces
450 favorites
Mary Newton Maxwell
Mary Newton Maxwell
Linda M. Gigliotti
Marilyn Williams Wojton
Irma N David Ramirez
Jennifer Anderson
Jennifer Drake
Linda M. Gigliotti
Juliet M Walker
Ruby King
Stephie Rice-lawton
Tarah Thomas
5 favorites
Linda M. Gigliotti
Linda M. Gigliotti
Linda M. Gigliotti
Linda M. Gigliotti
Maureen Buckley White
Melanie Stringer
Mona Helal
I saw ( gone with the wind movie )
What a tragedy..
Nancy La Selva
Laurie Wolfschlag
Jennifer Elaine Treaster
Nancy La Selva
Dawn Stringer
Kelly Calderon
Linda Mihovich
Lucy Hurst
Also Laurie didn't ask if you know Egyptian history, she was asking how in depth your knowledge of another countries personal history was.
Rita Cordova
Susanne Logue
Wanda Armstrong-Bridges
Linda M. Gigliotti
Steph Scovill-Ross
Linda M. Gigliotti
Bo Willie
Linda M. Gigliotti
Ree Young
Bo Willie
Paul Chapman
Linda M. Gigliotti
Shelley Bruce
Paul Chapman
Corinna Louise Lovegrove
Cheila Pereira Abrantes
Dawn Stringer
Lena Bleacher
Melanie Stringer
Linda M. Gigliotti
Kathleen Susan Smith
Melanie Stringer
Linda M. Gigliotti
Andrea Richards
Andrea Richards
Julia Steinke Stublaski
Melanie Stringer
Linda M. Gigliotti
Susan Schloss
507 favorites
Lisa Riley Hickman
Terie G Spencer
Bo Willie
Lisa M Davis
Alyssa Rose Gomori
Corinna Louise Lovegrove
Tiffany Ann
Laaren Brown
Dawn Stringer
Linda Kachel
Brenda Lichty-Steedley
Melanie Stringer
Linda M. Gigliotti
Carolyn Butler
Linda M. Gigliotti
Michelle Broussard
Regina Parker
17 favorites
Melanie Stringer
Indiana Saunders
11 favorites
Melanie Stringer
The length and features of corset styles changed many times over the 19th century. This image is somewhere between the late 1880s and early 1890s, and overbust corsets were quite standard in that era. I wear them myself when I present my educational history programs, and mine fits similarly to this.
Also: corsets, like modern bras or any other clothing, eventually wear out and need to be replaced. Unless she was desperately poor (which the image indicates is not the case), she would have 2 or 3 corsets at any one time (at least) and replace them as needed. A ratty corset is not going to lace up well at all.
Connie Smith
Dawn Stringer
Sheri Tyner
Dawn Stringer
Ree Young
Dawn Stringer
Linda M. Gigliotti
Melanie Stringer
Dawn Stringer
E Jane Smith Schreiner
Ree Young
Tracy Tannen
Melanie Stringer
E Jane Smith Schreiner
Shelley Bruce
E Jane Smith Schreiner
Mary Crestani Silantyev
Victoria Matheus
Richard Kenney
Shannon Gonzaga
Linda M. Gigliotti
Shannon Gonzaga
Helen A. Johns Linker
Dawn Stringer
Helen A. Johns Linker
Melanie Stringer
Ree Young
Melanie Stringer
Besides, ANY person who has worked with their hands for decades will have "man" hands. Ree Young is correct, and didn't even mention all the other tasks, like sewing, scrubbing floors, ironing with a flatiron (those things are heavy and awkward to use and will destroy your wrists) and many other physical tasks. In fact, just lacing one's corset every day will stress one's hands. I'm a historian who portrays a woman in the 1890s and I can promise you, lacing up is hard on the hands. This woman probably did that every day of her life, unlike someone like me who only does it for my presentations--about 50 times per year.
Incidentally, I worked as a cashier at a grocery store as my first job, stayed there almost a decade, and had man hands in my early 20s from carpal tunnel syndrome and the many scars acquired when handling boxes, cans, paper, money, and harsh cleaning products constantly. I left that job almost 20 years ago and my hands always give away my age even though the rest of me still looks younger than I am chronologically. But I always look at that as a happy accident, because my hands look the part FAR better than they would if I had really "feminine" hands.
Linda M. Gigliotti
José Wagner de Castro
Lowlie Benallou
Lowlie Benallou
Linda M. Gigliotti
France Scully Osterman
Rose Gasak
Jennifer Anderson
Linda M. Gigliotti
Fran Pleines Eanes
Ree Young
I doubt she wore it on a regular basis, as it is large. But this is a formal photograph. She probably donned her best black mourning dress to have it taken with the photo of her lost loved one.
Kyttie Lee Nicholson
Melanie Stringer
Rose Gasak
Thank you😢😨😮
Linda M. Gigliotti
Kyttie Lee Nicholson
Mary Ellen Grayberg
Melanie Stringer
Mary Ellen Grayberg
Ree Young
Melanie Stringer
Christine Moore Smith
Christine Moore Smith
Christine Moore Smith
Holly Schuetz
Christine Moore Smith
Susan Schloss
507 favorites
N Hertel
191 favorites
N Hertel
191 favorites
Linda M. Gigliotti
Melanie Stringer
Linda M. Gigliotti
Lucy Hurst
Lowlie Benallou
Dawn Stringer
Ree Young
Actually, I can't figure out why modern women wear those very high heels that cause the Achilles tendon to shorten, the spine to be out of alignment, and those tight, pointy shoes...women end up with painful bunions and callouses. Whatever the century, it's all in the name of following fashion, painful, confining, or just plain silly!
Lowlie Benallou
Char Mack
Linda M. Gigliotti
Lowlie Benallou
Melanie Stringer
And corsets weren't nearly as bad as we imagine. I'm not saying they were wonderful, but a properly-laced and properly-fitted corset (custom made--you'll never get the correct fit "off the rack") is rather more comfortable than you'd expect. Once you know how to put one on and lace it yourself there are many ways to get "the look" like the woman in the picture without suffocating. Remember, too, the clothing was made for the individual, so it is perfectly fitted over the layers of underpinnings and the corset for the individual woman. But a woman in a formal portrait is dressed in her best outfit, NOT in her daily wear. It looks much worse than it actually is.
I am an historian and I present educational programs in first-person--meaning I portray a specific woman from history as she would have been in the mid-1890s--so I have the full complement of wardrobe that was custom-sewn to fit me perfectly. When I'm dressed for presentation, people think I'm much thinner than I am, but the corset and the shape of the clothes create the illusion. My actual waist measurement is no smaller while corseted than when I'm in modern street clothes.
Linda M. Gigliotti
Lowlie Benallou