Ladies' Choice Waltz

Everyone remembers the dance scene from Gangs of New York where Cameron Diaz' character "Miss Everdeane," is given her choice of dance partners by sitting on a chair in front of the gentlemen and looking at each one, in turn, in a mirror and shaking her head 'no' until the partner she wants passes by.

While the dresses are horrid from a historic perspective and the movie itself is not for young viewers and boasts a lot of fiction, the dance itself actually has some merit. Using a mirror to allow the women to choose dance partners was a popular beginning for waltzes in the 1860s and 1870s.

The movie then shows the couples dancing with candles. There are very few period references to "candle dancing" but a book from 1899 called "The World Wide Magazine" details a peasant ball in Italy which may have been the inspiration for the movie scene: 

"There are a few rather funny dances. One not unlike a figure of our cotillon is called the speahio, or looking-glass dance, and is very amusing to watch. A chair is placed in the middle of the room, round which a couple dance once or twice. The man then places the lady in the chair, and hands her a looking-glass. He then goes and gets another man, with whom he dances, and finally brings him up behind the girl in the chair. She sees his face in the looking-glass, and, if she likes him, gets up and dances with him for a short time. Then the man sits down, and girls are brought up in the same manner for him to choose. If he does not like them, he wipes the looking-glass with a handkerchief, and the girl has to retire, with a red face, amidst the laughter of those looking on. It seems rude, but is customary. Another dance I have never seen in England is called 'The Candle Dance,' perhaps on account of the amount of grease flying about, as the candle is kept lighted during the dance. It begins by as many couples as care to take part dancing round in the usual manner. One man who has not acquired a partner stands in the middle of the room with the lighted candle. He suddenly cries " Stop," and immediately each couple commences to walk round him arm in arm. He then cries "Go forward" or "Go backward," whichever he likes, and all the men have to leave their partners and take the girl in front or behind them as the case may be. Meanwhile the man with the candle is himself trying to get a partner before one of the other men. If he succeeds the man left out has to take the candle, but if baffled he still continues to hold it. Dancing commences again as soon as everybody has got his new partner."

In Remembrance of Boo

Boo, the world's best bunny, and my little baby, died tonight.

 

We will miss her terribly and love her always.

It's Too Cold to Post!

I keep trying to type but my hands keep getting so cold, I have to pile blankets on myself and wait for them to defrost. We had our first bit of flurries on Thanksgiving and more are expected tonight and tomorrow.

It was so warm last week I can't believe that it has changed to bleak gray skies and dry air. It's finally starting to feel like the yuletide season. I am readying myself for gingerbread houses. I found a great tutorial to make miniature gingerbread houses that go with hot chocolate here: Not Martha.

Gingerbread houses became popular in Germany after Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm published the German folktale, Hansel and Gretel in 1812. Honey is traditionally the main sweetener in German "lebkuchen" houses. In Hansel and Gretel,the antagonist a cannibalistic witch lives in a big house made entirely of candies and cake.

Some interesting gingerbread houses:

-Elaborate Gingerbread Houses

-Gingerbread House Photos

- Gingerbread Contest 

- National Gingerbread Contest

Those houses are amazing, aren't they? Keep warm and enjoy some cocoa and gingerbread. Here are some photos of the Colonial Plantation house decorated for Christmas. I did some knitting by the fire the day I took these. My yarn smells like a wood-burning stove but it's a cozy smell for it to have.

You Have My Permission...

My Unfinished Projects: 1. Pink and white Civil War Era knitted headdress(as seen on my sister's blue wig from a costume), 2. Green and black "Dark Mark" scarf (lost a knitting needle), 3. Peach, Colonial Era Jacket, 4. Purple, Civil War Era knitted suspenders, 5. Pink and white Colonial Era pockets. Notable projects not pictured: 1. Civil War Sontag (ran out of yarn), 2. Civil War Era Quilt, 3. Blue and white, handsewn Colonial Era Jacket. 

 To stop working on that project.

I constantly work on more projects than anyone could finish in a lifetime. Frequently, I have so many that I half finish them and forget about them until I am rummaging through my stuff looking for some material for yet another project. I used to think I had to finish every project I started, just as I used to think that I had to finish every book I started reading.

As I have gotten older, I realize that I don't have time to read books that aren't good and I don't have to finish every project I start. I frequently find that I will discover an abandoned project months later and no longer have a need for it anyway which makes it useless to finish. 

So for everyone who was sitting around like me, waiting for someone's permission to stop reading a bad book, or to stop sewing a garment that wouldn't fit you anyway, I give you my permission to stop and you don't have to feel the least bit bad about doing so. We are all very busy and all more productive than we think. Less projects and less guilt equal less clutter and more time to focus on what is important.

What to do with those abandoned projects?

Give them to someone else. I have Civil War Era dress patterns new in their packages that I know I will never get around to making. I also have half finished jackets and things that I know someone else could finish up quickly and use. Sometimes we stop projects when they get to a tedious point--it may be easier for fresh hands to finish up.
Recycle the Materials. You can always recycle the materials into something more useful to yourself at this point in time. Half done sewing projects can become raw materials for new ones. (Imagine my surprise when my boyfriend told me that he could use a bit of a half-done leather project for his uilleann pipes.)
Find someone willing to finish them for you. Sometimes my sister just wants to sew something and she doesn't have a project in the works or doesn't have money to finish the project she is working on and she'll help me sew. 
Put them on hold. Put the project on hold for a period of time until you might need it again. Working on knitting mittens in the summer might be less important at the time than sewing summer clothes. Just remember to give yourself time to finish the project before you need it.  

When I look at all of these unfinished projects I feel guilty. I am working on all of them slowly and most have to do with me needing more materials and refusing to buy them until I have a coupon. Surprisingly these are nowhere near all of my projects and they are always changing. I also have numerous unfinished writing projects, drawing projects, music projects. I am kind of surprised at myself that I take on so many projects. This seems crazy especially with all of my schoolwork but  I am one of those people that always have to be creating something or I go crazy. I guess I never really look at all of the things that get finished, in proportion, I guess the unfinished projects shouldn't make me feel guilty. 

I know I have a lot of really creative people who read my blog, is there any project you just want to scrap but feel guilty doing so?

Mid-1800s/ Civil War Era Marriage Proposals

Marriage in the mid-1800s was complex. Marriages were not jut the joining of a man and a woman but a joining of families, businesses, jobs, and wealth. Love was not the only thing to consider in a marriage. A man was looking for an agreeable woman who could take care of his house and raise his family and a woman was looking for a breadwinner.

Many couples married because the situation was pleasing to them even if they were not in love with their spouses. Love was present in many marriages and love was the main reason a man would show interest in a lady.  

Many marriages occurred as a result of a young man writing  his future bride's father indicating his intentions, line of work, and bank contents.

Marriages were not necessarily arranged but general opinion of the time was that young ladies should not have to suffer the embarrassment of making a split-second decision that she might not think through properly or to hurt a gentleman's feelings by rejecting him in person.  It was proper at the time for a rejection to be business-like and the proposal not mentioned by any of the parties afterward.Only if a gentleman was very good friends with a lady would he ask her before her parents.

It was also acceptable for a gentleman to ask a friend to propose the match to the lady or her father. If the gentleman knew that his advances were accepted, he could write a letter asking the young lady herself or ask her in person. If a gentleman was not sure, he was to write a letter to her father and pray that her father liked him.    

Rings were used during some proposals, simple bands were common and only very wealthy gentlemen gave rings with diamonds. The ring was a sentimental token of a gentleman's affection, intended to only be special to the lady, not necessarily valuable. 

Some Marriage Proposals from "How to Do it," by John H. Tingley published in 1864.