A Stitch in Time Saves Nine

 

QUESTION: My grandmother loved to sew. She made her own clothes and some of those of her family. Over the years, she assembled quite a collection of sewing items. Some of the most interesting were the old sewing kits and baskets from the 19th and early 20th century. One thing I inherited from my grandmother was her love of sewing. I, too, love to sew. After she died, I got her collection of sewing items. I have no idea about the sewing kits and would like to learn more about them so that I can date them. Can you help me?

ANSWER: Before the introduction of mass-produced clothing, sewing was a way of life for every household. Usually, it was the women who took care of the making and mending of clothing. Your girls, required to master complicated sewing skills, used a variety of containers to hold their sewing tools.

The earliest sewing containers consisted of simple bags made of fabric or leather. But by the 18th century in Europe, metalworkers, jewelers, and other craftspeople had begun making fine sewing tools for ladies of the court who also required handsome boxes to hold them. Artisans used rare woods, leather, ivory, or precious metals inlaid with gems and mother of pearl on the outsides of their boxes and lined the interiors with silk or velvet. They fitted larger boxes with two or even three levels or sections.

By the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, the rise of the middle class created a market for less expensive and more practical sewing boxes that were both attractive and durable. Inside, they tightly wrapped tools and notions made of steel, such as needles, pins, scissors, bodkins, buttons, hooks, and eyes to prevent them from rusting. They also used brown paper to protect delicate, colored threads from light and air, while shielding sewing silks from the elements by soft, washed leather.

A typical Victorian sewing box would be just big enough to keep all of a woman’s sewing tools, as well as a little bit of her handiwork. Inside, you’d find a needle book with a large range of sizes, along with an assortment of thread made of cotton, linen, and silk, plus buttons formed from shells, acorns, wood, and metal. Sewing implements included different types of shears and scissors, a pin cushion and needle emery, a jar of beeswax, and a folding measure or measuring tape. Some boxes even housed tools to make lace or square cords.

Victorian women considered their sewing boxes to be private—for their eyes only. Many of these boxes had locks, and ladies often kept love tokens, such as a romantic letter, a book of poetry, or an image of her beloved inside it.

Small sewing boxes known as étui in France and "lady’s companions" in England and Germany became very popular. These portable containers usually held basic tools---scissors, needles bodkin, and a thimble—required for sewing on a day trip or for a sewing circle:. Larger lady’s companions often held a small mirror, a tiny perfume bottle, a little New Testament, a lady’s knife, tweezers, or a button hook. Some containers took the shape of books with “Lady’s Companion” printed on the spine, while others resembled fold-up leather pocketbooks. Other whimsical sewing boxes had shapes like hearts, eggs, and flasks.

With the introduction of the first sewing machines in 1860, ladies discovered that their thread was too stiff to run through the new invention. As a result, George Clark introduced a six-cord, soft cotton thread for these machines in 1864, and branded it as Clark’s O.N.T. (for “Our New Thread’). In the late 19th century, the Clark Thread Company issued many sewing kits and boxes advertising this brand.

Small, lidded baskets—woven from cane, grass, rushes, willow, honeysuckle, or bamboo—also made suitable sewing containers. In 19th-century China, a bride would be presented small gifts in ornate baskets during her wedding. These baskets were exported by the thousands to the United States starting around 1880, and were popular as sewing baskets until around 1930.

By the beginning of the 20th century, baskets had become the most common sewing containers in America. Often manufacturers lined them and created spaces for a pin cushion, scissors sheath, and thimble holder sewn into the lining. Starting around 1930, wicker bucket totes became sewing containers for many women. These usually had cord handles and decal images of flowers, poodles, and sewing tools on their wooden lids.

Besides the more elaborate sewing boxes and baskets, many women created their own mending kits to hold all the necessary implements to sew or repair anything, anywhere. These mending kits also functioned as travel kits that people could easily pack and take with them.

During the 18th century, women made mending kits called “housewifes” or “hussifs” from scraps of velvet, burlap, or leather by rolling them into a pouch with compartments for tools. They also came in other forms like purses or satchels. Wealthier women purchased kits made of ivory, wood, or silver at finer stores. Mending kits included a small pair of scissors, one or more thimbles, a needle case, spools of thread, bodkins, stilettos, clamps, buttons, and pleat makers. 

During the first half of the 20th century, women often upcycled their old clothes into the season’s latest fashions by shortening skirts or changing hat trim. They completed this intricate work by hand, using tools found in their mending kits. Because these kits were small, ladies could take them everywhere. 

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "Coffee--The Brew of Life" in the 2023 Summer Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

The Mark of the Lady of the House

 

QUESTION: I recently purchased a beautifully crafted device at an antique show. The dealer called it a chatelaine and said that it dated to the 1860s. What attracted me to it were the small objects attached to individual chains which in turn were connected to belt clip. I’m sure it will become quite a conversation piece in my home. What can you tell me about its origins and uses?

ANSWER: During Victorian times, many women, either mistresses of the house or housekeepers in large mansions, who were in charge of keeping the keys to doors, drawers, and cabinets, wore a decorative belt hook with a series of chains suspended from it, called a chatelaine at their waist. Household items, including a small pair of scissors, a thimble, a pendant watch, a vinaigrette (to use in case someone fainted), a stamp holder, a match safe, and a household seal, hung from the chains. But the most important items hanging from the chatelaine were the keys needed by the person who managed the household.

The name chatelaine is a French term referencing the "lady of the castle." In its earliest form worn during the Middle Ages, a chatelaine hooked to a belt that held keys kept by the woman of the house. The chatelaine evolved, and chains were added to hold various implements. Both men and women wore them, with men's versions holding watches, knives, wax seals, and the like.

Women as far back as ancient Rome wore chatelaines from which hung ear scoops, nail cleaners, and tweezers. Women in Roman Britain wore “chatelaine brooches” from which they hung toilet sets.

Widely worn from the 1600s through the early 1900s, chatelaines allowed women to keep necessary objects handy. Women’s clothes didn’t have pockets, at least not big enough to hold much. A chatelaine kept a lady’s necessities together and available at all times. There were chatelaines for sewing and some for writing and some plainer ones that held keys.

These items were clipped to a belt or the top of a skirt most of the time, but some versions have pin-backs. Each implement was hooked to its chain so that the item could be detached, used, and reattached. Examples of objects dangling from a lady’s chatelaine would be scent bottles, mirrors, button hooks, sewing and needlework tools, pencils, and notepads.

The chatelaine became a status symbol for women in the 19th century. The woman who held the keys to all the many desks, chest of drawers, food hampers, pantries, storage containers, and many other locked cabinets was "the woman of the household." As such, she was the one who gave directions to the servants, housemaids, cooks and delivery servicemen. She would also open or lock the access to the valuables of the house. 

Frequently, the woman who wore the chatelaine was the senior woman of the house. When a woman married a son and moved into his father's house, the son's mother would usually hold on to the keys. However, if the mother became a widow, the keys and their responsibilities and status became the responsibility of the eldest son's wife. 

Younger women and daughters in the house, who wanted it to appear as if they had this responsibility, would often wear an intricate chatelaine without the keys, but with a variety of other objects. Instead of the keys, they attached bright and glittering objects, which she could use to start a conversation. If there wasn’t a woman of the house, the person who’s responsibility it was to hold the keys was often a hired housekeeper.

While women purchased complete chatelaines, they often would buy other objects to hang on them, perhaps while traveling, much like charms on a charm bracelet. 

One of these objects was the vinaigrette bottle. These came in a variety of colors and designs, including ruby red glass, covered with a gilt brass casing, decorated with birds or flowers. These little bottles had hinged gilt lids which closed tightly. Women used them to recover from fainting spells—a malady in Victorian times. 

Besides the household chatelaine described above, women also had specialized chatelaines. The one most used was a sewing chatelaine. On its chains hung items that would help the owner with sewing chores. Often craftsmen made these of European silver which has 800 parts silver and is stronger than sterling which has 925 parts silver, thus making it softer.

On one of the chains hung an Etui, a small box on which would have been decorated with perhaps rural scenes or floral designs which could hold pins or other sewing necessities. 

On two of the other chains hung a large and a small needle holder. These may have been decorated with a repousse of small animals or plants. Some needle holders had the shape of fruits, such as strawberries, and were about one and half to three inches long.

Another chain held a sterling hinged thimble holder with an emery tip and a sterling silver size 9 thimble inside. Yet another held a sterling silver scissor case with sterling handled scissors and sterling capped acorn shaped emery. The sewing chatelaine also included a small notebook and a retractable pencil, and it might also include a round pincushion between two disks.

Finally, a sewing chatelaine could also contained a scent bottle. Many ladies had a scent bottle on their sewing chatelaine's to store clean water in so they could clean the tips of their fingers to keep the garment or quilt they were working on clean. Some small etui's have little glass bottles on the inside that held clean water. In the 19th century there weren't sinks everywhere in which women could wash their hands.

Since the purses carried by Victorian women were rather small, some wore a special chatelaine when they went to parties or went dancing. Dangling from its chains was a small container holding face powder, a small mirror, and a small notebook and pencil for jotting down names and addresses of people she met. It might even have had a tiny photograph album containing four photos of her family which she could show to other guests.

Craftsmen used gold or silver to fashion most chatelaines. Some had beautiful intricate vitreous enamel decorations. Most chatelaines were between 8 and 13inches long and between 2 and 3 inches wide. 

Most chatelaines extended 8 to 13 inches down from a woman’s waist. The chatelaine itself, with no attachments, often measured 10 inches long, including the small central drop.  

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "Coffee--The Brew of Life" in the 2023 Summer Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Out, Out Brief Candle

 

QUESTION: One of my aunts recently passed away. She had a collection of antique candle snuffers that was truly unique. Now I’ve inherited them. I know absolutely nothing about them. Some look very strange. What can you tell me about candle snuffers? How far back do they go—obviously before the invention of electricity. 

ANSWER: Most people call the bell-shaped cone at the end of a long handle used to put out candles a snuffer. But the device known as a snuffer is actually an “extinguisher” or candle “douter.”

As candlesticks became more sophisticated in the mid-18th century, people required a method to safely put out candles without blowing them. While the candle snuffer's component parts—scissors, a stand, dustpan—might be familiar to some people,  combined, they do look strange. However, before electricity, candles and candle snuffers were an integral part of everyday life. Candle wicks used to be made of cotton which would start smoking and burst into flames as they grew longer, therefore necessitating regular trimming. The scissor part of the candle snuffer would sever the burnt wick, which would safely fall into the dustpan to be extinguished and discarded. This would also catch any dripping hot wax.

Christopher Pinchbeck the Younger developed and patented the true candle snuffer in England in 1776. His device looked like a pair of stunted scissors with a raised round bowl on top of them. The user would to snip the wick, catching it in the bowl and extinguishing the candle safely with no soot or wax on the walls from blowing, or hot wicks catching anything on fire. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, it was considered a sign of candle skill for a person to be able to use the snuffer to trim a wick without extinguishing the flame.

There’s considerable confusion among collectors, antiques dealers and the public concerning the name and function of these little devices known as candle snuffers.

The problem is due to two meanings of the word "snuff." Used as a noun, snuff refers to the burned ash from the spent wick of a candle, but when it's a verb, usually used with the word "out" – then it means to extinguish.

Back in the 18th century, people used snuffers to trim the candlewicks, and to remove the burned snuff, but not to extinguish the candle. At times the flame might have been inadvertently put out in the process, but that wasn’t the intent.

A snuffer was a device made of metal for cutting off, or snuffing, and holding the charred part of a candlewick. Before the invention of the self-consuming wick, around 1830, the hanging burned wick caused the flame to dim, flicker or even go out. Or it may have dropped against the side of the candle, forming a channel or gutter in the precious wax. So it became expedient to reach in with the snuffer to clip the wick and remove the snuff every hour or so. 

The earliest snuffers were plain and simple but over time became more decorative and complicated. The first snuffers were simple scissors types with no container for the snuff. This presented the problem of dropping charred, sometimes still burning wick onto the table, and so the idea of adding a little box to contain the snuff was born.

Craftsmen made all snuffers, douters, and extinguishers of brass, copper, or pewter and  elaborately engraved them. They added delicately twisted handles, basket woven cones, or beautifully etched patterns to make the snuffer a beautiful addition to any home.

Besides improving the efficiency of their snuffers, craftsmen began engraving and chasing them with cupids, garlands, leaves and flowers, and sometimes with the monogram of the owner. They used elaborate finishes, such as gilt, enamel, silver plating and even inlaid fancier ones with faience and porcelain. 

Snuffer trays were flat and usually rectangular, with cut off corners, deep enough to hold the snuffer and the clippings with safety. Sometimes, the tray had small feet to raise them up The invention of the box addition and the automatic spring mentioned above affected the style of the tray. The deep dish of early days was no longer required, for the snuffer box contained the burned snuff. So a more shallow tray with a low rim grew in favor. At the same time, makers fitted trays with three short feet—one beneath each finger hold on the scissors end and one on the pickwick end. These lifted the tool a bit above the tray and made it easier for the user to grasp.

Makers also decorated snuffer trays with handles, scrolls, and masks, and often finished them in Sheffield plate. Heavy borders became popular. By the late 18th century, large “table snuffers,” that sat between a pair of large candlesticks, came into fashion. By that time smaller ones became known as “chamber snuffers.”

It may seem strange today that so much effort went into the design and making of simple snuffers and trays. But since candles provided all lighting during the darker hours, it’s easy to see why so much went into care went into these devices. A pattern bock of around 1800 shows 165 different tray designs, and in 1839 a directory of the city of Birmingham, England, listed 30 manufacturers of steel candle snuffers, the plainest kind.

With the invention of the self-consuming candle wick and improved wax, snuffers and their trays became unnecessary. In fact, many people used the snuffer trays as ashtrays when cigar smoking came into vogue during the Victorian Age.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about the "Antiques of Christmas" in the 2021 Holiday Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.