Description:
Pair of women's shoes in reddish-pink, glazed wool with buckles, which according to family tradition were worn for the January 24, 1765 wedding of Mary Flint (1742-1832) to Eleazer Spofford (1739-1828) in South Danvers, Massachusetts. Paper lables are attached to both shoes inscribed in ink: "Made for or brought from England for Mrs. Mary Flint-Spofford - wife of Dea. Eleazer Spofford of Bradford Mass., about 1760. Suppose to be the wdding shoes." It is likely that these shoes complemented the wedding dress, which could have been made of the same fabric. There is evidence that wool yarn was sometimes dyed to match a wool dress so stockings could be knitted for the ensemble. Glazed worsted wool, called calimanco or calamanco (spelled in many different ways), was particularly popular in the American colonies from the 1740s-1760s. The shiny and colorful wool had an advantage over silk in that it was much more durable and could be cleaned on a regular basis. The bright colors - pinks, blues, yellows, reds and greens - were used in a variety of way for household textiles such as bed covers and for other clothing such as petticoats and shoes. Dozens of references to these shoes can be found in the account books here in Deerifled; during the 1750s, they usually cost 5 shillings a pair, the equivalent of a man's daily wage at the time.
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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2004.26 |
