Description:
Pair of woman's gold-colored silk slippers with cotton twill linings and leather soles, which were "worn by Mrs. Elihu Dwight at her marriage circa 1835 South Hadley, Mass." according to the note written on the sole of one shoe. If this information is correct, they were worn by Clarissa Holkin Bement Dwight (May 9, 1817-May 6, 1888), who was born in Enfield, Connecticut, and married Elihu Dwight Jr. (July 2, 1808- May 6, 1898) on September 7, 1842 in South Hadley. Elihu Dwight Jr. was the son of the well-known Dr. Elihu Dwight (1763-1854) who was born in Belchertown, graduated from Dartmouth in 1790, studied with Dr. Ebenezer Hunt of Northampton, Massachusetts, and then practiced in South Hadley from about 1793 until retirement in 1833. Dr. Dwight married Lydia White of Springfield, Massachusetts in 1801, and they had eight children. Elihu Jr. was a grocer in Springfield after being a merchant in Cleveland, Ohio, and South Hadley. American women in Cinicnnati, Ohio, were critized by the English traveller, Mrs. Trollope (the acerbic mother of the renowned writer Anthony Trollope) in 1827, for their thin silk slippers which were the fashion at the time. She did not understand why they were nor all dead from lack of foot protection. In fact, thin leather soles did not often survive a night of dancing, and women sometimes brought an extra pair in case the first were ruined; similarly silk slippers worn by ladies of 'fashion' on city streets could be destroyed in a single wearing. Heels for women's shoes did not appear until nearly the mid 19th century. This form is the basis for the modern ballet slipper, invented about this time.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2001.43 |
