Description:
Woman's one piece, cylinder-printed, calico cotton day dress, which was given to the donor by her mother, Ruth Nims Frost (b.1896) who got the dress from her mother, Ada Ellis Nims (b.1853), wife of Henry Mason Nims (b.1848) of Keene, New Hampshire. IThe dress was probably made by Ada's mother, Roxana Osgood Nims (1819-1906), the wife of Asahel Nims of Keene, who married in 1842. Calico became the most common dress material by the third decade of the 19th century as the printed designs were both beautiful and inexpensive. By the 1840s, pieced calico quilts were celebrated in American popular literature as being reminders of loved ones and past times for they were made out of "my childhood's calico gowns, and...my mother's and sisters..." The dress has a shallow, rounded neckline edged with matching trim; dropped armscyes that are self-piped; full sleeves tapered into tacked pleats at both the cap and forearms; raised waistline; skirt cartridge pleated into matching waistband all around; and a center back opening with modern hook and eyes. The proper right front skirt seam has a coarser cotton pocket attached. Bodice lined in cotton. The skirt is unlined, but has a plain cotton facing at the inside hem. Fabric width, selvage to selvage, is about 26 1/2". Several separate scraps of fabric remain with this garment.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+92.038 |
