Treasures Afoot: Shoe Stories from the Georgian Era

Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018.
Image, Strawbery Banke; Photograph, Ellen McDermott

Shoes reveal the hopes, dreams, and disappointments of the early Americans who wore them.

In Treasures Afoot, Kimberly S. Alexander introduces readers to the history of the Georgian shoe. Presenting a series of stories that reveal how shoes were made, sold, and worn during the long eighteenth century, Alexander traces the fortunes and misfortunes of wearers as their footwear was altered to accommodate poor health, flagging finances, and changing styles. She explores the lives and letters of clever apprentices, skilled cordwainers, wealthy merchants, and elegant brides, taking readers on a journey from bustling London streets into ship cargo holds, New England shops, and, ultimately, to the homes of eager consumers.

We trek to the rugged Maine frontier in the 1740s, where an aspiring lady promenades in her London-made silk brocade pumps; sail to London in 1765 to listen in as Benjamin Franklin and John Hose caution Parliament on the catastrophic effects of British taxes on the shoe trade; move to Philadelphia in 1775 as John Hancock presides over the Second Continental Congress while still finding time to order shoes and stockings for his fiancée’s trousseau; and travel to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1789 to peer in on Sally Brewster Gerrish as she accompanies President George Washington to a dance wearing her brocaded silk shoes.

Interweaving biography and material culture with full-color photographs, Treasures Afoot raises a number of fresh questions about everyday life in early America: What did eighteenth-century British Americans value? How did they present themselves? And how did these fashionable shoes reveal their hopes and dreams? Examining shoes that have been preserved in local, regional, and national collections, this book demonstrates how footwear captures an important moment in American history while revealing a burgeoning American identity.

Historian Kimberly S. Alexander, a former curator at the MIT Museum, the Peabody Essex Museum, and Strawbery Banke, teaches material culture and museum studies at the University of New Hampshire.

Martha Washington’s Encampment Tool Kit

©2009 Mount Vernon Ladies' Association

While others wielded weapons and words, Martha Washington preferred using a diminutive tool kit when serving in close proximity to the Revolutionary battlefields near her husband, General George Washington. A needle case or needle book was always at her side – literally. At Valley Forge, her needle case was attached to her waistband by a grosgrain ribbon.  From this approximately 3-inch bit of textile we glean much of her identity and efforts to help her husband and those under his command. It is not widely known that Martha spent substantial time every year with her husband at various encampments, from 1775 until December 1783.  Indeed, she remained with her husband close to half the time he was away from Mount Vernon. Several of Martha’s wartime artifacts, seemingly commonplace, have survived, and these objects powerfully link Martha to the battlefields where the General commanded his troops.

©2009 Mount Vernon Ladies' Association

During the dreary and bitterly cold winter of 1777-1778, Martha was in camp at George's side at Valley Forge.  Her concern for the troops is documented in letters from many who were present. Throughout that bleak winter of desolation and starvation, she comforted not only her husband, but sought to bring some warmth and civility to the entire camp. Along with other officer's wives, she organized and coordinated small gatherings, for repairing clothes and knitting socks.

In this context, the survival of her needle case or needle book, held by the Mount Vernon Ladies Association, becomes symbolic of her commitment to her husband and her country. It is attributed to Martha Washington, c. 1777-1778, and made at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. It is of silk, broadcloth, buckram and silver-wrapped silk thread. More:

The National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution, also holds a needle case that is thought to have belonged to Martha. When this charming silk brocade case is unfolded, we can just make out the imprints of the needles and pins it once housed.  Some curators have suggested that this charming artifact may even have been fashioned from remnants of an earlier garment.

     In a letter to her friend Mercy Otis Warren, in Massachusetts, Martha  revealed her positive nature, one which she carried into Valley Forge and similar challenges: "I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.” 

For more, see “Martha At the Front”
http://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/martha-washington/martha-at-the-front/

©2009 Mount Vernon Ladies' Association

National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution

 

National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution

Patriotic Shoes: Made from Fragments of an American Revolution Flag?

Are these shoes tied to the American Revolution, fabricated from a piece of a banner, flag or standard ? The Connecticut Historical Society notes that in their records "these shoes were made about 1780, from a military flag carried in the Revolutionary War." The maker is unknown. Presented to the Society by Mrs. Horatio Fitch, both her family and her husband's could have had ties to the Revolution.

The uppers are crafted from red silk damask and painted with highlights of gold and black, with discernible letters "OIT" on one shoe and "N" on the other. Decorative swirls also comprise the detail. Lachets would have buckled across the vamp. The interior is lined with linen. They are hand stitched and, as noted in the Society description, the edge was hastily whip-stitched. This may indicate that the shoes were made up quickly for a special commemorative event. The materials are typical of those used for banners of the time. Indeed, just a few years later, during President George Washington's Boston visit (October 1789, more: George Washington & the Cordwainers), the procession banners of the trades were made of painted silk.

The diminutive heel is covered in a white damask, adding a contrast with the red silk. Given the dimension and angle of the heel, it seems appropriate to the 1780s. The length of 8 1/4 inches corresponds to a women's size 4.5 or 5 (USA) today.

Object Number: 1843.13.0a,b

All images courtesy of the Connecticut Historical Society

Revolutionary War Patriot Samuel Cutts and His 1780s Suit

A fine, trim suit worn by Revolutionary war patriot, Samuel Cutts (1726-1801) c. 1780s, will be on view at the Saco Museum, Saco, Maine, from 14 March – 6 May 2014. The narrow cut of the blue silk coat with matching buttons reveals an elaborate silk brocade waistcoat beneath, sporting tiny brass buttons. The fabric for the coat was most likely English but cut and tailored in New England/New Hampshire, while the vest was probably pieced together from a kit. The slim cut of the breeches underscore that this was not the garb of a man involved in physical labor. The ensemble emphasized a lean silhouette with shallow pockets or artificial flaps, all serving to eliminate bulk. There are no coat skirts or extraneous material.

His later ensemble on view at Saco, provides valuable contrast to the suit in which he is depicted two decades earlier (c. 1763) in a painting by Joseph Blackburn at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. One would not surmise that Cutts would “become something of a hero among local radicals” just a decade hence. [1]

Cutts, of Portsmouth's Committee on Safety, greeted Paul Revere at the conclusion of what is frequently considered his “other” ride at Stoodley’s Tavern in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Revere’s ride on 13th December 1774 along the Boston Post Road was cold, icy and dark. Occurring months before his more legendary ride on April 18, 1775  Revere road to warn the citizens of New Hampshire of a potential British troop landing. With a tad more aggression, Revere's "Portsmouth Alarm" could well have ignited an earlier start to the American Revolution. The ensuing raid on Fort William and Mary by the seacoast area militia, is still considered by many as the initial strike of the battle for independence.

As noted by Revolutionary War authority J.L. Bell “ If we want to spotlight the moment when the political conflict in New England turned military, then we might want to look at the shots fired at Fort William & Mary at New Castle near Portsmouth in December 1774. Nobody was killed there, but that confrontation got closer to being fatal than the Salem raid [referring to what is popularly known as Leslie’s Retreat].” [2]

The suit is on loan from Strawbery Banke Museum (www.StrawberyBanke.org). The mannequin was created by Astrida Schaeffer of Schaeffer Arts (www.SchaefferArts.com)

[1] For detailed account of the Portsmouth Alarm, see Thomas F. Kehr
http://www.nhssar.org/essays/FortConstitution.html

[2] For more on the American Revolution and pivotal moments, see J.L. Bell
http://boston1775.blogspot.com/2014/02/should-today-be-salem-gunpowder-day.html

For an overview, see
http://seacoastnh.com/history/rev/revere.html