Comments on: In the Archives: Women’s Underwear

By: Laura Bien

Laura Bien — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 12:14:00 +0000

Susan: Sorry, didn’t see your comment till now. The ad is from 1899; 1894 refers to Bureau of Labor and Industrial statistics I had for the workers at the company for that year. I should have clarified that; thank you for pointing it out.

By: susan wineberg

susan wineberg — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 18:58:05 +0000

The featured ad for the Corset Works is from 1896 or later since the Pratt Block, located at 306 S. Main (and just getting its cornice restored)was built in that year.It currently houses the WSG Gallery, Le Dog and other shops. The building was formerly part of the Kline’s complex and had its 1950s facade removed about 10 years ago.

By: Laura Bien

Laura Bien — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 12:19:17 +0000

Cosmonican: Now, that is an interesting guess. This item from the tool room is in very good condition; no broken/replaced parts &c.

By: Laura Bien

Laura Bien — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 12:17:17 +0000

TeacherPatti: He did see genuinely concerned from what I read. But as noted, conditions in some places were pretty horrifying by modern standards. I can’t imagine trying to get through a winter in a 10 by 10 wooden box, no insulation, door directly to the frigid outdoors. Pretty grim.

Incidentally, though I didn’t look too deeply into it, it appears on the surface that Josiah Begole was not closely related to the onetime well-known local Begole/BeGole families in Ypsi and Dixboro.

By: Laura Bien

Laura Bien — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 12:14:09 +0000

Dave A.: Thank you for excavating that bike-bloomers link: gosh, that seems like a long time ago! And strangely enough I’d write that story differently today. The stories do complement each other though, as the first Dave noted.

By: cosmonıcan

cosmonıcan — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 03:05:54 +0000

No one’s guessing, so I suppose I’ll take a stab at it…

Looks like a harness vice that got detached from a saddle-makers bench. If it’s not for that exact purpose, it’s certainly made to hold leather while it’s being punched and stitched; you can even see the grooves where the awl rubbed the wood.

By: TeacherPatti

TeacherPatti — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 19:38:06 +0000

“state governor who was concerned about the working class.”

How refreshing. Can we resurrect this guy and elect him?

By: Dave Askins

Dave Askins — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 14:47:53 +0000

Re: [1] That's not the same Dave as me who makes this observation: "This article goes quite nicely with the one you did awhile back on riding bicycles in bloomers. " But I wish I'd made the connection myself in the editor's note that starts off the piece. Here's a link to the bicycles and bloomers column: [link]

By: Laura Bien

Laura Bien — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 13:35:17 +0000

That is an interesting observation Dave; as you know, bloomers were arguably the first dress reform garment, when Libby Miller/Cady Stanton/Amelia B. premiered them around 1850.

Interesting guess on the item. A relatively big artifact.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 13:31:32 +0000

After closer examination, the mystery item appears to be made entirely from wood. The shading on the clamps appeared to be iron, but I can see they are not.