The Moral of a Pair of Stockings. 1851

The Pittsfield Sun [Massachusetts] June 12, 1851

The Moral of a Pair of Stockings.

           

            The following letter was written by a distinguished literary lady, Mrs. W., of Troy, N.Y., and sent to a learned judge of New Haven, on the eve of his marriage.

            “Dear Cousin: Herewith you will receive a present of a pair of woolen stockings, knit by my own hands; and be assured, dear coz., that my friendship for you is warm as the maternal, active as the finger-work, and generous as the donation.

            But I consider this present as peculiarly appropriate on the occasion of your marriage.—

You will remark, in the first place, that there are two individuals united into one pair, who are to walk side by side, guarding against coldness, and giving comfort as long as they last. The thread of their texture is mixed; and so, alas! is the tread of life. In these, however, the white is made to predominate, expressing my desire and confidence that thus it will be with the color of your existence.—

No black is used, for I believe your lives will be wholly free from the black passions of wrath and jealousy. The darkest color here is blue, which is excellent, when we do not make it too blue.

            Other appropriate thoughts rise in my mind in regarding these stockings. The most indifferent subjects, when viewed by the mind in a suitable frame, may furnish instructive inferences, as saith the poet:

                        “The iron dogs, the fuel and tongs,

                        The bellows that have leathern lungs;

                        The firewood, ashes, and the smoke,

                        Do all to righteousness provoke.”

            But to the subject. You will perceive that the tops of these stocking (by which I suppose courtship to be represented) are seamed, and by means of seaming are drawn into a snarl; but afterwards comes a time when the whole is made plain and continues so to the end and final toeing off. By this I wish to take occasion to congratulate your self that you are now through with seeming, and have come to plain reality. Again, as the whole of these comely stockings was not made at once, but by the addition of one little stitch after another, put in with skill and discretion, until the whole presents the fair and equal piece of work which you see, so life does not consist of one great action; but millions of little ones combined; and so may it be with your lives. No stitch dropped when duties are to be performed; no widening made where but principles are to be reproved, or economy is to be preserved; neither seeming nor narrowing where truth and generosity are in question.

            Thus every stitch of life made right and set in the right place: none either too large or too small, to tight or too loose; thus you may keep on your smooth and even course—making existence one fair and consistent piece—until together, having passed the heel, you come to the very toe of life; and here, in the final narrowing off and dropping off the coil of this emblematical pair of companions and comforting associates, nothing appears but white, the token of innocence and peace, of purity and light. May you, like these stocking, the final stitch being dropped, and the work completed, go together from the place where you were formed to a happier state of existence, a present from Earth to Heaven.—

Hoping that these stockings and admonitions may meet a civil reception, I remain in the true-blue friendship, seemly, yet without seeming, Yours, from top to toe.  

Alpaca Hose

Found some advertisements for Alpaca Hose...This ones for you my friend Deborah :)

The Arkansas Whig [Little Rock, Arkansas] May 25, 1854

Bargains! Bargains!

Dry Goods and Clothing Selling off at Cost.

…black, white and mixed Cotton Hose, black Alpaca Hose,…

Richmond Enquirer [Virginia] October 1, 1850

MERCHANDISE.

NEW GOODS.

VALENTINE, CRENSHAW & CO

Ladies’ black and white, plain and embroidered silk Hose and half Hose

Ladies’ spun Silk, Moravian and cotton Hosiery

Misses’ and boys mixed black and white Hose and half Hose

Ladies’ Lamb’s Wool, Cashmere and Alpaca Hose

Heavy woolen and cotton Hose for servants, all sizes

The Constitution [Middletown Connecticut] February 24, 1847

NEW SPRING GOODS...

Gloves and Hosiery.

Gents,…English, French and spun silk hose, Alpaca Hose, Merion, Cashmere, worsted and woolen House, Ladies cotton Hose of every color and quality; Misses Merion, lambs wool and cotton Hosiery, all kinds.

Boon’s Lick Times [Fayette, MO] October 10, 1846

For the Ladies.

We are now offering a desirable lot of the following styles of Goods, which we invite your attention to—

Lambs wool Cashmere and Alpaca hose,

Lamb’s wool and cotton                       do.

Telegraph and Texas Register [Texas] April 23, 1845

DRY GOODS FOR CASH.

NORH & BROTHERS

Magazine Street, corner of Common,

…mixed English half hose; brown and mixed German do; mixed French do; blue cotton do; gray cotton hose (for servants;) ladies’ brown mixed and black cotton holes; children’s white do do; Ladies’ black cashmere hose; do worsted; do Alpaca do; do mode color do; do white cotton do; do blue do do; woolen socks,…

The Jeffersonian [New Orleans, Louisiana] December 16, 1845

Marshall & James, Wholesale Dry Goods Dealers, No. 18 Chartres street, are now in receipt of their fall and winter stock of DRY GOODS, which they are selling very low for cash or approved credit, their stock in part consists of—

500 dozen Cotton, Silk, Merino, Cashmere and Alpaca Hose;

Angola...continued

The word "Angola" has numerous meanings. Angola products wove, knit and yarns are imported to America.

There are newspaper ads for Angola fabrics. The book TEXTILES IN AMERICA, page 147  "Angola, a word probably derived from angora, is the name of one of these fashionable fabrics." 

The merchant’s polyglot manual 1860

Angola Stockings—(a mixture of cotton and Spanish wool). 

The Repertory of patent inventions: and other discoveries and improvements. 1862

Pg. 44

Specification of the Patent granted to John Thomson Pagan and Thomas Benjamin Willans, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Flannel Manufacturers, for An Improvement in the Manufacture of Flannel.—Dated February 26, 1861

            To all to whom these presents shall come, &c., &c.,--

The object of this invention is to produce a woolen fabric suitable for white and coloured shirts, dressing-gowns, and other like articles which shall be less costly, less liable to shrink, and more durable than the fabrics now used for such purposes. These advantages we obtain by the intermixture of cotton with the wool intended to be converted into yarn for the manufacture of this class of goods. The cotton and wool we weigh out in the required proportions, and after passing them through the willow submit them to a carding or scribbling engine, in passing through which engine the animal and vegetable fibres will become intimately combined and converted into slivers. These slivers we then convert into yarn after the manner usually employed in the spinning of woolen yarn, and the yarn thus obtained we weave into a fabric, which we term for distinction “white Angloa flannel,” and which somewhat resembles in texture the flannel at present manufactured for shirts, dressing-gowns, and such like articles. Upon the fabric thus produced we print any desired patterns by means of impressing roller, and we find that under pressure the fabric will take the printing colours as readily as if there were no cotton present in the fabric. The introduction of cotton besides affording the advantages above enumerated gives a finer appearance to the fabric than can be obtained by the sole use of wool of the same quality as that combined with cotton. The proportion of cotton which we employ will depend upon the quality of fabric required to be manufactured, but in general we have found that the best results may be obtained by the admixture with the wool of from one-third to one-half its weight of cotton.

Having now set forth the nature of our invention of “An improvement in the Manufacture of Flannel,” and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, we wish it to be understood, that under the above in part recited letters patent, we claim,--

Manufacturing flannel from yarn produced from a mixture of vegetable and animal fibres, as above described.

--In witness, &c.

John Thomson Pagan.

Thomas Benjamin Willans. 

Accounts and papers of the House of Commons 1865

Pg. 73

Carded Yarn Mills.

A much older branch of industry in Saxony is the spinning carded yarn, so necessary for making cloth, together with the greatly-increasing Vigogne spinning (mixture of cotton and wool), and called in England and Scotland (to which countries much is exported from Saxony) Angola yarn.

Daily Atlas, [Boston Massachusetts] January 2, 1843

FALL AND WINTER GOODS.

Cushing & Kemp, Nos. 41 & 43 Water street,

Angola Shirts and Drawers;

The Daily Atlas [Boston, Massachusetts] March 30, 1843

NEW AND FRESH LONDON AND PARIS GOODS.

UNDER SHIRTS and DRAWERS, Silk, Angola, Cotton, and fine Merino.

The Southern Patriot [Charleston, South Carolina] January 10, 1843

LEITCH’S GENERAL OUTFITTING & CLOTHING ESTABLISHMENT, 260 KING ST. (CORNER WENTWORTH.)

Angola, Saxony, Wool and Merino Under Shirts and Drawers.

The Southern Patriot [Charleston, South Carolina] February 4, 1843

PUBLIC AUCTIONS

Estate Sale.

BY DICK & HOLMES.

Silk, Worsted, Angola, Thread and Cotton Socks and Stockings,

Macon Weekly Telegraph [Georgia] July 9, 1844

WHOLESALE AND RETAIL

GEO. A. KIMBERLY

HATS AND CAPS,

1 doz. Angola Silk Hats.

Philadelphia Inquirer, [PA] July 20, 1861

J.R. Casselberry Will Open, On

Monday morning—

15 cases STAPEL GOODS, at

DECIDEDLY WAR PRICES.

1 case Angola Flannels, 20c.

Macon Telegraph, [Georgia] November 27, 1862

Direct Importation from Europe,

Cargo Sale by Catalogue, by

JOHN G. MINOR & CO.,

Dry Goods.

Fancy Angola Tweed

1 case Fancy Angola Flannel Shirts

Philadelphia Inquirer, [PA], June 9, 1863

Price & Wood, formerly with Warnock.

Angola Flannels, 25c., very cheap.

There are also Angola yarns for hosiery and knitting

Daily Atlas, [Boston Massachusetts] January 2, 1843

BY SAMUEL A. WALKER.

[Office Nos. 23 and 25 Kilby street.]

ladies’ col’d merino and Angola hosiery—men’s Angola and woolen ½ hose

Maine Farmer, October 25, 1866

Worsteds, worsteds.

Miss Helen F. Piper,

Takes this method of informing her friends and the public, that she has returned from Boston with a choice stock of new and fresh worsteds, consisting in part of Zephyrs and Shetland Worsteds, Saxony and Angola Yarns, and all kinds of materials for working, commenced slippers, ladies’ and children’s Hoods, Sacques, Scarfs, Shawls, &c.

Garments manufactured to Order

At the Store of F.A. & C.H Brick.

Augusta, Oct 2, 1866

EVEN...More about Angola yarn

Last year someone commented on a post about "Angola Yarn"

http://theladiesreadingroom.blogspot.com/2011/06/more-about-angola-yarn.html

 However there is no such thing as ANGOLA YARN

If it didn't exist then what were they selling "Angola Yarn" in America in the 19th century...

Burlington Free Press, (Vermont) November 21, 1856

New Advertisements.

Just Received.

Wool Wadding,

India-rubber  Skirt Bones,

Nubia Worsted,

Zephyr Worsted,

Angola Yarn,

Smyrna Lace,

Honiton Lace,

English Tread Lace,

Gauze Flannels,

Angola Flannels,

Fancy Canton Flannels,

Lawn Lawn,

Cambric Lawn,

Orient Crinoline,

Jessie Hoods,

Waxed Thread,

Honey Soap,

Lubin’s Extracts,

German Cologne,

nov18               HOTCKISS & JELLISON.

Burlington free press, (Vermont) September 11, 1857

September 8th.

Weekly Bulletin

BY

Hotchkiss & Jellison,

Wholesale and Retail dealers in foreign and Domestic Dry Goods,

152 Church Street.

New Goods!!

Marseilles Undersleeves,

Marseilles Collars,

Blue Canton Flannel,

French Prints,

Angola Yarn,

Bone Knitting Needles,

Nubia Worsted,

Red Working Cotton.

            Arrangements have been made so that we can obtain for the Ladies this ensuing season (Winter) all shades of single and double Zephyr Worsted that they will require.

Daily Missouri Republican (MO) September 30, 1841

Classified ads

Women’s Hosiery—We have received a large assortment, comprising in part merino, lamb’s wool, Segovia, Angola , worsted yarn and cotton. [?] Kimball & Allen , 108 Main St.

North American and United States Gazette, (PA) October 10, 1850

Classified ads

50 PACKAGES ANGOLA YARN—25 do white knitting Cotton do, will be sold low, by

M. EGOLF, 42 Market street.

Bangor Daily Whig & Courier, (Maine) August 23, 1853

Classified ads

NEW GOODS !

J.P. GREELEY

No. 48 Main Street,

--DEALER IN—

Millinery and Fancy Goods,

Has just received…Angola Yarn.

Aug. 20

Bangor Daily Whig & Courier (Maine) October 11, 1859

Classified ads

Fancy Work!

Crochet Needles, Perforated Paper…Worsted, Angola Yarn,…

All colors, sizes and styles, at 56 Main st.

oct 8                F. MEINECKE.

           

Oh, matrimony!

April is national poetry month...

The Xenia [Ohio] November 04, 1864
In an old paper, printed in New London, nearly a century ago, we find the following on matrimony:
Oh, matrimony! thou are like.
To Jeremiah's figs;
the good is very good; the bad
Too sour to give the pigs.
I never dreamed of such a fate,
When I a-lass was courted--
Wife, mother, nurse, seamstress, cook, house-keeper,
chambermaid, laundress, dairy-woman,
and scrub generally, doing the work of six,
For the sake of being supported."

More...Union poems 1861-1862

Discovered two more poems. These were published in newspapers....so at times it is difficult to read the type...I put in [brackets] those words I could not read with my best approximation.  

The Daily Cleveland Herald, (Cleveland, OH)Thursday, December 12, 1861

A Call for the Mitten.

In the times that are bygone, of Christmas and New Years,

Whose memories are cherished with blessings and tears,

When we sought of Affection some token to breathe

Our love for our dear ones, we chose to bequeath

A book or a [penell,?] a picture, or gem,--

Some gift best befitting our fancy, or them.

The maiden, to symbol the love she well knew

Was as peerless, and priceless, as boundless and true,

She lacking the power the stars to obtain,

Then gave the best gifts form the earth or the main,

[W ?lle] oft, when besieged by some dull, stupid beau,

She shrank from pronouncing the cruel no, no,--

She need not remain a demure as a kitten,

If she would but enclose him a nice little mitten!

But times are now changed, and brave sons and dear brothers

Wander far from the care of sweet sisters, and mothers;

They roam on the banks of Potomac’s wild shore,

Or climb, with tired foot, some steep mountain o’er,

Bleak plains and damp forests re-echo their thread;

And the ground, or the snow-drift, may pillow their head.

Though the heart will be brave, and tho’ strong be the will,

The blood may grow cold and the hand will grow chill,

So the truest, the tenderest, most welcome love token,

The pledge of a faith never changing—unbroken—

Be it sacred, or silent—expressed, or unwritten,

It can all be wrapped up in the warm woolen mitten.

The weary worn soldier, when out on a picket

Keeping guard in the shade of some icy-bound thicket,

The web that was woven by fairy-like fingers

Will bring back the scenes where his memory lingers,

The form that is dearest—the face the most fair,

Will beam on his sight form the cold misty air,

His spirit will lighten—his dreams will expand,

And his heart will grow warm, as well as his hand.

Then let Marthas, and Marys, gay Jennies, and Fans,

Sweet Coras, and Katies, and Bright Lucy Anns,

Kind Sarahs, and Abbys, Rebecca and Sue,

Fair Effies, and Edies, and Evelines, too,

With every one else whom Cupid has smitten;

At once begin making the Soldier’s warm mitten!

Let the proud, haughty belle, too, leave laces and satin,

Let her take in their place this simple machine,

These four little needles, with fingers between,

‘Tis a labor so homelike, to calm and befitting,

Our Grandmothers gave it the [JOUE ?] name of knitting;

It sure has a charm most beguiling, bewitching,

For while with the yarn she is twirling and twitching,

With each newly-made stitch of the soft woolen thread,

New forms and new fancies will float through her head.

She will dream of a manhood undaunted and bold,

Whose virtues and dearer than honors or gold,

Whose blood has flowed freely for Freedom and Right,

Whose valor shall conquer in the strength of its might

She will learn the stern offering the Patriot has given,

The hearts dearest treasures to Duty and Heaven;

The frost-work of Fashion will melt from her soul,

And mountains of Folly to atoms will roll;

With devotion unselfish her feelings will burn,

And the vain Coquette’s heart to a Woman’s will turn,

So powerful, so potent, such magic is it in,--

A talisman true is the brave Soldier’s mitten!

Elyria Dec. 10, 1861

The Christian Recorder, (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) February 22, 1862

THE MITTEN THAT WAS NOT KNIT FOR A SOLDIER.

So, Mr. Homeguard, home you go:

You’ve got your hat and cane.

Excuse me, pray. But really, sir,

You must not call again.

I’m working for your soldiers, that

To freedom’s summons haste;

I once could entertain you, but

I’ve now no time to waste.

Of course you know I’d be with them

Were I like you a man;

As ‘tis, I’ll make what sacrifice

A feeble woman can.

I’ve given up my canary-bird,

My cat and poodle too;

I’ve given up all my foolish pets,

And I must give up—you.

I know you’ll ask, if you can’t help,

And come and hold the yarn

For me to wind? But, no, you can’t.

I’ve got to knit and darn—

Crochet, make slippers—true, you know

Some girlish things to do.

But you can’t come, for grandmother

Will do as well as you.

So, now, good by! Sometimes a walk

For exercise I’ll take,

And if we meet, perhaps I’ll speak,

For old acquaintance sake.

--He’s gone! O me, I quake to think

Had not this war been waged.

By this time, Ugh! That sneak and I,

We might have been engaged.

Union Poems - 1865-1866

Memorial of Margaret E. Breckinridge

J.B. Lippincott, 1865

Knitting for the Soldiers.

Here I sit at the same old work,

Knitting and knitting from daylight till dark;

Thread over and under and back and through,

Knitting socks for—I don’t know who;-

But in fancy I’ve seen him, and talked with him too.

He is no hero of gentle birth;

He’s little in rank, but he’s much in worth;

He’s plain of speech and strong of limb;

He’s rich in heart, but he’s poor of kin;

There are none at home to work for him.

He set his lips with a start and a frown,

When he heard that the dear old flag was shot down

From the walls of Fort Sumter, and flinging away

His tools and his apron, stopped but to say

To his comrades, “I’m going, whoever may stay,”

And was ‘listed and gone by the close of the day.

And whether he watches to-night on the sea,

Or kindles his camp-fire on “lone Tybee,”

By river or mountain, wherever he be,

I know he’s the noblest of all that are there;

The promptest to do and the bravest to dare;

The strongest in trust and the last in despair.

So here I sit at the same old work,

Knitting socks for the soldiers from daylight till dark,

And whispering low, as the thread flies through,

To him who shall wear them,--I don’t know who:-

“Ah, soldier, fight bravely, be patient, be true,

For some one is knitting and praying for you.”

Voices of the morning 1865

By Belle Bush

A song For the Army of Knitters.

Inscribed to the Fifty-First Regiment, P. V.

Here’s a pair of warm mittens for some one,-

A stranger, it may be, to me:

Yet I call him a friend and a brother,

Whatever his title may be.

A colonel, a captain, or private,

As equal in honors I view;

For they are the heroes of Freedom

Who prove themselves valiant and true.

And I send to them all the kind wishes

That spring from pure sisterly trust,

And ask, in return, that our banner

May never be trailed in the dust,

But aloft, with its starry adornings,

Unsullied and bright, may it wave

O’er the land that is sacred to Freedom,

Baptized in the blood of the brave.

I’m knitting more mittens for someone, -

The task is a pleasure to me:

Yet I cannot help thinking, while knitting,

Ah, who will that someone be?

And I fancy the one who receives them

Will shout to his comrades, in glee,

“Ah, someone had knit me nice mittens!

Oh, joy! what a comfort they’ll be!”

And then, as he hastily tries them,

Their merits the better to see,

I fancy he’ll silently query,

“Oh, who can that some one be?”

Then over the chords of his spirit

The fingers of Fancy will stray,

Till the pulses of music awaken

And throb with a tenderer lay.

Ah, then the dear image of some one,

In brightness and beauty, will come

In dreams to look smilingly on him

And sing of the loved ones at home;

And the heart of the soldier will listen

Entranced to her joy-lighted themes,

Till hushed is the moan of the river

That rolls by his palace of dreams.

Then bright o’er his pathway of peril

Will glimmer Hope’s beautiful star,

And his heart will grow braver and stronger

To follow the fortunes of war.

Peterson’s Magazine

March 1865

Jenny Musing

by Letta C. Lord

Zephyrs softly played around her,

Kissed her lips, and brow so fair;

Sunbeams bright came slowly creeping

O’er her braids of nut-brown hair.

On a mossy seat sitting,

Dainty fingers slowly knitting

On a soldier’s sock of blue

Stitch by stitch the needle through.

By her side a purling streamlet

Murmured softly to the flowers;

And she loved to sit beside it

In the bright, sunshiny hours.

On the mossy knoll sitting,

Sat the maiden slowly knitting—

Knitting on the sock of blue,

Stitch by stitch the needle through.

Birds around her sang their carols,

But she heeded not their lay;

Heeded not their notes of music,

For her thoughts were far away.

Back and forth her needles flitting,

Slowly knitting, slowly knitting—

Knitting on the sock of blue,

Stitch by stitch the needle through.

What were thrilling notes of music?

What the rays of golden sun?

Could they call her wanderer to her?

Could they bring the absent one?

So the maid was sadly sitting

On the mossy knoll, knitting—

Knitting on the sock of blue,

Stitch by stitch the needle through.

But sweet Hope was hovering near her,

And she saw her tear-dimmed eye,

So she softly whispered to her,

“You will meet him by-and-by.”

So she hopefully was sitting

On the mossy knoll, knitting—

Knitting on the sock of blue,

Stitch by stitch the needle through.

Weaving fancies bright as sunbeams

Of the absent far away,

Sat the maid amid the flowerets,

Looking beautiful as they.

Back and forth the needles flitting,

Thoughtfully the maid was sitting,

Knitting on the sock of blue,

Stitch by stitch the needle through.

Thinking of a little cottage,

Nestling by the bonnie burn,

Dreaming of a happy future

When her soldier will return.

Thoughtfully the maid was sitting,

Slowly knitting, slowly knitting

On the soldier’s sock of blue,

Stitch by stitch the needle through.

The Tribute Book

By Frank Boott Goodrich 1865

The yarn , the heart, the hand, the love, the dreams and prayers referred to in the following verses, all came from a border state:

“Fold them up, they are warm and soft

As the delicate knitter’s heart and hand,

A pair of soft, blue woolen socks,

And love knit in with every strand.

More than this, there are dreams and prayers

Wove in like a mystic, golden thread—

Dreams that may stir a soldier’s heart,

And prayers to bless a dying head.

It is not vain, it is not vain,

For love is blest, and prayer is strong,

To move the Arm that surely guides

The breasts that stem the tide of wrong.

And those who, praying, still believe,

Shall know the strength of human will;

They dream prophetic histories,

And through their faith their hopes fulfill.”