Newspapers / The Alamance Gleaner (Graham, … / March 25, 1937, edition 1 / Page 2
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! HOMO SAPIENS? Changes In His Costume Through the Centuries ? ? ? ELMO SCOTT WATSON ? EASTER is almost here and, of course, there's going to be plenty of talk in the newspapers and else where about the new raiment In which Milady will array herself for the annual Easter morning parade. 'Tis al ways thus ? Easter finery in terpreted in terms of its fem inine wearers. So, for a change, why not talk a bit about clothes (al ways an appropriate subject around Easter time) in terms of their use for masculine leaving Mrs. Homo Sapiens to wear the less conspicuous pelts. Forerunner of Red Flannels. Mr. H. Sapiens made his next step forward in the matter of clothing when he discovered that fibers stripped from trees and felted together in some crude way made an adequate substi tute for skins, even though it must have been somewhat scratchy. But somewhere back in the dim vistas of time he learned the art of weaving and the sister art of dyeing so that he began to make handsome, durable and fine fabrics from cotton, flax, wool and silk and to color them. The Lydians gave to mankind wealth of handsome materials to choose from, he adorned himself with this costume with its differ ent patterns of goods used on the right and left sides and the or namented sleeves and cuffs. The Working Man's Costume. The costume of the French workman of the Fourteenth cen tury (No. 8) shows not only a development of the combination hood and cape which the French called "capuchon" and the Ger man "kapuze," but it also shows the increasing tendency to tight ness of the trousers. Heretofore not so much attention was paid to this article of dress, but as the tunic became shorter it was adornment? Of course, it's not such a colorful subject when thus limited. For Mr. Average American, in his "conventional black," or his standardized blue serge, or even in his gray or brown or mixed "business suit," is not a particularly eye-filling spectacle. True, he sometimes "lets himself go" in the buying of neckties which shout for at tention and occasionally in putting on socks .with varie gated pattern or shirts that are a bit startling, to say the least. But generally he keeps the two latter items fairly well hidden. In fact, about all he expects to be in the Easter parade is a sort of sober background for gorgeous femininity on this day and to enhance her loveliness and brilliance by the contrast be tween her habiliments and his. But just to prove that he could make a color splash, too, if he wanted to do so, let's glance back through the centuries to see what the well-dressed man of yester years wore. In other words, let's stage an Easter fashion parade, masculine model, and forget for a moment Milady and her finery. When man first began to justify his name of Homo Sapiens and walk erect, clothes were about the least of his concern. If he wore them at all, it was for pro tection from the elements, Rot for adornment. So we have as the first "man nikin" in our masculine fashion parade the dusky gentleman il lustrated in Figure No. 1 above. Ha lived about 10000 B. C. and his costume was what some un known poet has described in this jingle: Bath the king and his people were black as shoes Bnmm that the elimate was torrid; And all that they wore was a ring through the nose. And a patch of green paint on the forehead. However, such items as paint and metal rings, put on to frighten an enemy, to impress ? neighbor (for even in those days they tried to "keep up with the Joneses") or to woo a sweet heart, are not properly clothes. When man began to be a bit modest (or perhaps it was the necessity for warmth which dic tated his decision) he began us ing animal skins thrown across one shoulder and fastened with a thorn under the other arm. Thus he left his fighting arm free to wield his weapon against any foe, man or beast. It's quite probable that the favorite skin he wore (not counting his own, of course) waa the brilliantly striped tiger pelt or the attrac tive spotted skin of the leopard _ the famous Tyrian purple, which became the badge of royalty and the ancient Egyptians added their bit to dress decoration. About 1600 B. C. Mr. Homo began wearing a garment called the kalasiris (No. 2), a long, straight-hanging, rather close fltting garment, both with and without sleeves, which looked something like the modern kimo no. The ancient Greeks improved upon this costume some what with their simple tu nics (No. 3) fastened at the shoulder and held in at the waist with a girdle. The Romans, how ever, went in more for the long, loose and flowing robes, and the toga of the high-class Roman was dear to his heart. It was of am ple proportions, as much as 18 feet wide and banded with pur ple to indicate high rank. Although the Romans despised bifurcated garments (which is a polite way of saying "pants") as being the mark of slaves, Roman soldiers, after the First century A. D., wore a primitive sort of trousers, which were rather tight and came down only to the calves of the legs. The Roman paenula, worn from the Second to the Fifth centuries, was a cape-like garment, prob ably a development of the toga, which dropped down over the head and fell in folds in front and behind. The tunic replaced the toga be cause it was simpler and allowed greater freedom of movement. The clothing of men in central and western Europe shows the Roman influence with variations, characteristic of their times and their race. In the costume of the Frankish citizen (No. 4), worn A. D. 400 to 600, may be seen the familiar tunic, but the sleeves are gathered at the wrists, there is an embroidered girdle and embroidery at the bottom of the tunic and short trousers are worn under the stockings. A cloak (No. 5) fastened at the right shoulder with a clasp completes the cos tume. From the Eleventh to the Thir teenth century clothing such as shown in No. 6 was worn. The upper garment, a descendant of the tunic now known as the pour point, had become so short that finally it wa* just about long enough to cover the body. The lower garments were tights, made of an elastic material, similar to the modern jersey. It the costume of the French man of this period ia compara tively simple, his German broth er (No. 7) more than made up for it with his display Although the coat of this German burgher of the Twelfth century is long, it is divided front and back up the body ao as to drape on each aide when b? srrfs riding. With a iii/Aiyyflfrr f ii ' ^ Tii 1 1 ii'n nv necessary to pay more attention to having a sightly pair of nether garments. (That means "pants," too) The tunic was red, held in by a black steel-trimmed girdle, the hat was black, the capuchon green and the trousers were gray and continued to the feet with leather sewed on the soles. The German patrician's cos tume (No. 9), common about 1500, is an example of the er mine-trimmed tunic which was slipped over the head. It was also a gay array of colors ? the tunic emerald green, the leather belt red, the "hosen" orange red and the shoes and hat dark green. Not quite so fussy, more artist ic, but equally gay as to color is that of the Venetian youth (the "drugstore cowboy" of his day) with his brick red cap and tights, his gold collar clasp and neck let and his crimson velvet cape lined with blue brocaded velvet as illustrated in No. 10. The young Englishman of the Six teenth century (No. 11) improved upon this costume with his striped trunks of Spanish style, his long, pointed shoes, his cors let of leather or steel, his scal loped collar, and the jaunty feather in his hat. Although the English style in trunks appears gay enough, it was mild in comparison to those affected in Spain where the fashion was so extreme that in order to hold the trunks in shape the young Spanish swells stuffed them with wool or cotton. Sometimes they extended nine inches from the body and were slashed lengthwise from top to bottom, with insertions of con trasting colors in the slashes. The Swedish gentleman of that period (No. 12) wore a costume in which the clothes designers of his time used a great deal of imagination, as witness the puffy red and white striped sleeves on the yellow surcoat, the red trous ers, the white vest and gauntlets and olive sash, a brown hat with a plume and swaggering soft leather boots, and a starched Elizabethan ruffed collar. Now if you are inclined to laugh at the foregoing costumes, Mr. Homo Sapiens Americanus, take a look at No. 13 and reflect that if your ancestors were members of Capt. John Smith's Virginian colony they would be wearing just such an outfit as that. It consisted of a doublet with long oversleeves hanging from t h ? shoulders, padded breeches fas tened with "points" of colored velvet or cloth, collar and cuffs of starched linen, silk stockings fastened with garters tied in a bow, felt hat with embroidered band iad plume, low shoes tied with laces and gauntlets of soft leather Or if you trace your ancestry from the patroons of New Am sterdam you can see in No. 14 how that ancestor dressed. Shades of the simple three-but ton sack coat of today! If you can claim among your ancestors a signer of the Decla ration of Independence it is prob able that he wore such an outfit as is shown in No. IS, when he stepped forward to sign that im mortal document. The collarless coat was plain, but the ornamen tation was provided by a waist coat of contrasting color, a white neckcloth with a starched frill tucked into the vest, velvet cuffs on the coat sleeves and shirt sleeves made of soft cambric, having frilled extensions which fell down over the hands. Early American Styles. Men's clothing in the early days of the Republic was a com bination of survivals from the foppishness of colonial times and of the simple more or less stand ardized suits of today. The cos tume (No. 16) prevalent during the first half of the Nineteenth century is colonial in its knee breeches, stock tie and cocked hat, but the coat is a promise of the type of such future garments that were to be adopted. Over in France at about the time of the French Revolution the type of coat known as the swallow tail or pen point (No. 17) beeame popular and it was also worn in England and the United States with a few modifications. The notch in the lapel of this coat marks the origin of the notch in the collar as we know it today and in other respects it was a logical forebear to the costume shown in No. 18. Here Americans definitely assumed long trousers and this Chester field outfit was popular with the good dressers of 1840 to 1850. The next period in American men's clothing is shown in No. 19, a typical example of men's styles at the time of the Civil war. Showing the influence of the Victorian era when beauty was apparently taboo and all that was ugly in houses and furniture and so-called art was allowed full development, this costume brings us down to the present age of standardization. It is a protest against this standardization which causes the uprising of such freak styles as that shown in No. 20 ? the "pat ent-haired" young sheik with his slashed, bell-bottomed trousers, his tight-fitting coat, extravagant cuifs, gaudy shirt, sash belt and sport shoes, of only a few years ago. Remember him? There haven't been so many "outbreaks" of this sort in re cent years and today correct dress for men changes little from year to year. There may be some significant alterations in cut, fashions in color combinations and styles in accessories, but fundamentally correct dress does not change. On the whole it's pretty drab, when compared to the gayety of women's attire. So they will probably continue to be the center of attraction in the i annual Easter parade. But it has been worthwhile, hasn't it, to demonstrate, a? this article bag tried to do, what men could exhibit in the way of sarto rial splendor if they wanted to hark back to the example of their ancestors. But suppose they did. Can't you Just hear the Little Woman saying sweetly: "All right, dear, just go ahead and make a spectacle of yourself!" ? only she wouldn't say "spec tacle!" ? W rwttrn Nnmapcr Union. ... is W$t Spirit of Carter 4 * Posed by Loretta Young. In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for the angel of the Lord descended from Heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him the keepers did shake and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women: "Fear ye not; for I know ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. "He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay." ? St. Matthew 28:1-6. White House Lawn Becomes Playground This is a rare picture ? and a hard one to get. It shows some of the thousands of youngsters gathered on the White House lawn last Easter for their traditional egg-rolling festival. The custom started shortly after the Civil war. "Paint My Egg?? Never!" This young chick stepped out of the shell just in time to spoil some child's Easter fun. But thousands of eggs will be colored this year as American children participate in their annual Easter custom. Lambs in Berlin Dietitian Offers Choice Menu for Easter Banquet Aside from its religious signifi cance, Easter Sunday has always marked actually as well as figura tively the end of a period of self denial and fasting. Easter dinner, therefore, should usher back to the table some favorite foods that have been given up during lent. One dietitian's idea of a perfect Easter Sunday dinner follows: Chicken bouillion with sliced mush rooms, melba toast Celery Olives Radish roses Hind quarter of spring lamb Potato bails Broccoli with wine, butter sauce Fresh lima beans, hot rolls Molded cucumber salad Toasted crackers Fresh strawberry Ice, served with or without whipped cream Nut cake, demitajse Spring Iambi provide an Easter feast in Berlin. Here a street vender is parading his wares lor prospective customers. Easter Rivals Christmas Easter rivals Christmas as the big feast day of the year in Poland. Kitten Twins Pose For Your Pleasure Pattern 5766 The Kitten Twins, as much alike as peas in a pod, pose obligingly for your needle. Embroider this plump, cuddlesome pair and you'll have the gayest wall panel ever ? a panel that will be a delight in any room! Just' single and outline stitch, in silk, cotton or angora wool and it's ready to be lined and hung! In pattern 5766 you will find a transfer pattern of a wall hanging 14V4 by 18 inches; a color chart; material requirements; il lustrations of all stitches used; directions for finishing wall hang ing. To obtain this pattern send 15 cents in stamps or coins (coins preferred) to The Sewing Circle Household Arts Dept., 259 W. Fourteenth St., New York, N. Y. Write plainly your name, ad dress and pattern number. Law Action Remember you have not a sinew whose law of strength is not ac tion; not a faculty of body, mind, o*??soul, whose law of improve ment is not energy. ? E. B. Hall. TO RELIEVE NEURITIS PAINS FAST Demand and Get Genuine BAYER ASPIRIN Judged by Conduct A man's-worth is estimated in this world according to his con duct. ? La Bruyere. Do something about Periodic Paint Take Cardui for functional pains of menstruation. Thousands of wom en testify It has helped them. If Cardui doesn't relieve your monthly discomfort, consult a physician. Don't Just go on suffering and put off treatment to prevent the trouble. Besides easing certain pains, Car dui aids In building up the whole system by helping women to get more strength from their food. Cardui la a purely vegetable medicine which you can buy at the drug store and taka at home. Pronounced "CaM-u-i." Our Allies Good manners and soft words have brought many a difficult thing to pass. ? Aesop. HEARTBURN? Il> surprising how many have heart born. Hurried eating, overeating, heavy smoking, excessive drinking all lead ? heartburn. When it comes, heed th? warning. Your stomach is on a strike. TAKE MILNESIAS Milnraia, the original milk of migneni in wafer form, taken after indulgence, relieves heartburn. Crunchy tatty. Each wafer equal* 4 teaapoonfula milk of magneaia. 20c, 35c & 60c packages
The Alamance Gleaner (Graham, N.C.)
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March 25, 1937, edition 1
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