Women were a very important part of the war..they took care of the families left behind without the men, they worked as nurses and even as spies. Over four hundred women dressed as men and went to war.
The ladies in their pretty dresses were in the buildings to answer any questions. Above and below OOPS! fans? electric fans?
They said the dresses were cool because of the hoops holding them out.
I am just happy I did not live back then.
Above was a female soldier that marched with the men. She said there were women who carried the flag, and marched with the soldiers. I have never heard this and was unable to verify it.
When the soldiers searched the buildings, these ladies argued with them.
the one in the center said to the soldier in her garden, "are you taking our food to? you already have our silver" and he replied "everything here is the property of the United States of America'...
Pat, a modern day woman, held the flag out for me...we were dressed for the 90 degree weather in capri's and t-shirts. One of the ladies in the house , said to us "What are you doing in public in your bloomers?"
23 comments:
Awesome post!!! Love the photos. I've been to a few re-enactments. The fan photo was cute.
By the way, regarding your comments on my Friday Fives a week ago....sometimes a long post is fun. I do it often, in spite of trying not to! :-)
You were out in public in your bloomers? Shame on you....lol
I never knew that women dressed as men to fight in the war back then. The womans lib movement goes back further than I though :) I always thought the clothes back then were pretty cool but I can't imagine dressing like that.
Love the electric fan; it puts the little feminine hand-held fans to shame!!! lol
Too cute about your and Pat's bloomers too!
I think I see one of the women with a "snood" on her hair. One of my college friends' daughter wore one of these on her wedding day. It was so pretty and unique.
I love seeing the women in their period costumes. But gee I could never wear those dresses. Especially in the summer time. I like the shot of your friend holding the flag for you! Great post, enjoy your day!
Great post and fun photos! I had never heard the bit about women soldiers either.
I've been catching up on your recent posts on the Civil War Reenactment event and found them very good. There are lots of reenactment events here in the UK for different periods of our history. They're fascinating to see and must be equally interesting to take part in. The comment the lady made about wearing your 'bloomers' made me smile - how clothes have changed over the years!
This is such a wonderful thing, revisiting history without having to relive it.
For shame- out in your bloomers? LOL! I've not seen any reenactments, but I have seen dedications by our local UDC ladies. Their dresses are always period perfect and gorgeous...but I'm with you...I prefer pants and I am sure if I lived back then, I would have been the outcast because I would not tolerate long hot dresses..I'd make my own breeches!
Oh, that's hilarious! Glad you shared this with us. Speaking of hilarious, I just read your comment on Coloring Outside the Lines. You get my award for the best comment of the day!
cute - bloomers. :) i'd not have survived that day and age.
LOL/MOL at the lady carrying the fan!!
Hugs Cecilia
PS woke up at 3am to find the power off...after stumbling to find the flashlight, my cell phone and the power company # I was 100% awake.
There was no reason given for the outages..of course I was dealing with a robot.
It was just the 6 houses at the top of our cul de sac...maddening we ALWAYS go out here. In Feb they told our 6 houses were on a different grid than the 5 other houses on the cul de sac. That makes absolutely no sense!! It came back on at 3:25 am...this will be a looooooooooooong day
I sure am glad we don't need to dress like that any longer. Looks good and all,but also looks uncomfortable.
Loving this series of posts. I love that you showed the women folk. I used to think it would be so fun to wear long dresses with hoops. I thought they were so feminine, showing a tiny waist and billowing folds of fabric that swayed as you walked. Then I grew up, got married and had to clean toilets, scrub floors, etc. etc. I'm so glad I didn't have to try to do those kind of chores in those dresses. Now if I had a rich husband, and had servants to do all that it might be a different story. haha (I still get a twinge of envy, however, when I see the beautiful clothes the women wear on Downton Abbey. So feminine and romantic....and expensive!)
"What are you doing in public in your bloomers?" That had me laughing out loud. Great photos Sandra! I can't imagine having to wear tight corsettes and carry around hoops underneath? Not to mention any other paraphanalia.
I am thankful I didn't live back then too - a simple UTI could have killed you. And I didn't know that about the hoops keeping them cool. Interesting.
I just love enactments.
Shame on you being out in public in your bloomers.....
Terrific shots Sandra.
I have to admit I am glad to be in this era and not theirs.
I cannot say I would have made it back then...give me my jeans any day rather than those dresses!!!...:)JP
Love the bloomers comment.
Bloomers?! LOL!! I would be drenched in sweat is I had to wear those dresses in 90 degree weather! Love the pic of Pat and the flag. :)
Those dresses didn't seem comfortable in the least to me and seeing the women carrying the fans was funny. I wondered where they would be plugging in.
Any time I see the dresses like these, my first thought is how many yards of material did it take to make them. And how many stitches by hand. I don't think sewing machines were that popular by this time, though they had been invented. And just think of the buttonholes made by hand! I can remember mom doing them by hand, but I never have. And even if they had had a machine, I think the buttonholes would still be done by hand.
Loving all these photograghs!
I've never heard of Women in the Civil War either. That might be interesting to research. I bet those hoopskirts were uncomfortable though as I believe they weighed a lot. I have heard to that the average life span of a Southern woman during the Civil War era and prior to that was 33 due to having to work hard on the plantations. So again I'm glad I was born much, much later.
This si very cool stuff to capture. It 's a time warp for me.
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