October

HISTORY DISCUSSION GROUP REPORT FOR OCTOBER


At this meeting we talked about clothing and Michael started with the Iceman.
This was the body of a Neolithic hunter who died about 3,300 BC on a mountain ridge in the Austrian Alps and was found frozen in a gully in September 1991. With the body they also found fragments of clothing.
He had a belt and pouch of calf leather, a loincloth of leather (not fur), leggings (separate) tied on to his belt and stretching down to his feet, a cap of strips of fur sown together, an upper garment of strips of fur sewn together stretching from shoulder to knees but open in the front, and on top of all this was a grass coat made from grass lengths over 1 metre long- plaited together and thought to stretch from neck to knees- and probably again open in the front. His body is on display in a special cabinet in the Museum at Bolzano in Northern Italy, and Joan U. has seen it there.

Brian told us that in certain times in the past, ordinary people were not allowed to wear certain colours of clothing - purple, scarlet, gold, silver, deep blue- as they were worn only by high class people .

Myra showed us sketches of Tudor costumes she had made, pointing out the slits in the clothing through which you could see the expensive material underneath (this was the height of fashion).

Kathy talked about the evolution of bathing costumes and showed us pictures of them, and how when it first became fashionable the clothes worn were more like a full set of day clothes, and then gradually became more and more simplified until now when sometimes the costumes are sometimes a “bit too brief”.
Jean showed us a picture of a lady in Roman times wearing a bikini (who said they were not an advanced civilisation!)

Brian mentioned about cod pieces in Tudor times in which people often kept their money and jewels and sometimes a dagger. A cod piece was made of velvet, silk and satins for noble people and cloth for commoners. After Tudor times they went out of fashion.

Joan R. talked about ladies fashions from the 1920s onwards, and how their hem lines gradually rose to above the knees, about pin stripped suits, James Dean hair style, flower power and bell bottoms, but in contrast men’s fashions had not changed much.

Barbara talked about ladies’ fashions 1947 to 1950, and how women rebelled from the austerity clothing of WWII to colourful, flowing clothes (including underwear) of the 1950s. It made them feel so much better.

Pam talked about underwear and how it has only been around for about 200 years. The first was a chemise worn mainly to protect outer garments from body odour. The first “pants” or “drawers”, appeared about 1800, so called because each leg was separate and was drawn up, but was not joined in the middle until the Royal Drawer Maker decided to join them up and her name was Florence Gusset (the rest is History).

After more discussion, Marie and Jane handed around old photos. of past generations showing their fashions in clothing.

The next meeting will be on Monday 16th and the topic will be Social Care.

Michael Page.

September Meeting

HISTORY DISCUSSION GROUP

At our September meeting we talked about Women Inventors and the roll they have played in our society over the years.

Some of the women’s inventions include the circular saw by Tabitha Babbit in 1812, the windscreen wiper blade by Mary Anderson in 1903, the medical syringe by Letitia Geer in 1899, a permanent wave for hair by Marjorie Joyner in 1928, the chocolate cookie by Ruth Wakefield in 1924, the life-raft by Maria Beaseley in 1882, the fold away bed by Sarah. E. Goode, in 1885,a torpedo guidance system by Heddy Lamarr in 1942 and the rolling pin by Catherine Deiner in 1891( and many many more).

Ruth Handler invented an anatomically improbable moulded plastic statuette named “Barbie” . Since its debut in 1959,the Barbie Doll has become an American icon that functions as both a steady outlet for girls dreams and an ever changing reflection of society.

Mary Dixon Kies received the first U.S. patent issued to a woman (before that all women inventions had to be registered in a man’s name) for a process for weaving straw with silk or thread. The Patent Act of 1790 opened the door for anyone, male or female to protect his or her invention with a patent. However, because in many American states women could not legally own property independent of their husbands, many women did not bother to patent their new inventions.

Every year a conference is held honouring the best of women’s inventions. In 2009 Denise Anstey of Bristol won British female inventor of the year with her invention of the “slik stik“ . As a disabled lady she was dissatisfied with conventional walking sticks, and came up with the idea of a stick that folds away for convenient storage and portability, whilst maintaining a firm and rigid support when extended.

At the Korea International Women’s Invention Exposition last year Iranian women won 12 gold, 5 silver and 6 bronze medals, and gained first place among 25 countries participating.

One of the earliest known women’s invention was Sibilla Masters in 1715 in the USA, when she invented a process making cornmeal from maize.

It was a very interesting meeting, and shows how brilliant women have been over the years with their inventions, and how the world would be a poorer place without them!!!

The next meeting will be on Monday the 19th October at Kim House, starting at 10 am when the subject will be Clothing through the Ages.

Michael Page