History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 13

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992

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A letter to Gen. Wayne from a brother-officer in Philadelphia tells of the effect this extravagance had on society :

"Permit me now to say a little of the dress, manners, and customs of the town's people. In respect to the first, great alterations have taken place since I was last here. It is all geyety, and, from what I can ob- serve, every lady and gentleman endeavors to ontdo the other in eplen- dor and show. The manners of the ladies are much changed ; they bave really, in a great measure, lost thet native innocence in their manners which formerly was their characteristic, and supplied its place with what they call an easy behavior. The manner of entertaining in this place has likewise undergone its change. You cannot conceive anything more elegent than the present taste. You will hardly dine at a table but they present you with three couraes, and each of them in the most elegant manner."

What a contrast these pictures of luxurious living present to Washington's well-known personal econ- omy, even during better times, as illustrated in the following anecdote, related by Mr. Griswold in his "Republican Court." It was during Presidential times in New York. "Fraunces (the steward of Pres- ident Washington) was always anxious to provide the first dainties of the season for his table. On one oc- casion, making his purchases at the old Vly Market,

he observed a fine shad, the first of the season. He was not long in making a bargain, and the fish was sent home with his other provisions. The next morn- ing it was duly served, in the best style, for breakfast, on sitting down to which Washington observed the fragrant delicacy, and asked what it was, The stew- ard replied that it was ' a fine shad.' ' It is very early in the season for shad ; how much did you pay for it ?' 'Two dollars.' 'Two dollars! I can never encourage this extravagance at my table; take it away ; I will not touch it.' The shad was accordingly removed, and Fraunces, who had no such economical scruples, made a hearty meal upon it in his own room."

A glance at the prices paid for various necessaries of life will give an idea of the depreciation of paper money in 1779, and make the culpable extravagance of the fashionable society still more incomprehens- ible. Butter sold at from two to three dollars a pound ; flour at twenty pounds the hundred-weight; green peas, twenty to twenty-five shillings the half-peck. A silk handkerchief cost forty dollars, a man's hat four hundred dollars, a pair of leather breeches three hundred dollars, a pair of shoes one hundred and twenty-five dollars, and a suit of clothes sixteen hun- dred dollars! Fish must have been dear, when a fish-hook was worth half a dollar! Such was the price at which William Livingston bought a few for Anthony Bleeker and some other "gentlemen fishers."

It is no wonder that the excitement caused by this abnormal state of things culminated in the riot known as the " Fort Wilson Affair." That the dis- turbance was short-lived and was suppressed at the cost of so few lives is still more surprising.

The utter want of discretion of the Tories, their open sympathy with the enemy of their country, and their avowed hostility to the government, caused gen- eral indignation and, not unfrequently, fierce denun- ciations. These infatuated people seemed to court persecution. The Tory ladies, especially, made them- selves conspicuous by their open sympathy for every- thing British. Governor William Livingston, of New Jersey, says, in a letter to his daughter in Philadel- phia, "I know that there are a number of flirts in Philadelphia, equally famed for their want of modesty as want of patriotism, who will triumph in our over- complaisance to the red-coated prisoners lately ar- rived in that metropolis. I hope none of my con- nections will imitate them, either in the dress of their heads or in the still more Tory feelings of their hearts."

But if such frivolous creatures were to be met with in Philadelphia, that city could boast of a large ma- jority of true-hearted daughters of America. In the spring of 1780, when the distress of the American army was at its height, the ladies of Philadelphia under- took to collect by voluntary subscriptions money and clothes for the tattered soldiers, who were suffering such terrible deprivations in the cause of freedom.

1 Letters lo Benjamin Franklin from hie Family and Friends, end Works of Franklin, Sperke.

2 See the interesting sketch " Philadelphie Society One Hundred Years Ago," in the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, No. 4 of vol. iii.

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HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.

Mrs. Reed was at the head of this movement, which was eminently successful, for the collections in Phila- delphia City and County alone amounted to upwards ; of three hundred thousand dollars paper currency. Circulars were addressed to neighboring counties and States, and met generally with a liberal response. Maryland and New Jersey contributed generously.

William B. Reed, in his "Life of Esther Reed," says, "The original memoranda and accounts of these contributions, with the names of each commit- tee and contributor, are in my possession. The num- ber of contributors was 1645, thus apportioned : The city, 1099; Southwark, 152; Northern Liberties, 171 ; Germantown, 152; and Bristol, 13. All ranks of soci- ety seem to have united, from Phillis, the colored woman, with her humble 78. 6d., to the Marchinness de Lafayette, who contributed one hundred guineas in specie, and the Countess de Luzerne, six thousand dollars in Continental paper and one hundred and fifty dollars in specie."

We take the liberty of copying in extenso from Mr. Reed's book two letters of historic interest. The first is addressed to Gen. Washington, and dated Philadelphia, July 4, 1780 :

"Sin,-The aubscription set on fout by the ladies of this city for the use of the soldiery is so far completed as to induce me to tranamit to your Excellency an account of the money I have received, and which, although it has answered our expectations, it does not equal our wishes, but I am persuaded will be received as n proof of zeal for the great cause of America, and our esteem and gratitude for those who so bravely de- fend it.

" The amount of the subscription is 200,580 dollars, and £625 6s. 8d. In specie, which makes in the whole in paper money 30 1,631 dollars.

" The ladies are anxious for the soldiers to receive the benefit of it, and wait your directions how it can best be disposed of. We expect sonie consi lernble additions from the country, and have also wrote to the other States in hopes the ladies there will adopt similar plans to render It more general and beneficial.

" With the utmost pleasure I offer any farther attention and care in my power to completo the execution of the design, and shall be happy to accomplish It agreeably to the intentions of the donors and your wishes on the subject.

" The ladies of my family join me in their respectful compliments and Elncere prayer for your health, safety, and success. I have tho honor to be, with the highest respect,

" Your obedient humble servant, " E. REED."

The other letter accompanied the offering of Madame de Lafayette :

"HEADQUARTERS, June 25, 1780.

" MADAM,-In admiring the new resolution, in which the fair ones of Philadelphia havo takon the lead, I am inducod to feel for those Amer- Ican ladies who, being out of the continent, cannot participate in this patriotic measure. I know of one who, heartily wishing for a personal acquaintance with the ladiesof America, would feel particularly happy to he admitted among them on the present occasion. Without presuming to break in upon the rules of your respected association, may I most huml ly present myself as her ambassador to tho confederate ladies, and solicit in her name that Mrs. President be pleased to accept of her offer- Ing. With the highest respect, I have the honour to be, Madani,

" Your most obedient servant, " LAFAYETTE."

In Washington's answer to Mrs. Reed, he suggests that the amount collected should be deposited in the newly-created bank, and bank-notes received in lieu of it to purchase the articles intended. He adds :

" This, while serviceable to the bank and advancing its operations, seems to have no inconvenience to the intentions of the ladies. By uniting the efforts of patriotism they will reciprocally promote each other, and I should imagine the ladies will have no objec- tion to a union with the gentlemen."

It is refreshing, after recording scenes of frivolity and extravagance, to dwell upon such evidences of noble patriotism. The former are forgiven and for- gotten ; the latter will live forever in the hearts of true Americans. However great the sufferings of our forefathers, however praiseworthy their endurance and self-sacrifice, they could not have accomplished their work if the women of America had not been faithful to the holy cause of freedom and independ- ence. The names of the heroes of the Revolution have been recorded in prose and verse. How many acts of female heroism have passed unknown or un- remembered ? Had she not the heart of a heroine, that Philadelphia lady who wrote to a British officer, a former friend of her family, " I will tell you what I have done. My only brother I have sent to the camp with my prayers and blessings, and had I twenty sons and brothers they should go to emulate the great examples before them. I have retrenched every superfluous expense in my table and family. Tea I have not drank since last Christmas, nor bought a new cap or gown since your defeat at Lexington. I have the pleasure to assure you that these are the sentiments of all my sister Americans. They have sacrificed assemblies, parties, tea-drinkings, and finery to the great spirit of patriotism. If these are our sentiments, what must be the resolutions of our hus- bands but to die or be free ! All ranks of men among us are in arms. Nothing is heard in our streets but the trumpet and drum, and the universal cry is ' Americans to arms!'" But this was written in the early days of enthusiasm. Many thought and acted likewise, who, while still ready to sacrifice their lives, could not, at a later date, steer clear of the whirlpool of fashionable extravagance.

The taste for fashionable frivolity and display during the gloomy winter of 1780 was not confined to Philadelphia. Eugene Lawrence, in speaking of New York City at this time, in a paper read before the New York Historical Society,1 Jan. 6, 1857, says, " Meanwhile, in the midst of all this suffering and want, the city streets were filled with the fashions and luxuries of Europe. The ladies crowded William Street, and the merchants spread out the most costly wares. French silks, captured in some unlucky vessels, sold readily at extravagant rates. Lutestrings and poplins, brocades, and the best broadcloth of England were shown on the counters of William Street and Wall; and it is a curious circumstance that through all the war William Prince, of Flushing, continued bis advertisement of fruit and flowers, of

1 History of New York City, by William L. Stone, p. 268, note.

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MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, 1700-1800.

magnolias and apricots, and of the finest grafts and the rarest seeds."

Mrs. Riedesel, wife of a German general in the British service, in a letter to her mother tells a laugh- able anecdote of fashion. "We remained," she wrote, "the entire summer of 1780 upon this lovely estate" (Gen. Clinton's country-seat on the Hudson). "Two Miss Robinsons came to share our loneliness and enliven our little company. They remained with us a fortnight previous to our return to the city, when the news of the arrival of a ship from England, bring- ing over the latest fashions, took them back again to the town. On our return to the city I scarcely recog- nized them in their odd and actually laughable garb, which a very pretty woman, just over from England, had imposed upon them and the other New York ladies. ... Accordingly, she made them think that in England they wore bodies that were parted in the middle, whereby the points stuck upwards, hoops as large around as those of a hogshead, and very short cloaks tied up with ribbons, all of which they believed implicitly, and copied after." 1

Witty Rebecca Franks was in New York at that time, her father, David Franks, having been invited by the Pennsylvania government to leave Phila- delphia, and in one of her chatty letters to her sister -the wife of Andrew Hamilton-she pays a high compliment to the Philadelphians. She wrote, " By the bye, few ladies here know how to entertain com- pany in their own houses, unless they introduce the card-table. Except the Van Hornes, who are re- markable for their good sense and ease, I don't know a woman or girl who can chat above half an hour, and that on the form of a cap, the color of a ribbon, or the set of a hoop, stay, or jupon. I will do our ladies-that is, the Philadelphians-the justice to say, that they have more cleverness in the turn of an eye than those of New York have in their whole com- position. With what ease have I seen a Chew, a Penn, an Oswald, an Allen, and a thousand others, entertain a large circle of both sexes, the conversation, without the aid of cards, never flagging nor seeming in the least strained or stupid." Miss Franks was certainly a judge in matters conversational. She concedes, entre nous, to the New York girls one advantage over the Philadelphians: they have a greater quantity of hair and better forms. She rattles away about the ways nf the New York ladies, who avow too freely their partiality for a man and are the first to show a preference, and finally comes down to the question of dress. She describes the fashions as follows: "I shall send a pattern of the newest bonnets: there is no crown, but gauze is raised on wire, and pinched to a sugar loaf at the top,-the lighter the trimming the more fashionable,-and all quilling. Nancy Van Horne and myself employed yesterday morning in trying to dress a rag baby in

the fashion, but could not succeed ; it shall go, how- ever, as it will in some degree give you an opinion on the subject. As to the jacket, and the pinning on of the handkerchief, yours, you say, reaches to the arm. I know it, but it must be pinned up to the top of the shoulders, and quite under the arm, as you would a girl's vandyke. The fuller it sets the hand- somer it is thought. Nobody ever sets a handkerchief out in the neck, and a gauze handkerchief is always worn double, and the largest that can be got ; it is pinned round the throat, as Mrs. Penn always did, and made to set out before like the chitterling of a man's shirt. The ladies here always wear a pin or a brooch, as the men do." She mentions two pairs of shoes sent to her by her aunt Richa from England ; "one pair, dark maroon, embroidered with gold, and the other, white, with pink." Miss Franks, soon after the war, was married to Lieut .- Gen. Sir Henry Johns- ton, and subsequently lived in England. The witty and sarcastic sayings of this Philadelphia belle have often been quoted and would fill a volume. She had an irrepressible fondness for repartee, and would hit a friend for want of a foe, as she did Sir Henry Clinton at a ball in New York. While conversing with her that officer called to the musicians, "Give us ' Britons, strike Home l'" "The commander-in-chief has made a mistake," exclaimed Miss Franks, "he meant to say, Britons, go home !" 2

But her humor was not always of the most refined. The correspondence between her and Gen. Charles Lee, published in the United States Magazine for Jan- uary, 1779, somewhat extraordinary in its character, arose out of an assertion (at least it was so said by Gen. Lee) attributed to Miss Franks, that Gen. Lee " wore green breeches patched with leather." He said that they were "actually legitimate sherryvalies, such as his majesty of Poland wears (who, let me tell you, is a man who has made more fashions than all your knights of the Meschianza put together, notwith- standing their beauties)." In a note it is said that sherryvalies "are a kind of long breeches, reaching to the ankle, with a broad stripe of leather on the inside of the thigh, for the convenience of riding."

Of a very different sort was the wit of another famous belle of that time, the accomplished Miss Vining. Miss Montgomery, in her " Reminiscences of Wilmington," says " ber rare beauty and graceful form commanded admiration, and her intellectual endowments-a mind stored with historical knowl- edge and sparkling effusions of wit-entertained the literati and amused the gay. The singular fluency and elegance with which she spoke the French lan- guage, with her vivacity, grace, and amiability, had made her a general favorite with the French officers, who praised her in their home correspondence to such a degree that her name became familiar in Paris, and the queen, Marie Antoinette, spoke of her

2 " Anecdotes of the American Revolution." Garden.

1 Ibid.

904

HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.

with enthusiasm to Mr. Jefferson, expressing a wish that she might some time see her at the Tuileries. The intimate friendships she formed during the Rev- olution were preserved after the peace, by a large correspondence with distinguished men. Lafayette appears to have been very much attached to her, and she wrote to him frequently until she died. For- eigners of rank rarely visited Wilmington, after Miss Vining's retirement from the society of Philadelphia, without soliciting an introduction to her. Among her guests were the Duke de Liancourt, the Duke of Orleans (Louis Philippe), and many others ; and it is related that Gen. Miranda, passing through the town in a mail-coach, at night, left his card for her at the post-office. The death of her brother, a man of eminent abilities, who was chosen at an early age a member of Congress from Delaware, was followed by a series of misfortunes, and, retiring from the gay world in the maturity of her charms, she passed the closing years of her life in poverty and seclu- sion." 1

Miss Vining's opinion of the society of Philadelphia is expressed in a letter to Governor Dickinson in 1783 (she was then twenty-five years of age), when she complained that Philadelphia had lost all its gayety with the removal of Congress from the city. " You know, however," she adds, " that here alone can be found a truly intellectual and refined society, such as one naturally expects in the capital of a great country."

The bonnet called the " calash" came into notice about 1780, and is thus ridiculed in Rivington's Ga- zette of 1782:

" Tail! great Calash ! o'erwhelming veil ! By all indulgent Heaven To salluw nymphs and maiden stale In sportive kindness giv'n; Safe bid beneath thy cir ling sphere, Unseen by mortal eyes, The mingled heap of grease and hair And wool and powder lies ! From The bald head should pad and tête, And loads of horschair fall, Fear not the loose, disordered pate, Calash will hold them all !"

But the "calash" was only worn out-doors. The pyramid of hair now thrown back obliquely over the head, with light crisp curls at the base, was sur- mounted by figures of butterflies, caterpillars, coaches and horses, etc., in blown glass. These ridiculous or- naments, much in vogue in England at that time, were not very long the fashion. Friendly relations with France had had for one of its first results the intro- duction of the French modes in the ladies' dress. The coiffure of lofty feathers, invented by Mile. Bertin, the Paris milliner, and cherished by the unfortunate Marie Antoinette, was received with much favor by the Philadelphia ladies. This head-dress is thus de- yeribed in 1781 :

" A cap like a bat,

Which was once a cravat.

l'art gracefully plaited and ploned is

Part stuck upon gauze

Resembles macaws,

And all the fine birds of the Indies!

Tut above all the rest

A bold, amazing crest Waves nodding from shoulder to shoulder !

At once to surprise,

And to ravish the eyes To frighten and charm the beholder !

In skirt, head, and feather,

And wig altogether, With wonder and joy would delight ye .

Like the picture I've seen

Of th' adorable queen Of the beautiful, blest Otaheste !"

The satirist does not inform us whether in Philadel- phia, as it did in Paris, this towering head-dress com- pelled the wearer, as she rode in her carriage, either to hang her head out at the door or to sit on the floor of the vehicle.

Not every woman's hair furnished sufficient mate- rial for these elaborate pyramids; besides, they proved very awkward at bedtime, and could not be arranged at a moment's notice, so it became the fashion for ladies to wear wigs. Whether they consented to the sacrifice of having their hair shaved, as did the men, or some artificial means were found by which they could wear these cumbrous appliances over their own hair, history telleth not. The use of wigs had long been discarded by the mass of the people, but was still the necessary appendlage to a gentleman of fash- ion's dress. At home they got rid of it, and wore a velvet cap to protect their bald pates in winter and a linen cap in summer. Their velvet or tine broad- cloth coat was also laid aside, and the more comforta- ble dressing-gown of flowered damask donned. These coats were of all colors, and the dressing-gowns not always of damask. Worthy citizens were often seen on the streets during business hours clad in a flowing gown of calico.

The return of peace having permitted the importa- tion of foreign goods, a fall in the prices was the natural consequence, and the ladies could indulge more freely in their taste for dress. Mr. Griswold, in "The Republican Court," page 268, says in a note, " During the period in which Philadelphia was the seat of government, on the arrival of the spring and fall ships from England, the pavements all along Front Street, from Arch Street to Walnut Street, were lumbered and scattered, before the doors of im- porters, with boxes and bales of English dry- goods, the clerks, apprentices, and subordinates of the mer- chants as busy as bees in their several vocations, some with sharp knives and claw hammers ripping and breaking open the packages and cases, and others within-doors exhibiting the goods as salesmen, alto- gether displaying a pleasant bustle of rivalship and competition. The retailers, principally women, were hovering around, mingling with the men, and viewing with admiration the rich varieties of foreign chintzes,

1 Griswold's " Republican Court,' note to p4 21.

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MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, 1700-1800.

muslins, and calicoes of the latest fashions. All sums of money were computed in pounds, shillings, pence, and farthings, dollars and cents being unused denominations, except in the reports of Mr. Hamil- ton." "The first brilliant retail fancy dry-goods shop was opened about this time," says a writer in Hazard's Register, " by a Mr. Whitesides, as it was said, from London, in the true Bond Street style, at No. 134 Market Street, and the uncommon size of the panes of glass, the fine mull-mull and jaconet muslins, the chintzes and linens, suspended in whole pieces and entwined together in puffs and festoons, and the shopmen behind the counter, bowing and smiling, created for a time some sensation."

It was no longer the time for such prices as Capt. McLane paid to William Nicolls,1 in January, 1781, to wit: one pair boots, six hundred dollars ; six and three-quarter yards calico, at eighty-five dollars per yard ; six yards chintz, at one hundred and fifty dol- lars per yard ; four and a half yards moreen, at one hundred dollars per yard ; four handkerchiefs, at one hundred dollars apiece ; eight yards quality binding, at four dollars per yard ; one skein of silk, ten dol- lars. The total amount is $3144.50, but with the pro- viso, "If paid in specie, £18 10s."

Mr. Watson tells a good story about the first fancy retail hardware-store, with hulk-windows, opened by James Stokes, in what had been the old Coffee- House, at the southwest corner of Market and Front Streets. "The buck-handled 'Barlow' penknives, the gilt and plated buttons, and the scissors, curiously arranged on circular cards (a new idea), and the bulk- windows lighted up at night (a new thing), was a source of great gratification to the boys and the country market-people lounging about with arms folded, on Tuesday and Friday evenings. One even- ing, among a group of gazers from about Conestoga, one of them exclaimed to the others in Pennsylvania German (Dutch), 'Cook a mole har, cook do ! meiner sale!'" In German, "Guck' einmal her ! Guck' da ! Meine seele !" i.e., "Only look here ! Look at that ! My soul !"

The trying times of the Revolution were now over. After the heroism displayed in the long struggle, wisdom must consolidate the new government, in order that the victory shall not be barren. The situ- ation was still critical, but we had Washington.

The study of the manners and customs of a people is intimately connected with that of their political history. Thus we see the influence of the Quaker ideas of the early founders of Philadelphia strongly marked in the picture of Philadelphia society at the beginning of the eighteenth century. This influence is already greatly modified toward the middle of the century, by the increase of that part of the popu- lation which entertained views at variance with those of the Friends. Then came the Revolutionary period ;

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History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 13

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 992

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992