Posted on 07/15/2002 10:04:08 AM PDT by stainlessbanner
One-hundred forty years ago, the Women's Gunboat Society raised money for Confederate gunboats. The group still exists today, but with a different purpose -- preserving the history of the Civil War era.
Donning 19th century attire, the members of the society and project coordinator Matt Young discussed recruitment, fund raising and a fashion show at their meeting Friday.
The group will have a recruitment fair from noon to 5 p.m. Aug. 17 at Peachtree Mall. "We want everyone interested to come out and join," executive director Doris Willis said.
In addition, the society will have its first fashion show during the first week of August, featuring hand-made costumes by the women. The group has not yet decided if it will charge a fee for the fashion show, but it is planning other means of fund raising.
"We're going to sell hand-made scented candles and dresses at the museum hopefully in about two weeks," assistant director Sunny Beard said. "There will be two dresses, including an 1864 wedding dress, for sale so the first people to come will get them."
Fashion during the Civil War era was an important part of history, said authenticity and costume director Angie Wadkins.
"We want to make sure we have everything accurately portrayed because we don't want to misrepresent history," she said.
But that accurate portrayal can get hot in the summer, Wadkins said. Women in the Civil War era wore up to six layers of bloomers, slips and hoops under their long dresses and sometimes needed two assistants to dress them. But Wadkins said re-enacting history is worth the corsets and petticoats.
"I think I should have been born in the 1860s," she said. "The etiquette was so much better. I'd rather live back then than now."
I would rather have been a servant to Jeff Davis than the slave I am now to King George.
Obviously she's not a yankee.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.