Pockets of Our Past
by Lucy Lyons Willis
La Chatelaine Designs
This article may be reproduced for guild newsletters with written permission from author.
Lucy Locket lost
her pocket,
Kitty Fisher
found it!
Nothing in it,
nothing in it
But the binding
round it!
"Lost on the 4th of January Inst. Betwixt Marblehead and Lynn, a small Stript (sic) Bed-Tick Womans Pocket, having in it four Eighteen pound Pieces, three Guineas, and one yard of Black Persiar (a thin silk used for linings.) N.B. It is hoped this Advertisement will be remembered when the Snow is dissolved, as it is not unlikely the above mentioned Pocket and money may be undiscovered some time."
(Boston Gazette and Evening Journal, January 17th, 1763)
Women's garments of the 17th and 18th centuries contained no pockets such as we are familiar. Pockets were separate U-shaped bags which were tied around the waist beneath the outer skirts with narrow ribbons or tapes. A 6"-7" slit was made on the front of the bag with a corresponding slit in the skirt allowing deposit or retrieval of valuables. Pockets were worn in pairs or as a single pocket. The usual style was flat, bag-shaped and straight or rounded at the bottom, narrowing at the top where it was sewn to the tape. Women made or purchased pockets in many materials. The most used material was linen or linen and cotton twill, lined and embroidered with wool, silk or cotton in crewel, cross stitch or whitework.
The decoration on the pockets was intended for the user's own pleasure with little thought of display as they were of course never seen by the public. Personal belongings such as combs, watches, money, sewing implements and pieces of needlework in progress were kept in these pockets. Tudor and Elizabethan women carried belongings such as these as illustrated by Mary Tudor's "comb case garnished with pearls" or that of Queen Elizabeth I - "nedell case of crystall garnysshed with silver gilt, with twoo thymbles in it." During the time when it was fashionable to accentuate hips, a pair of pockets allowed women to stylishly widen their hips. The clinging "classical" dresses of the century's end could conceal no pockets. A sailor returning home from the sea was described as quite upset at his wife's change of fashion:
"But what, 'bove everything beside,
Did Jack most furiously displease,
No pockets did she wear, to hide
Her pincase, wipe and bunch of keys."
Early in Victoria's reign when skirts filled out again, pockets were at times sewn into the garments. However, hanging pockets were still used to some extent and the increase of traveling by train among women encouraged the development of "safety pockets."
A description of a pocket made of linen and cotton dimity dated 1785-1795 from New York and displayed in the DeWitt-Wallace Museum in Williamsburg, Virginia states humorously that Philip Vickers Fithian (tutor to the children of Councillor Robert Carter of Nomini Hall in Virginia) described the amusing antics of eleven year old Fanny with her pocket - (on a particularly hot July day he wrote):
"I laugh'd cordially to see the contrivance of Fanny, the lovliest of them all to grow cool. She sat on a low bench, and put her Hand in her pocket, and seem's exceedingly diligent in looking for something. But before she took out her hand, she had off both her stockings and left them both in her pocket!"
Patchwork pockets are occasionally found made perhaps as a school girl task. Other pockets also strongly suggest children's struggles in needlework and resemble samplers. A mid-nineteenth century pair in the National Museum of Wales is made of flannel embroidered in colored wools in cross stitch bearing an imperfect inscription and the name Sali Jones.
Often old letters reveal attitudes of proper conduct now forgotten. In The Ridgelys of Delaware and their Federal times: Letters 1751-1890 (Anthoensen Press, 1949) one letter written by a mother to her sons in 1796 disdainfully described a young lady visitor "who profess'd herself 'astonished'd to find your sisters at work' and declared, in a sweet simper, that she never had Sizars, thimble, needle or thread about her, for it was terrible in a Lady to wear a pair of Pockets - the French Ladies never did such a thing." This mother could not understand a young lady who rejected the current manner books which insisted that women never go visiting or receive visitors without some form of needlework to work on so as not to just sit and waste time. An 1892 book discussed pockets "in use during the early part of the present century," and suggested a charming use for pockets no longer worn. They may be "hung at the head of the bed at night - as a receptacle for the watch, handkerchief, purse, etc." Perhaps this could be a modern day use as well, but also filled with some potpourri such as English Sleep Herbs or Lavender which also induces sleep!
These personal additions to clothing of past generations show us that even the hidden accessory was thoughtfully constructed and embellished for its wearer's enjoyment!
Note: In Norway, pocketbooks are hung by silver hardware from loops at the waist of a vest as part of the bunad (folk costume) in several regions such as Tronder, Nordland, Roros, Nordmore, Romsdal and others. These hang over the skirt and are embroidered in multi-colors of wool and cotton threads (sometimes beaded) in beautiful floral designs. Could these be distant relations of our pockets of Early America?
