Saturday, April 21, 2018

1864 Quilting Party in St. Louis

I found this photo from the 1864 Sanitary Fair in St. Louis recently.
That is a quilting frame.
And that is NOT Abraham Lincoln sitting at it.

I am looking for more information and a better scan but I bet this is a scene from the Fair's nostalgia display. Fairs had Colonial kitchens or similar rooms where everyone dressed up in old-fashioned costumes to demonstrate the lost arts.

Similar scene at the New England  Kitchen at New York's Metropolitan Fair


Detail of the St. Louis scene:
Note the man on the left in a tri-corner hat, They are sitting in
front of a large open fireplace.

The seated woman on the left here is wearing an old-fashioned mobcap.

I would imagine this photo is from the collection of the Missouri Historical Society, which has another shot of the same re-enactors. The men look to be portraying Presidents Lincoln and Washington.

See this view at the Missouri Historical Society

The photographs from St. Louis artist J.A. Scholten at that Mississippi Valley Fair are quite detailed. Here's a post with more quilts:

Thanks to the historical society for doing such a great job of scanning the photos.

2 comments: