What is a spencer?

A spencer, according to the Wikipedia definition, was originally (ca. 1790s) an outer tail coat with the tails omitted --

Day dress with spencer jacket, ca. 1798, Vienna. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Dress and spencer, British, 1820-1825, accession no. 2010.149a (spencer). Source: The Met, New York.

Later in the 19th century, the term "spencer" came more generally to mean any type of short jacket or coat, and when knitted and crocheted garments came into being, around the middle of that century, knitted and crocheted versions of the spencer began to appear, blurring the original definition.

"Knitted Winter Spencer" in Godey's, 1861.

"Spencer in knitting and crochet" from Peterson's Magazine, October 1872. Source: New York Public Library Digital Collections.

Crochet spencer, Columbia Book of Yarns (1915).

What is a habit shirt?

Lady's riding habit shirt of linen, England, ca.1800. Courtesy V&A, accession no. T.104-1966.

The habit shirt was so called because it was originally worn by a lady under her riding habit.  Wiktionary defines it as "a thin muslin or lace undergarment worn by women on the neck and shoulders, under the dress." It seems often to have been sleeveless, as in the V&A garment above.  We might today, or yesterday perhaps, call this particular kind a dickey.

The term when it referred to a knitted garment seems generally not to have been something worn under the dress, but over it, for example a sontag -- indeed, Mrs. Pullan refers to her sontag as "a sort of woolen habit-shirt," presumably because it was a similar shape and worn in the same place on the body, not because it particularly resembled a habit shirt.

See other habit shirts in the John Bright Collection.

"Needlework for ladies for pleasure and profit"; and, What is a penwiper?

The 3rd edition -- "revised and enlarged" -- of Needlework for Ladies for Pleasure and Profit by "Dorinda" (London : Swan Sonnenschein, Lowrey, 1886) is available online at the Internet Archive courtesy of the generous folks at the University of Southampton Digital Library.

The book is geared towards ladies who find themselves, through no fault of their own, surely, in distressed circumstances, and need a respectable source of income.  (The "pleasure" part of the needlework is clearly subsidiary to the "profit", but it is kind of the author to emphasize that pleasure can be taken in work done well.)  The first part of the book discusses the practicalities of making and selling various kinds of needlework, including which kinds are more marketable than others due to fashion trends, etc., and the last part lists work societies across Britain that sold needlework on commission (some of whom required references -- "one from a clergyman" -- this being 1886, after all), some by post, others in person.  The middle part of the book is patterns for knitted items, crochet, and "miscellaneous items" -- fringes, balls and reins for children, penwipers*, etc. etc.  While the knitting "recipes" do not give much idea of gauge, they do at least give needle sizes along with the suggested wools, so that the knitter does get some idea of the intended gauge.

There is, alas, not a single illustration in the book.

*When one finished writing with either a dip pen or a fountain pen, it had to be wiped clean so that the leftover ink didn't dry up and clog the nib.  Penwipers could come in a dizzying array of forms, from ones very like brush boot scrapers to folded fans to a (rather frightening) doll's head or felted or sewn animals atop the circles of fabric that were the actual wiping surface.  (And, yes, the succulent Kalanchoe marmorata is called "penwiper plant" due to its resemblance to the folded and stacked circles of fabric out of which penwipers were often made!)

What is a balaclava?

A balaclava is a knitted (or sometimes crocheted) head covering that is essentially a close-fitting cap combined with a tube-shaped neck, with an opening at the front for the face. It can be worn exposing only the eyes, or with the lower part of the opening at various points to cover or reveal the nose and mouth. The cap section may be pushed back off of the head in warmer conditions or as necessary. It is said to have originated sometime after the Battle of Balaclava in 1864, during which British troops wore handmade garments against the bitter cold because their own supplies had not arrived. The style of the cap is said to have been based on similar caps, the Uhlan worn by Polish and Prussian soldiers and the Templar cap worn by outdoor-sportsmen, earlier in the century. The earliest-known use of the term balaclava, though, was apparently in 1881; it was first called a helmet, and in pattern books of the early 20th century is often clarified as a "helmet (or balaclava)". Nevertheless, it is clearly a very practical garment for cold-weather wear, especially because it can be worn under larger hoods or protective helmets, and it is no surprise that it became a popular item to knit for soldiers and sailors during wartime.

(Franklin Habit writes about his search for a pattern, or even a logical description, of either the Uhlan or the Templar cap, and gives an updated pattern for Weldon's 1881 "Gent's Balaclava Cap" --

in his "Uh-la-la" post at Knitty. There is an "Uhlan Cap" as part of the instructions for "A Seaman's Outfit" in the Columbia Book of Yarns by Anna Schumacker, but this is dated 1915, long after the origin of the term, and clearly used there as simply a synonym for balaclava.)

Soldiers of the London Rifle Brigade with troops of the 104th and 106th Saxon Regiments during the so-called Christmas Truce, 1914. The soldier second from left at the front is wearing a balaclava; the soldier to his right is probably also. Non-commercial use permitted courtesy the Imperial War Museum, cat.Q 70075.

 

Knitted Comforts for Men on Land and Sea (Baldwin, 191?) provides two "helmet (or balaclava)" patterns, one with a split lower section that provides extra warmth to the front and back of the wearer's neck --

 and one with a plain ribbed neck --

(See also the post at "Knitting Now and Then" for some background information on this booklet and its pattern writer, Marjory Tillotson.)

The article "Knitting Comforts for the Troops" by Susan Strawn at PieceWork Magazine has another helmet pattern, with garter stitch flaps and a stockinette cap, from the Columbia Yarn company ca.1917.

This image, from the Jaeger Handknit series no.44, is courtesy the V&A's page on 1940s knitting, and a PDF of the pattern in modern terminology is available here. Interestingly, the Baldwin "helmet with flaps" pattern of a generation earlier says that "War Office Experts do not recommend apertures for the ears" which are especially vulnerable to the cold; presumably the development of radio technology in the ensuing twenty years made the additional openings necessary, one hopes not at the expense of the serviceman's ears.

Holly Shaltz has posted images from an American Red Cross booklet of three balaclava patterns for servicemen, and provided both transcriptions of the original "receipts" and updated instructions.

The Chelsea Bridge balaclava is undated but is most likely a 1940s pattern, as is the balaclava pattern from the "Guide to Knitting for Active Service" by the Australian Comforts Fund; the pattern in this link shows only the instructions rewritten in modern knitting terminology.

An American booklet of the 1940s that had at least one further edition post-war was Bucilla's "Warm Hand Knits for Servicemen".

See also the blog and online shop "Handmade WWI and WWII Reproduction Knits" for some interesting photos and background (though no patterns) on knitting for servicemen during those two wars.

"Boudoir Jacket no.476" (1917)

This crocheted boudoir jacket pattern is from Corticelli's "Lessons in Knitting and Crochet, book 6," available at Antique Pattern Library.  A boudoir or bed jacket was a waist-length garment, often knitted or crocheted, worn over one's nightgown while reading or perhaps breakfasting in bed; it was most popular from about the 1920s to the 40s.  (Joanne Thompson theorizes, quite logically, that the garment's decline in popularity in the 1950s was due most likely to the rise in central heating, that an extra layer of warmth simply wasn't needed any more.)

Fatima at Crochetology by Fatima has a long post detailing her making of this boudoir jacket.

In the Winter 2021 issue of "PieceWork" magazine, Pat Olski has rewritten the jacket pattern into modern format, adding to very handsome effect the Crocheted Coat Fastener no.321a from Corticelli's "Lessons in Crochet, book 2," also available in its original format at Antique Pattern Library.

 The boudoir jacket in "Weldon's Practical Crochet, 194th series" (no.423, vol.36) from about the same date,

is of very similar construction, though rather more dégagé in appearance.  Note also the similarity between these particular boudoir jackets and the hug-me-tight worn by Trini Alvarado as Meg in the 1994 film of "Little Women" which, if it is indeed an authentic 1860s garment, would certainly be an ancestor --

"Lonely Hours" by An American Lady

"The need which the writer has felt in common with many others, of a work on Knitting, adapted to American usage,

 combined with several years experience in and close attention to that beautiful and useful art, has emboldened her

 to place before the public, the following little book, with a sincere wish that it may be found to meet the wants

 of her fair country-women" -- from the preface.

Beth Chamberlain, knitter and librarian/historian, has tracked down what may be the first American knitting book -- not the first knitting book published in America (which was a reprint of Mrs. Lambert's The Hand-book of Needlework in 1842), but the first knitting book written in America for American knitters.

This is Lonely Hours : A Text Book of Knitting, by An American Lady, published by E. Gaskill of Philadelphia in 1849 -- you can read Beth's post about her research and discovery here. What is distinctive about Lonely Hours is that the patterns seem for the most part to be completely original to the author, not re-workings of existing ones.

There are not many libraries in the U.S. that own a copy of this book (see which ones do here), but happily, the Boston Public Library has digitized their copy, which can be viewed online at The Internet Archive.

Being an inveterate librarian myself, I followed one trail among the clues uncovered by Beth, and surmise that "E. Gaskill" was Edward Gaskill of Philadelphia (1811?-1866).  Sharp eyes will have noticed that unlike the copy that Beth located, the Boston Public Library's copy was published by M. Bywater, also of Philadelphia -- Maurice (or Morris) Bywater (1817-1870) was in fact Edward Gaskill's brother-in-law, who had married Mary Matilda Bywater (d.1879) in 1843.  It is unclear why the book would have two different publishers in the same year.  (The meaning of the title is also a bit of a mystery.)

It is certainly possible that the "American Lady" was Matilda Gaskill -- although sources indicate that she and her brother were born in Wales -- though of course it is also possible that the "Lady" was someone unrelated to either Edward Gaskill or Maurice Bywater.

 

Authorship aside, there are curiosities even at a first glance throughout the book -- see for example page 52, in which an "opera cap" is defined, either simply or dismissively depending on how you read it, as "merely a long and wide scarf, one hundred stitches wide, and two yards and a half long" in what would now be called a light fingering weight wool.  Also on page 52 is instructions for "zephyr balls" in what is still a common way of making what are now known as pompoms (the earliest-known use of the latter word is 1873!)

Note that the author has included a page of her knitting terms at the back of the book -- it will be interesting to compare, in a future post, these terms with those of other writers of the same period!

The Jenny Lind collar

 

Jenny Lind, 1850. (Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ppmsca-38268). Lind was noted for her modest clothing and demeanor, in the days when women on the stage were thought to be little better than prostitutes.

 These collars are all of the "Jenny Lind" type, named for the wildly-popular Swedish soprano of the 1840s and 50s.  Note the slight differences here and there, which may be due to local fashion, the date, or the ladies themselves.

Said to be dated 1852.

 

Maria L. Smiley, Philadelphia, 1851. (Historical Society of Pennsylvania) 

 

 This young woman has gussied up her collar with a wide ribbon underneath.

 Mrs. Warren published a collar of "Swedish lace à la Jenny Lind" in her Point Lace Crochet Collar Book (Second Series) in 1847 --

What is a cephaline?

Esther Copley, in her Comprehensive Knitting-Book (1849), writes of the cephaline, "A very simple and useful article of this kind is merely a straight piece of knitting worked in wide ribs, and gathered in at the ends to ribbon strings, by which to tie it under the chin. It suits equally well as a ruff for the neck.  It may be made merely as a wide band to cover the ears, or to spread out as to cover the head.  The only difference is in the number of ribs" (p.146).  A netted version in Miss Lambert's 1840 The Ladies' Knitting and Netting Book ("second series"), notes that it is "to be worn on the head on leaving heated rooms", and various encyclopedias of the day (such as Alden's in 1888 and the Columbian of 1897), presumably having copied wholesale from each other in those days before copyright, defined it as "a knitted woolen band passing round the head and over the ears, as a preservation against cold, worn by ladies" (though note that these two at least were long after patterns for a cephaline disappeared from knitting receipt books!).

I have found a few instances of "Cephaline" used as a first name, for American girls born here and there throughout the 19th century (all in Southern states) -- in one instance at least, it was possibly a feminized version of her grandfather's name, Cephas, a Biblical name meaning "rock" in Aramaic.  However, the prefix cephalo-, used in another definition of "cephaline," means "head" -- Dictionary.com gives "<Greek kephalo-, combining form of kephalḗ head; akin to gable," so this seems the more-likely origin of the word for this particular garment.

The cephaline sounds quite like a melon hood or an opera hood except that the latter, at least in Godey's 1856 version, is longer, sort of a cap/muffler combination (though, to add to the confusion, sometimes it isn't), where Mrs. Copley says that the cephaline is tied "under the chin", much like Mrs. Weaver's melon hood of 1859.

In addition to Mrs. Copley's pattern, one for "A Sontag, or Cephaline" (sic!) can be found in Frances Lambert's My Knitting Book of 1843 (Ravelry link here), and one in Miss Watts's Selection of Knitting, Netting & Crochet Work (1844).