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The
Belles of New England The
huge, largely abandoned mill buildings of northern New England towns
are the remnants of an industry that dominated the region and
transformed the lives of its inhabitants, especially the women, for
slightly more than a hundred years, beginning in the early 19th
century. In broad, descriptive strokes, Moran, formerly a writer and
producer for CBS News, recounts the rise and fall of the New England
textile industry. The enormous social changes wrought by the textile
industry are the subject here, especially in the lives of women, whom
it freed from servitude on the small farm only to bind them to the
looms. The story of the mills as evoked here, with all its
ironies, energy and tragedies, reflects the larger America these
factories helped to shape. Click on the title to order for
$18.17, a 30% savings
Civil
War Women: Their Quilts ¥ Their Roles ¥ Activities for Re_Enactors
Hands-on projects adapted from nineteenth-century quilts are combined
with fascinating historical accounts of the period, giving this
unusual book its widespread appeal among readers of many interest
groups. The Civil War experiences of nine women are profiled-from
abolitionist speaker Lucy Stone to freed slave Susie Taylor King to
Confederate spy Belle Edmondson. Each woman is matched to a quilt that
she might have made herself, as featured in nine projects, each with
complete patterns and instructions. List Price: $25.95 Click on
the title to order for 17.65, a 30% savings.
Dressed
for the Photographer: Ordinary
Americans and Fashion, 1840-1900In Dressed for the Photographer,
Joan Severa gives a visual analysis
of the dress of middle-class
Americans from the mid-to-late 19th
century. Using images and writings,
she shows how even economically
disadvantaged Americans could wear
styles within a year or so of
current fashion. This desire for
fashion equality demonstrates that
the possession of culture was more
important than wealth or position in
the community. In presenting a broad
overview of common fashion, Severa
gathers letters and diaries as well
as photographs from various sources
across the United States. She
provides graphic evidence that
ordinary Americans, when dressed in
their finest attire, appeared very
much the same as their wealthier
neighbors. But upon closer
examination, these photographs often
reveal inconsistencies that betray
the actual economic status of the
sitter. These fascinating
photographs coupled with Severa's
insights offer an added dimension to
our understanding of 19th-century
Americans. Intended as an aid in
dating costumes and photographs and
as a guide for period costume
replication, Dressed for the
Photographer provides extensive
information for understanding the
social history and material culture
of this period. It will be of
interest to general readers as well
as to social historians and those
interested in fashion, costume, and
material culture studies. Click on
the title to order.
Everyday
Life During the Civil War: A Guide
for Writers, Students and Historians
(Everyday Life Series) From soldiers and
statesmen to farmers and firing
lines, Everyday Life During the
Civil War offers an in-depth
exploration of this fascinating
era. Using dozens of
illustrations, timelines and maps,
the author illuminates the details
of Northern and Southern economy;
town and country living; food and
the impact of war on diet; popular
entertainment; clothing; military
life; tools and weapons; slang and
much more. Click on the title to
order.
9 Projects, 20 Blocks, First Person Accounts. Available December
2006. Retail $27.95. Click on the title to preorder for $17.61, a
36% discount
Founding
Myths: Stories that Hide our Patriotic Past by Ray Raphael
examines thirteen well-known tales of America's struggle for
independence whose authenticity has been disproved by recent
scholarship. These stories of America's creation reflect
instead the romantic individualism of the nineteenth century, when
most of them were created. Only by laying these myths bare can
we understand and appreciate the popular spirit that propelled
America to independence. Click on the title to order for
$16.98, a 37% savings.
Hidden
in Plain View : A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground
Railroad. When quiltmaker Ozella McDaniels told
Jacqueline Tobin of the Underground Railroad Quilt Code, it sparked
Tobin to place the tale within the history of the Underground
Railroad. Hidden in Plain View documents Tobin and Raymond
Dobard's journey of discovery, linking Ozella's stories to other
forms of hidden communication from history books, codes, and songs.
Although Ozella's story has been largely discredited as being
self-serving, the book still makes good points on other forms of
communication. Click on the title to order for $11.20, a 20% saving.
Passages
to Freedom: The Underground Railroad
in History and Memory by
Smithsonian Books. Few
American stories have such staying
power as the tales of courageous
slaves escaping from bondage through
a rudimentary network of hiding
places and way stations. These
stories of enormous risk, of black
leadership and white cooperation, of
many thousands of journeys to
freedom, have become a part of
American historical consciousness.
How much of the great story of the
Underground Railroad is real, how
much is legend and mythology, and
how much is verifiable? This
book explores the wealth of lore
about the Underground Railroad that
grew in the national culture after
emancipation. Click on
the title to order for $26.37, a 34%
savings
Quilts
from the Civil War: Nine Projects,
Historic Notes, Diary Entries History
buffs as well as quilters will enjoy
these accounts of quilting-related
experiences during the Civil War
from women in both the North and the
South. Also included are
instructions and full-size patterns
for nine projects adapted from Civil
War quilts, as well as suggestions
for using today's reproduction
fabrics. Click on the title to
order.
Best-selling novelist Sandra
Dallas recreates from letters,
journals, and other historic sources
the arduous westward trail for women
settling in the hard-scrabble town
of Golden, CO. A master storyteller,
Dallas captures the spirit of
adventure and the drive for survival
of America's pioneer women, whose
lives are recorded in the quilts
they left behind. Describing the
transformation of the shanty-mining
town into a thriving community,
Dallas moves through Depression-era
America to the quilting revival of
the 1970s and up to the present
day. Click on the title to
order for $20.37. 32%
savings.
Southern
Quilts : Surviving Relics of the
Civil War
by Bets Ramsey (Author), Merikay
Waldvogel (Author) (Paperback - July
1998)
Combines stories of southern women
with beautiful photographs of
original quilts. Rich photographs
and oral histories of 29 Southern
quilts that survived the Civil War
offer perspectives on life in the
South during the most turbulent time
in American history. Included is the
Confederate Cradle Quilt – a work
of red and white silk and black
velvet made by Mrs. Robert E. Lee,
Mrs. Jefferson Davis, and friends in
1863 in Richmond, Virginia Alabama.
The Gunboat Quilt – an appliquéd,
embroidered, and stuffed quilt
produced and sold as part of a
campaign to raise funds to build
Confederate gunboats. Irish
Chain with Appliqué – a prewar
quilt given to a wounded Northern
soldier by a kindly Southern Lady
who nursed him back to health
Click on the title to order.
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