Fragments from a Ladies' Book (1851)

Dawn Potter

Choosing to boil arrow-root in milk

is wasteful, yes, and less than satisfactory.

Fig. 3d is a mourning gown of silk.

Our printer’s swift advances in lithography

provide a glimpse into the winter’s pleasures.

Don your finest for Jenny Lind’s soiree.

For negro shows or evening lectures,

choose a walking costume, red or grey.

We stand on the lofty ridge of Time!

The fashion of stiff corsets never will resume.

We are constrained to note, “The female mind

could never have devised the loom.”

[from Chestnut Ridge, a verse-history-in-progress of western Pennsylvania]