Costumes bringing us closer
Above:
The Sewall-Scripture House, built in 1832, at 40 King Street in Rockport , Massachusetts
Google the little coastal town of Rockport
to see where it lies exactly in the state of Massachusetts
and you could be forgiven for thinking that you’re looking at a very odd map of
England
There’s admittedly no Rockport here on our side of the
Pond but as for the names of towns in the surrounding area of this part of the
NW United States they’re all vivid
reminders of how that part of Massachusetts was settled by refugees from
religious persecution back in England, mainly in the 17th century.
Ipswich,
So I’m always pleased to receive any friendly or
enquiring emails from the USA
Rockport
native the Rev. Sarah Clark is a Unitarian Universalist minister who has an
extensive background in theatre arts and is an enthusiastic reader of Joyce
Dennys’ ‘Henriette’ books as well as being a keen reader of bulletins from the
Budleigh-Brewster blogger.
“I
particularly enjoyed Dennys’ connection with Budleigh Salterton because, as you
know I'm sure, Budleigh Salterton is in the dialogue of Noel Coward's Blithe
Spirit, a play dear to my heart,” she told me. “Brewster is lovely. I preached
in the UU church there when precandidating for Plymouth New England church.”
This white summer dress dates from the early 1900s. It was pointed out that the dress would have been worn with a slip but for exhibition purposes showed off the crochet better without
Sarah’s
connection with Fairlynch Museum gets even closer, as she explained. She wrote to tell us of the exciting finds that she and her colleagues made at her own museum, including the dresses pictured here.
“I am docent and head of
collections at our local Sandy Bay Historical Society and Museum so see lots of
parallels in our activities,” she wrote. [For English readers a ‘docent’ is an
American term for a guide in places like museums].
“This summer we
held a special off-site exhibit of some of the vintage clothes (1780-2000) we
found smashed away in our closets. A lot of work but also fun and well
received.” [I think she means ‘stashed’
but maybe not.]
An 1859 blue wedding dress
Anyway the costume finds caused some excitement over
there. You can read all about it at http://www.gloucestertimes.com/lifestyle/x389855584/Velvet-vests-to-satin-sashes
And
you can find out about Sarah’s Museum at http://www.sandybayhistorical.org/
Thank you, Michael, for this lovely article on SBH and me. I was surprised to find us here. Yes, smashed is right for the way the clothes were in the closet, smooshed if there is such a word would also be accurate. What amazed us was that even with such ill treatment the clothes survived -- probably due to the dark. We are now spending the fall going through another stash of clothes in the attic
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