Not just feather trim.
Hats seem to be making somewhat of a comeback, but I can't imagine them ever coming close to their popularity in the 19th and early 20th centuries. York County Heritage Trust has just opened an exhibit featuring original hats from the past. Photos of some of those hats are shown here.
Millinery shops were owned by women. It was one of the few business opportunities open to respectable women of the period. Since you did not venture out of your house without a hat or bonnet, women flocked to the shops. You could purchase a new hat or buy a vast array of trimmings to refresh and recycle the perfectly good hats you already had. Your milliner knew your taste and probably had a good idea of your budget. Your hat also had to match the season; to wear a spring hat in the fall would be unthinkable.
On of many mid-19th century York milliners was Mrs. Catherine Small, of the first block of North George Street. Two of her newspaper ads are quoted below, giving us an idea of her wares and services.
From the May 29, 1949 York Gazette:
Mrs. Small and her shop seemed to have moved around, but not far, as seen in the November 4, 1851 York Gazette:
An 1860 map of York Borough shows her residence then was on the east side of North George Street, in the half block now taken up by the York County Judicial Center. That area, very near the square, had many small businesses.
The York County Heritage Trust has transformed the former toy shop in its Street of Shops exhibit into an exotic millinery shop filled with stunning original hats from the 1800s and 1900s. Stop by at the Historical Society Museum, 250 East Market Street, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. The hats will be on display until November 2010.
June, This exhibit looks fantastic!
I posted a pic of my grandmother and her friend Mabel Rentzel (Rentzel's Auction) wearing fab hats in the early 1900's.
http://www.captureyork.com/photo/221822
Thanks Dianne. I really enjoy your photos.