1. "The Bedford Cord Dress"
Posted by Susan on Aug-1st-02 at 1:35 AM

I just found something, maybe not such a big deal in the scheme of things, but, still it is something.  I believe we(or at least I)have been laboring under a misconception.  Yes, I believe that the Bedford Cord dress was stained with paint, we have so many witnesses to that fact!  But, that the color of paint on the dress looked like dried blood, um, not really.

I was going through the Trial Volume, Page 1347/i368, testimony of the Borden housepainter, John W. Grouard.

Q. What was the color of the paint?
A. Kind of dark drab.

Q. What was the trimmings?  Was there any difference in the color of the trimmings?
A. A little darker.

Now here is the Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition of DRAB:
1:Being of a light olive-brown color.

2:Dull, monotonous, cheerless

I have found a color chart with a color that approximates Drab, can't isolate the color, but, go to the link and scroll down to Table III, check out color # 666633, that is what Drab looks like.  Make a lighter shade and you have the body color of the house.

http://mrlxp2.mrl.uiuc.edu/~www/rgbtbl.html#HowTo
Now, look diagonally down to the left at color # 663333, thats approximately the color of dried blood!  Swab some of each on a light blue colored cloth and I believe that you would be able to tell which was a drab paint and which was blood!

I've been following what was said in the Borden books and they just said that the house was being painted when Lizzie's Bedford Cord was made, some say inside the house and out, and just that the color was brown, not which shade or hue, etc.  For some reason its taken me up until now to notice this, shame on the artist in me, 30 lashes with Abby's hair switch!!! 

(Message last edited Aug-1st-02  1:40 AM.)

Thanks Susan, good post. The difference is pretty distinct. Unfortunately no one other than Lizzie ever got close enough to the dress burned to make an examination. The police could have conducted such an experiment on their own but there is no indication that they did. Another "we'll try" that they didn't try.

Alice Russell didn't see all that much of the dress as Lizzie was tearing it apart. From the trial page 416. Alice being questioned by Moody:

Q.  Was this Bedford Cord of which this dress was composed, cheap or otherwise?
A.  Cheap.
Q.  Cheap material.  Which edge was it that you saw soiled as the skirt of the dress was exposed to your view on Sunday morning?
A.  The bottom of it,---what touches the ground.
Q.  The part that touches the ground, do you mean?
A.  Yes, sir.
Q.  Did you see soiling upon any other part than upon the bottom of the dress?
A.  No, sir, I did not.
Q.  Could you see sufficiently of the rest of the dress to see whether it was soiled or not, except the edges?
A.  No, sir.

This she seen only a few seconds before she left the room and never actually seen Lizzie burn it. Since blood darkens as it dries I would assume the spots would have been fairly dark and probably at their darkest by Sunday morning.

Regarding the color of the house, there is another indication that the house exterior was brown. This is from the Evening Standard, dated June 21, 1893 and refers to Lizzie returning home after the trial was over:

"Miss Lizzie Borden arrived in this city soon after 8 o'clock last evening.  An immense crowd, which reminded one of the early days of the horror, surged about the brown house on Second street." 

Again, however, it doesn't say the shade of brown.

(Message last edited Aug-1st-02  8:30 AM.)

I believe the color of the Borden house today nicely approximates the color it was painted in 1892.  It's certainly a "less red" color than dried blood would be, but it's far from a greenish olive shade.  I think quite a bit of license was used when describing a "drab" color; remember Dr. Bowen used that word to describe Lizzie's dress, which was almost certainly some shade of blue!   It's good fodder for discussion, nevertheless.

If that dress was made new in the springtime, then it would have to be cheap material (?) for Lizzie to be able to tear it apart a few months later. Unless she was as strong as Jesse Ventura!

I always think of Anne Heche playing the part of Lizzie (with suitable rubber facial makeup to resemble LAB).

Thanks, Harry.  As I stated its a small thing, but, I've believed all these years that the Bedford Cord had stains of paint that looked like blood on it already.

I had asked some people at work if they knew what color drab was, and the closest anyone could come was the army color; olive drab, which is much more green than brown.

Edisto, funny that you mentioned Dr. Bowen, I have studied his testimony at the trial.  To me it sounds like they are trying to trip him up and put words in his mouth.  I think that Dr. Bowen was trying to say that Lizzie's dress was drab as in the definition #2 from the dictionary: dull, monotonous, cheerless.  They were making it sound like he had said that Lizzie's dress was a olive-brown dress, not a blue one.

Rays, Anne Heche?  I never thought of her as a possibility to play Lizzie before, but, she might make a good choice, if she is still acting. 

Oh, I agree that Dr. Bowen was trying to say Lizzie's dress didn't have much color to it.  (In fact, he did say that at one point.)  However, I wonder why he didn't eventually realize he was being conned and say something like, "Well, it could have been gray or taupe for all I know.  It wasn't a noticeable color."  When I think of "drab," I tend to think of the "olive drab" color of old army uniforms too.  But the current color of the Borden house is more similar to what I think of as "taupe," a gray-brown color, rather than a greenish-brown color.  I was speaking (writing) about the actual color of the house, not what people today think of when the word "drab" is mentioned.

Maybe Dr. Bowen was colorblind and was unable to see red or green or variations of those colors.  Most colorblind people will see shades of gray instead of red and green.

t

It's certainly possible that he was colorblind.  I don't think he was the only one.  I've seen a couple of renderings of the Borden house lately that make it look absolutely yellow.  Unless they've changed it drastically, that isn't its color.

I've also seen a colorized version of the Borden home and it was done in shades of blue!  Lizzie would have loved that I'm sure, but, I guess blue wasn't a popular color for homes at the time. 

Has anyone looked into an old dictionary for "drab"?
I think it applies to any faded dark color IMO.

(I hope no one will start rumors about Dr Bowen being color blind UNLESS they have some documentation.)

(Message last edited Aug-3rd-02  1:10 PM.)

Item from the Democrat & Chronicle Newspaper,Rochester, New York, Fall River, Mass., August 15, 1892:

"The "murder house" as it is already spoken of by everyone, is No.
92, North Second street.  It is a three story and a half house structure, neatly painted in two shades of gray."

I wonder if Martha McGinn, present owner of the "murder house," has ever had a conservator check out the original color scheme?

William, your post got me thinking and I did a word search on the computer, here are the results of that search.

DRAB
Function: noun
Etymology: origin unknown
Date: circa 1515
1:SLATTERN
2:PROSTITUTE

Function: noun
Etymolgy: Middle French drap cloth, from Late Latin drappus
Date: 1541
1: any of various cloths of a dull brown or gray color
2: A: a light olive brown B: a dull, lifeless, or faded appearance or quality

Function: adjective
Date: 1686
Inflected Form(s): drab*ber, drab*best
1: A: of the dull brown color of drab B: of the color drab
2: characterized by dullness and monotony: CHEERLESS
-drab*ly adverb
-drab*ness noun

Function: noun
Etymolgy: probably alteration of drib
Date: 1828
: a small amount--usually used in the phrase dribs and drabs

Main Entry: olive drab
Function: noun
Date: 1878
1: a grayish olive
2: A: a wool or cooton fabric of an olive drab color B: a uniform of this fabric

So, it is entirely possible that the housepainter was refering to olive drab when he painted the Borden house, which would make it grayish green color.  Which in turn would bring the paint stained dress even further away from looking like it had blood stains on it already.  Which brings us back to the color tables, go to the link page, scroll down to Color Table V.  Color 999966 is the best approximation of olive drab.

http://mrlxp2.mrl.uiuc.edu/~www/rgbtbl.html#HowTo



(Message last edited Aug-3rd-02  4:08 PM.)

I also found this great site on historic color analysis, enjoy:

http://www.welshcolor.com/sampling.html

I think "drab" can mean other things to other people.  Even tho the witness was the housepainter, he might have been using 'drab' to mean icky; not much color to it.  I'd think any war uniforms they'd think of back then would be blue or grey. 

I don't think all the dictionary definitions in the world will help to clarify what he meant. 

Isn't dried blood on fabric usually brown?? 

The B & B prides itself on being as historically accurate in decor as possible.  I would be interested to know if that applies to the house color as well.  I wouldn't call the house today 'drab', tho.  I think it's beige with dark trim. 

That's an interesting thought, that Dr. Bowen could have been color blind.  I never thought of that before.  I would think, tho, that if he had been he would have said that on the stand.  "Sort of a drab color, not much color to it that I could see.  Stop badgering me!  I'm color blind!"

When I watched the Osgood story on Lizzie this morning, there was a fleeting glimpse of the house (well, not too fleeting), and that sucker actually IS yellow!  It certainly wasn't when I was there.  Do you suppose they found a chip of the actual paint color and went with it?  I know they're always trying to make things more authentic.  They weren't terribly authentic when I was there, but they were trying for a look of the right period anyway.  Do we know that Lizzie's Bedford cord dress was stained with the main color of the house?  As I recall, she stained it when she was looking at the liquid paint after the painters had mixed it.  Might it have been the trim color?  As Augusta says, dried blood tends to look brown, and the house trim is more brown.  If Lizzie's dress was stained with YELLOW paint, then she needn't have burned it because of the paint.

This is true, Edisto, I believe that Lizzie got the paint on her dress when she was overseeing the mixing of the color.  And since the painter was mixing the color on the spot, I would imagine that he had a variety of colors at hand.  I'm going under the assumption that when the painter said "drab" he meant the color drab or olive drab, according to the definition of the time period.  For this you would need black and a yellow, these 2 produce olive green, white to lighten the mix, and a premixed brown, such as burnt umber or raw umber.  Brown is one of those colors you can mix by accident when mixing paint and come up with mud, but, it is not a true color.  Brown is one of those premixed colors that you really can't make on your own, unless you want to grind the minerals yourself and add the paint binder.

So, Lizzie could have gotten the original house paint or one of the variety colors on her dress.  From where she received it on her skirt, it sounds as if she was right up and over the mixing tub looking down into it.  I wonder why Lizzie didn't immediately ask the painter for naptha or mineral spirits, whichever paint thinner he had on hand and try to clean her dress while the paint was still wet? 

Maybe she preferred to go downstreet for prussic acid. 
I think it was some kind of brownish paint she got on the dress, and I think that gave her the idea to use it on August 4. 
The house is yellow now???  It's never been yellow.  It was described as grayish before.  When I saw it in 1989 I think it was a dull shade of green with dull dark green trim.  The last time I saw it it was beige with brown trim.  I taped the show.  I'll re-run it.  If it's yellow, yuck.  It wouldn't even feel authentic.  (Although I LOVE yellow houses - it doesn't seem as if it would be right for Lizzie's.)

Well, Augusta, ya' never know with our Lizzie, shes an odd one! 

I agree, I don't like the idea of a yellow house for Lizzie, that paint would probably be all full of arsenic!    It just seems too cheerful for the whole Borden drama to unfold in.

?????

?????

That looks like a "drab" beige and brown paint job to me! 

So does #17 trim look dark blood color?
And does #18, in your estimation look yellowish?  I wanted to know that these colors ARE different, not just the development of the film?

This looks similar to the way the house was when I was there in 1998, although I don't seem to recall it as quite so yellowish.  On "Sunday Morning," it looked more yellowish than this.  I would say the trim is a dark, brownish color.  It's not exactly the same color as dried blood, but it could be mistaken for it on fabric.  (Incidentally, I asked my husband what color the Borden house was when we visited there, and he said, "White.")  I have an old Webster's Collegiate Dictionary from 1972 that I keep by the computer, and it defines "drab" as "a dull, yellowish brown."

To me, it looks like the same paint job taken in different lighting situations, one looks redder and one yellower.  But, yes, that "milk chocolate" trim color looks like it would look like dried blood on a dress!  But, my question is, as William suggested, is this the "authentic" colors that the Borden house was painted in the 1890s?  Is this the painters "drab" paint job? 

And according to most of the newspapers of the day, the house was "brown", not tan or beige or ecru, whichever name you would like to apply to the body color of the home.  So, who's word do we trust?  The painter, the press,.......? 

I've never thought of "drab" as a definite color. To me it always meant almost the opposite. No color, or faded color, dreary looking or dull. I know that is not what is says in the dictionary but that has been my use of the word.

It appears to be Dr. Bowen's as well, at least at the inquest. From Radin, page 122:

"The prosecution indicated that it was claiming that the dress Lizzie had burned was the one she had been wearing that morning when seen by various witnesses.
Dr. Bowen testified that he could not remember the color of the
dress Lizzie had been wearing, and the prosecutor read his inquest testimony in which he said, "It is pretty hard work for me [to recall the dress]. Probably if I could see a dress something like it I could guess, but I could not describe it; it was a sort of drab, not much color to it to attract my attentions sort of morning calico dress, I should judge."
The prosecutor insisted that the use of the word "drab" was the description of a definite color, while Dr. Bowen equally insisted that what he had said was most indefinite and he had made no attempt to describe a definite color, simply an impression. Shown the dress Lizzie had turned over to police, he was asked if that was the dress she had been wearing the morning of the murder. "I don't know, sir," was his reply. Asked to describe the dress being shown to him, he answered, "I should call it dark-blue."

How many men, married or single, remember the color, cut, and style of dresses seen days earlier?

I notice the colors used as background on this board are quite similar to those of the Borden house.  (Some of the color blocks are yellowish and some are more beige, but the frame is brown.)  Is this deliberate?

(Message last edited Oct-6th-02  11:00 PM.)

That reference again reminds me of Terence's article in the LBQ, July, 2000, "Friends From Boyhood".  I still don't have the issue, but his notes.  He questions whether Phil learned about color & fabric & fashion from Alice Russell, and might they have known each other, since she moved into the house he had lived in.  [Some of you may already know some of this...]

"Phil Harrington lived at 33 Borden Street from 1885 through 1890.  Either at the time he moved out, or shortly after, Alice Russell moved in.  The 1890 city directory has Harrington there, but in 1891, Alice is at 33 Borden instead.  Alice taught sewing for 18 years.  For about 16 years (c. 1880--c. 1896) prior to that, she had been clerk and bookkeeper of the merchant tailors, Leander D. Wilbur & Company located at 18, then later, 10 S. Main Street.  [The corner of S. Main and Pleasant Street--Rebello, 63].  [In 1882, Phil lived at 79 S. Main].

Phil Harrington's descriptions of the pink wrapper Lizzie had changed into that day could not be more complete or show any greater knowledge of women's clothing.  Such knowledge must have been very unusual for a man.

Although Alice was 7 years older than Phil, might they have had some sort of relationship?  Did he by chance develop his superior knowledge of women's clothing from Alice?"

Isn't that funny, it took a man to remember to a tee what Lizzie changed into that day, but, before that, none of the women could agree as to what she wore?

I'm wondering if the Bedford Cord was in that strange bundle of a blanket on the floor of Emma's closet, since she was seen coming out of Emma's room when she changed into the pink wrapper. 

Partly a reply to my own post which transcribed T.D.'s theory:

Alice didn't seem all that observant herself, or else she may have been coyly noncommittal because she considered Lizzie her friend, and she knew things others didn't.

But she did testify that she never noticed the things the girls wore, like their hats, etc. as she's not naturally observant or curious of these things.

I've always found this statement outrageous, in view of the fact that Alice worked for a clothing store and was a sewing teacher.
If she REALLY was not concerned with what people wore, and it just was a JOB to her, then I think it would be unlikely that Phil Harrington gained any expertise from her in the *women's drapery* department...His bio in Rebello, 151, gives no mention of his Mother's interests.

This may be a little off here, but, maybe the reason the pink wrapper was noticed so distinctly was because Lizzie usually wore blue dresses.  Redheads were not supposed to wear pink, it was supposed to clash with their hair?  The pink striped wrapper with the red ribbon belt was considered loud and garish? 

I was just thinking last night, after reading something somewhere that Lizzie thought her eyes were her best feature...and what I thought was that maybe THAT was why she *liked blue*.  She may have worn it to accentuate her EYES.

Speaking of flattering colors, I have reddish-brown
hair & when I wear a blue dress or top it looks *VERY* red.
Lizzie seemed to enjoy fixing her hair quite feminine & poofy
& she probably enjoyed being a redhead, I think it was a rare
color & would have made her unique & the blue dresses
would have probably set it off perfectly.  

I wish we could see Lizzie walking talking and in color, as you've just described yourself.
I have to keep remembering she is 3-D and in Vista-Vision & stereo-phonic Sound!

I think she would actually be quite pretty in person, I think
her pictures have been tainted by her fame ("Oh yeah,
she was the one who killed her parents, she looked crazy
didn't she?"). There were those early ones where you can
see that she was trying her darndest to be a pretty
woman. And she did seem quite self assured in front of the
camera, she must have liked what she looked like,
even if she was really considered plain looking. I like to think
she must have captured a few hearts, I hate to think of
anyone being a genuine "spinster".
It is so unfair to judge people from a hundered years ago
with what is attractive now, sometimes I hear people
being so cruel when they look at old pictures. As though
they don't have a yearbook hidden somewhere that nobody will
ever see. 

Yea, REALLY!
Or even a driver's license they wouldn't want you to see.

I think Lizzie Did like her looks, just as you said.
I wonder though, how much her confidence inflated when she compared herself to Emma...or whether Emma was beautiful in HER eyes, because they loved each other?

I have been rereading Rebello of late (very worthwhile, I must say), and I'm truly surprised at how differently observers described Lizzie's hair and eyes.  Her eyes were said to be brown, green, blue, gray.  Her hair was said to be black, nut-brown, "light," but never red.  Where does the information come from that she was a redhead?  I haven't found a contemporary account that even says it was auburn or reddish-brown.

I've read some accounts of her being a brunette,
but I usually remember the times she was 
described as either almost red or really red.
It might have been an in between color that could
have changed depending on the light & what she wore.
I know so many of the facts about her are wrong,
the red hair might have suited her image as a firey person. 
Maybe some people just like to describe red hair.  

Maybe her confidence came from Emma, she was
Emmas beloved baby sister, she must have bragged
on her, even just in private. She did indeed seem to
think she looked her best & someone must have
agreed with it, I dont think confidence
can last without any support.

D'you recall what those sources are that describe her hair as "somewhat" red or truly red?  (I think maybe Victoria Lincoln might be one of them.  She described Alice Russell as an attractive redhead, I know, and that was pretty far from the truth as far as the observers in the courtroom went.)

It seems like the Frank Spiering book has her
red haired or maybe auburn (I know that is not the most accurate
example, but I only had about three hours sleep last night).
And I recall seeing some of those crime-biography
things on TV & they would mention red hair.
Was there a certain article sometime that mentioned her
redhead status that became accepted as what she really was?
I've heard of people who cant judge eye color, I have no idea
why, I don't think it has anything to do with being
colorblind. Maybe her hair color it is like the dress everyone
saw so differently.

From the August 30th, 1892 Evening Standard newspaper:

Frequent remarks are made daily complementary to the Borden "girls" hair.  Upon neither of them has Dame Nature lavished her gifts, but both are favored with beautiful and abundant hair.  Miss Lizzie's is invariably worn high on the head.  It is a medium brown in color, fine and exceptionally glossy and always carefully curled in front and shows a slight suggestion of waviness at the back.  The hair of the other is darker and heavier, and truly may be termed "as soft as silk."

All quote marks are from the article, not me.

According to Rebello, this is from the Boston Herald of August 7, 1892: "A wealth of black hair is revealed under her hat, which arranged on top of her head, is trained about her forehead in short curls, parted in the center, and thrown over the sides.  Her dark, lustrous eyes, ordinarily flashing, were dimmed..."
From the New York Herald of the same date:  "Her hair is brown and long, her eyes brown and steady."
From Julian Ralph in the New Bedford Mercury of June 7, 1893:
"Her beautiful, fine, nut-brown hair, soft and glossy to a degree, was pulled back into a long roll behind her head...She has large, brown eyes..."
And Louis F. Grant, a sketch artist for the Boston Globe, said of her at the time of the trial: "Her hair is brown, neither dark nor light..."
No hint of red in any of these varying descriptions.

Oh, thank you, Edisto!  I'd read all those descriptions recently while looking for something else.  And was about to start searching for them again. You've given me another hour in the day.  What a gift!

Here's some sources for the red hair theory.  I'm wondering,now, if there's a clue in the Lincoln bit.  Maybe the reporters and authors of the day, were being kind when they described it as brown instead of red?

Her hair was naturally curly; however, until it turned the mousy brown I remember in her later years it was RED, and in her day red hair was considered ugly, a misfortune to be pitied. (Lincoln, 37)

Her hair was BROWN and worn softly on the crown. (DeMille, 26)

Her REDDISH hair was slightly crimped in the fashion of the day, parted exactly in the center and drawn into a high bun behind her head (Sullivan, 20)

She had RED hair and a temper to match (Brown, 37)

The color [of her hair] was described as nut-brown or AUBURN TINGED, indicating that it had a reddish cast. (Radin, 44)

She was thirty-two, not beautiful, yet attractive, with DARK REDDISH hair parted up the middle and combed back into naturally curling waves. (Spiering, 5)

She was, from maturity, a rather plump person, of middle height, and with LIGHT-BROWN hair. (Pearson, 82)

Well, if they were being kind when describing her hair, their kindness hardly extended to the rest of her.  Some of the comments made by reporters (see Rebello, pp. 231-232 and elsewhere)were about as cruel as one can get! 

Last year I read a number of Dashill Hammett's novels and short stories. For some reason, one of his marks of a villainess was: red hair! I don't know if this was common prejudice, or a personal view. Has anyone else heard of this late 19th century viewpoint?

That's a good point, Edisto.  They obviously weren't worried about being unkind in their descriptions!  I was way off base with my speculation there.

Which brings us right back to the puzzle about why some people describe her hair as definitely red while others vary the color from light to dark brown. 

I know what rays is saying about the red-headed 'vixens' in detective stories, etc. Maybe it was because not a lot of people are lucky enough to have naturally red hair -- and years back (When Hammet was writing, e.g.) women who obviously colored their hair were considered a little fast and loose? 

I remember (?) one of A Conan Doyle's stories making this point about a red haired woman (NOT the "Red Headed League"). Was this also common in Victorian England?
Maybe Lucille Ball killed off this prejudice?
The color can also be in the eye of the beholder. If red-haired (auburn?) is a sign of a criminal (Lombroso?), then maybe it is equivalent to calling someone "shifty eyed"? Is this still considered a sign of a criminal? I heard or learned that when working in NY city, ALWAYS keep your eyes on the environment. Don't overlook the sides. Of course, this may also be a technique of criminals, looking for victims or police.

So what do YOU do when you drive in city traffic?

Well, perhaps her predominant hair color depended on the lighting in the room or the sunshine. I have red highlights to my hair. When the light hits it right, even though my hair is dark brown, it looks more red than brown. And then sometimes, for some strange reason, people compliment me on my lovely black hair. Go figure.

The Society of REDHEADS claimed Lizzie for their own, remember?
She's listed, I believe, as a "red-head and Proud of it!"

Does anyone have the site link?

My hair is dark brown, but, when exposed to alot of sun, it gets red and gold highlights in it.  Lizzie's hair in every photo I've seen of her appears to be a medium tone, whether brown or chesnut or red or auburn.  I went on a search and from the numerous sources there are many different colors attributed to Lizzie's hair and eye color.  There were a couple that said her hair was black.  I wonder if she used a pomade or some sort of hair dressing that made it appear so?  Remember hair gel and when the "wet look" was in?  Human hair when wet appears darker in color than it is, thats why I wonder about that one.  Or, perhaps she had just freshly washed her hair and it was still damp?  No hair dryers in 1892, and from my own experience it takes quite some time to dry on its own.

Then, I also wonder how long Lizzie's hair was when not up in a bun or roll or chignon?

See:
http://www.redandproud.com
for the manifesto
&
http://www.redandproud.com/famous%20redheads%20historical%20A-L.htm
for Lizzie.  Maybe they researched this?

I'm on it, Kat!  Just sent them an e-mail at the site asking just how they researched Lizzie's hair color.  I'll let you all know if and when they reply! 

Good for you, Susan!  That's a much better idea than just accepting a novelist's word for a subject's hair color.  I suspect Lizzie became a redhead in the same way she became a maniacal axe-murderess.  Both bits of invention make her sound more interesting and help sell books.  I've always thought Lizzie sounded pretty thoroughly boring, absent her perceived penchant for axes (and maybe for henna?)... I do agree with the posters who say their own hair can look reddish in certain lights.  That goes for me too.  It's also good to remember that Lizzie usually wore a hat when in public, and it was often a hat that covered most of her hair.  That might explain why there was a whole lot of guessin' goin' on!

This is true, Edisto, which I really didn't take into account!  Lizzie wearing a hat in public, which would cover most of her hair and possibly shadow it.

And I agree, Lizzie sounds like she had a dull life, but, given the time period, it may have been all she expected?  No jobs for ladies of her stature, no frivolous dating, no movies or TV or radio to show her how others live.  She didn't have much available to her.

It makes me think how Lizzie's life would have differed, if any, if she had married? 

WHOAA!!! No activities in those days? Movies were beginning, vaudeville was alive, and so was the stage. Maybe even in Fall River.
Did Lizzie read books? Was she banned from the library?

People maybe depended more on each other for entertainment in those days. As a child in the 1940s (no electricity, kerosene lamps as in Andy's house) my grandfather would entertain us simply with stories and those shadow images. Did you ever hear those ghost stories or fairy tales (Hansel & Gretel !!!) that had a moral?

What I meant, Rays, was that by todays' standards, Lizzie's life appears dull.  I have to wonder if Lizzie was free to read all books or was curtailed by her religious convictions or by Andrew?  She seemed to like poetry, but, was Lizzie a big reader?

And, perhaps when the Borden girls were young, maybe Andrew and Abby did tell them fairy tales and such?  But, looking at Lizzie's life as a young woman, I don't think she was much in the same room as the elder Bordens, so, not much in family entertainment going on there.

I wonder if Emma and Lizzie had wonderful conversations?  Full of life and fun, talk of fashion and current events and such? 

(Message last edited Aug-15th-02  12:26 AM.)

It depends on your point of view. People then did NOT sit alone in their homes, watching TV. They were out and about quite a bit. They talked to real people, not shadows on a wall.

I'll bet they would feel sorry for us today because we spend so much time isolated in our homes, depending on radio and TV for news and entertainment.

A few years ago when I worked as a temp I used to hear some young women at the next lunch table talking about various people. It took quite a while before I realized they were talking about a TV show!!! (Yes, I'm "out of it" for today's youth.)

I'm trying to imagine the girls chasing each other through the house, screaming and giggling with glee...tickling on the castered couch, grabbing a cookie and running outside.
Lolling on their beds and daydreaming aloud.  Reading poetry to each other...playing hide & seek....

Kat, I would hope so.  But, for some reason I conjure up Emma ever being the proper little lady trying to teach Lizzie the social mores of the day.  Children are to be seen and not heard, a lady doesn't do that, you must learn to sew and cook and iron and sweep and etc.-do you want to grow up to be a spinster?  No man wants a wife that cannot do these things.

I'm hoping that there was more love and laughter in that house when they were younger.  And as for poor Abby, I can imagine what she went through!  Trying to win Emma over must have been like pulling teeth!  I remember after my parents had divorced and my mom finally started to date again.  Every man she brought home was an interloper, an outsider, they tried so hard to gain our trust and get us to like them.  We'd smile to their faces and sneer behind their backs.  Poor Abby!  I imagine Emma gave her alot of the same. 

Found this current day Bedford Cord dress or jumper.  It doesn't look as textured or wide wale as a corduroy fabric, rather smooth from afar.  Bedford Cord is a long lasting fabric which makes it perfect for work clothes and casual wear.  I'm sure Lizzie would be happy to know its still around!