An Exhibit at the Historical Society of Glastonbury Celebrating America’s 250th Anniversary
By: Sarah Pettingell and Maureen Smilow
Do you remember mini-skirts with colorful psychedelic prints and go-go boots? For a fun family outing sure to delight and interest people of all ages, consider a visit to Glastonbury Historical Society’s Museum on the Green. In celebration of our nation’s 250th anniversary, Museum Curator Donna Henrikson, with the assistance of many volunteers, has assembled an exhibit that showcases clothing and related artifacts from a 200-year period. From a wedding dress dating to the 1820s, to a collection of military uniforms worn by our town’s heroes in the 20th century, all the way to the leisure suits of the 1970s and 80s, visitors are invited to see our town’s story told through a colorful, varied assemblage of garments, many worn by town residents. According to Ms. Henrikson, the exhibit was created to reflect how styles have changed over the years and to demonstrate how fashion was influenced by social changes resulting from war and economic fluctuations. Additionally, part of the exhibit is a celebration of outdoor recreation in Glastonbury from the late 1800s to the mid-20th century, when skating, recreational baseball teams and racing were part of the town’s entertainment. While many of the items are from the Society’s collection and have never been exhibited before, other articles of clothing and memorabilia have been donated or loaned to the Museum by Historical Society members and others in the community. From a very ornately trimmed red flapper’s dress worn in the 1920s to a flight jacket worn during the Vietnam War, there’s something for everyone.
Looking at Glastonbury now, it is hard to imagine that at the time of the Revolutionary War, Glastonbury was a simple farming town. According to Ms. Henrikson, most of the town’s citizens did not have the need or means to either buy or make fancy clothing. Then, Glastonbury was not like the larger urban areas and so not part of the world of fashion. Main Street was a dirt road with many of the houses you see today – two story colonial homes with center chimneys. Most folks had two outfits: one for Sunday-go-to-meeting and the other for everyday living which meant manual labor or farm work. Of course, there were special occasions such as when newly built ships from Glastonbury’s own ship yards were launched and the town celebrated, with everyone wearing their finest. A wedding was another festive event that called for special clothing but then a bride wore her best dress as a wedding gown. In fact, the oldest dress in the Historical Society’s collection is a green dress from 1826 that was worn for exactly this purpose. White wedding gowns did not appear until a few years before the wedding of Queen Victoria in 1840, who as Ms. Henrikson noted, was influential in bringing the idea of fashion to the public’s attention.
As the exhibit demonstrates, besides economic and social changes brought about by war and other events, the invention of the sewing machine in 1830 had an impact on fashion. As can be seen from the exhibit, home sewn and factory produced garments meant that fashion quickly changed from decade to decade. From the narrower dresses of the pre-sewing machine era to pleats, ruffles and big skirts in the 1860s and then to the slimmer silhouettes of the early twentieth century styles were constantly changing. Of course, a big turning point in fashion took place in the Roaring Twenties. Clothing became loose, athletic, and distinctly modern. One of the display cases contains a 1920s man’s swim suit and a woman’s bathing dress, that though a vast departure from earlier beachwear, are a far cry from the men’s wear and bikinis we see at the beach today! From that era on, a tour of the exhibit reveals how styles for both men and women have quickly changed in the twentieth century, with saddle shoes, go-go boots and leisure suits happily in our past.
You may view the exhibit during regular operating hours or by calling for an appointment at 806-633-6890. The Museum on the Green is open Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 10:00 to 4:00 at 1944 Main Street. Admission is always free.
The Historical Society is a charitable 501(c)3 organization that receives no funding from the Town of Glastonbury. To join or support us, please stop by the Museum on the Green or call us at 860-633-6890. Our email is hsg06033@gmail.com, our website is hsgct.org, and we are on Facebook.
