Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

OVERBLOUSE

Date Range From

1900

Date Range To

1910

Materials

LACE, SILK, COTTON

No. Pieces

1

Length

23

Width

22

Description

SIZE MEDIUM. BEIGE LACE OVERBLOUSE. MACHINE MADE. LACE PUT TOGETHER BY HAND STITCHING. FRONT AND BACK SECTIONS HAVE EMBROIDERED FLOWERS. SEVERAL SMALL HOLES IN LACE NET. NECK EDGE & BACK CLOSURE BOUND IN SILK. BACK CLOSURE HAS SMALL COVERED BUTTON (11) AND CROCHETED LOOPS TO HOLD BUTTONS SHUT.

Subjects

CLOTHING-OUTERWEAR

Historical Association

PERSONAL CARE

History

BLOUSE WORN WITH VELVET SKIRT FOR EVENING WEAR. A SILK SLIP OR UNDERGARMENT WORN UNDER BLOUSE. SEAMSTRESS MADE THIS IN KENTUCKY. REF: P19750139000-GA. *UPDATE* IN 2016 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT RUTHANN LABLANCE CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF CLOTHING, INCLUDING A BATHING SUIT, RIDING BREECHES, AND TWO EVENING GOWNS DONATED BY ALLENE LANIER. THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION WAS COMPILED USING ARTICLES FROM THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD. ALLENE LANIER (NEE HANNA) PASSED AWAY AT THE AGE OF 91 ON OCTOBER 24, 1981. SHE WAS BORN AND RAISED IN KENTUCKY, THE DAUGHTER OF MR. AND MRS. CHARLES MORTON HANNA. ALLENE WAS A GRADUATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO. SHE TAUGHT FOR A FEW YEARS IN KENTUCKY BEFORE MOVING TO THE LETHBRIDGE AREA. IN MARCH 1917, ALLENE MARRIED THOMAS STRATTON LANIER, AND THE COUPLE FARMED IN THE WILSON SIDING AREA. THOMAS STRATTON “T.S.” LANIER WAS BORN IN KENTUCKY AND MOVED TO CANADA IN 1909. HE PASSED AWAY ON JANUARY 14, 1976 AT THE AGE OF 89. ALLENE WAS A MEMBER OF THE ARTHRITIS SOCIETY, THE YWCA BOARD, A CHARTER MEMBER OF THE QUOTA CLUB, AND OF THE WHILSO WHITE COMMUNITY CLUB. IN A LETTER TO THE EDITOR, DATED JUNE 4, 1979, ALLENE WROTE: “AS AN EARLY SETTLER IN THIS AREA, WHO HAD ALREADY BEEN INVOLVED IN YWCA WORK IN KENTUCKY, I WAS ONE OF THOSE WHO SAW THE NEED FOR MORE PERMANENT ASSISTANCE FOR YOUNG GIRLS MOVING TO THE CITY THAN THAT PROVIDED BY TRAVELLER’S AID. I WELL REMEMBER CANVASSING WITH MRS. LUCY BAWDEN TO RAISE $15,000 TOWARD THE PURCHASE OF THE FIRST YWCA FACILITY.” SHE CONTINUED, SAYING THAT WHILE HER HEALTH PREVENTED HER FROM CANVASSING AGAIN, “IT IS MY FOND HOPE THAT THE RESPONSE TO THE APPEAL FOR FUNDS FOR A NEW YWCA WILL BE AS SUCCESSFUL AS OUR FIRST EFFORTS.” SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR COPIES OF THE ARTICLES FROM THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD. *UPDATE* IN 2018, COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT ELISE PUNDYK CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF THE BOXED TEXTILE COLLECTION. ON 8 FEBRUARY 2018, PUNDYK INTERVIEWED IKE LANIER ABOUT ARTIFACTS DONATED BY VARIOUS MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY. WHEN ASKED IF HE REMEMBERED THE ARTIFACT, I’M SURE IT WAS [MY MOTHER’S]. IT LOOKS LIKE SOME OF THE CLOTHES MY AUNTS WORE. OR IT WAS THAT VINTAGE ANYWAY. IT’S ONLY LOGICAL THAT MOTHER WOULD HAVE BROUGHT CLOTHES THAT WERE IN STYLE WHEN SHE CAME UP. SO THIS WOULD GO BACK QUITE A WAYS, I THINK. … DRESS-UP KIND OF STUFF.” “SHE WAS A GOOD DRESSER, YEAH. …SHE WAS A VERY SOCIAL PERSON. YES. THEY ENTERTAINED A LOT, PARTIES. I REMEMBER HER MENTIONING THAT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT NOT ONLY SURPRISED HER BUT DISAPPOINTED HER WHEN SHE CAME UP - SHE CAME – KENTUCKY IS RELATIVELY DENSELY POPULATED. EVERYTHING THAT GROWS HAS GOT A BLOOM ON IT. BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY. SHE CAME UP HERE AND THERE WASN’T ANYTHING HIGHER THAN A FENCE POST. AND NOT MANY OF THOSE. SO NO SHELTER BELT. THE WIND WAS TERRIBLE; THE DUST WAS TERRIBLE. … BUT THEN THE THING THAT MOST BOTHERED HER, RATHER THAN THE CLIMATE WAS THAT, IN KENTUCKY, PEOPLE AT THE TOP OF THE SOCIAL LADDER WERE LAND OWNERS, AND SHE CAME HERE AND IT WAS BUSINESS PEOPLE. [SHE WAS A LAND OWNER HERE] BUT THAT WASN’T CONSIDERED A BIG DEAL. HERE IT WAS THE DRUGGISTS AND THE DOCTORS AND LAWYERS AND JUST COMMERCIAL PEOPLE. AND IT WAS JUST A FACT OF LIFE. BUT SHE WAS GOOD AT MAKING FRIENDS AND THE BEST WAY TO MAKE FRIENDS WAS TO HAVE A PARTY.” PLEASE SEE PERMANENT FILE P19651574000-GA FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW.

Catalogue Number

P19750155000

Acquisition Date

1975-08

Collection

Museum

Less detail