This article is taken directly from “A Twentieth Century History of Marshall County,” written by Daniel McDonald. Although McDonald is adept at expressing himself, I have edited lightly. Here he takes on a contemporary fashion craze – bloomer suits. Bloomers were known as “Turkish Pants,” hence the editorial rant below.

The bloomer costume for ladies, which created much excitement throughout America during 1851, was just then being introduced in Plymouth. On this topic, the editor of The Pilot delivered himself as follows:

“New Dress – The bloomer costume is decidedly an improvement upon the dress of the female portion of the community. It is light, graceful and seraphic, well suited to the female figure. It will be welcomed by all the lovers of taste and refinement in the fashionable world. The Asian societies have long been celebrated for their beauty, polished manners and splendid attire. Our rivers will now be the Golden Horn; our valleys the Valley of Sweet Waters and our Seas the Bosphorus of the Turkish capital. A voyage to Constantinople will be useless. We may now take our siesta in the gay pavilion, and glide over the moonlit waters in the light caique (skiff)! Come ladies, step forth in your gorgeous apparel, decked with rose of gold and leaves of silver, and gladden our hearts with sweet smiles.”

Evidently, this was a facetious way the editor had of poking fun at the “costume” and killing it before the fad got a fair start here. At any rate, that was perhaps the result of it. Apparently, only one or two Plymouth ladies had the courage to procure bloomer suits and attempt to introduce them by wearing them as they would other female apparel. When they appeared in the streets, it was reported that they were objects of much curiosity—as if they had been untamed animals from Borneo. There is no easier way to kill anything that the people do not take very kindly to than to make fun of it, just as the editor of The Pilot did in his hifalutin article above quoted. At least that was what happened to the bloomer costume. McDonald might say, “It disappeared from the social horizon like the morning mist before the rays of the rising sun.”

Suffice it to say, ladies’ apparel has come a long, long way. If you want more commentary on life in Marshall County in the 1800s, McDonald’s book is for sale in our Museum Shop. Stop in anytime between 10 and 4 on Tuesday through Saturday and pick up your copy. The Museum is located at 123 N. Michigan St. in Plymouth. Call us at 574-936-2306.