Press release submitted by the Concord Museum
On March 2 through July 8, 2018, the Concord Museum will unveil a portion of its extensive historic clothing collection for the first time, along with textiles and decorative arts in a new exhibition: Fresh Goods: Shopping for Clothing in a New England Town, 1750 – 1900.
How do you shop for clothes? Do you go to a department store, buy online or through catalogues, shop locally at specialty shops, or sew your own? How did Concordians in the 18th and 19th centuries acquire their clothes? Who were the style-setters? Fresh Goods examines these questions about the sources and context of small-town New England fashion and documents the answers drawing upon its collection. As the first exhibition in a year-long Mass Fashion collaborative with eight leading cultural institutions, Fresh Goods also draws on account books, advertisements, photographs, and letters and diaries of the period.
As Curator David Wood stated, “The real stars of the show are a dozen 18th and 19th century examples of women’s, men’s and children’s clothing. Most have Concord histories, and few have been on view in recent past.” On the Museum’s runway – Fresh Goods fashions range from a Parisian dinner dress to a shoes made from silk brocade to a handmade everyday dress made with cotton milled in New England.
In addition to seeing how people shopped hundreds of years ago, visitors will also have an opportunity to virtually shop a cross section of the Museum’s clothing collection through a specially-designed interactive experience that utilizes a modern online shopping platform. The whimsical online site allows visitors to playfully select fans, bags, shoes, and clothing for their ideal 18th or 19th wardrobe.
Curator David Wood explained, “A novel and engaging element of Fresh Goods is the online shopping experience, with the objects of desire being examples from Concord Museum’s outstanding collection of clothing and accessories. An entertaining exercise in its own right, it is also a user-friendly portal into the wealth of information we have on these historic Concord objects.”
When Louisa May Alcott wrote in a letter, “I’ve got a new dress, gray silk, costing 90 cents per yard, thick, silvery, and very pretty in the piece,” she refers not to the dress, but the cloth it was made from. Before the age of ready-to-wear, it was the fabric one shopped for, not the garment. Pieces of cloth then might be taken to a dressmaker to be made into a garment, or the dress might be made at home.
Clothing conveys information about the wearer’s gender, age, rank, and wealth, as well as clues about subtler categories, such as taste, education, marital status, and aspiration. Through fourteen evocative documented outfits, the exhibition will consider the shopping habits of Concordians in the 18th and 19th centuries. The exhibit includes pieces made at home with fabric purchased at shops on Concord’s main streets, or made at the local workplaces of seamstresses, tailors, and milliners. Clothing and accessories may have been purchased in Boston, New York, London, or Paris. Looking closely at these rare and rarely-displayed artifacts, visitors will be encouraged to compare their current conventions for choosing and buying clothing to people’s practices in the past.
The title of the exhibition, Fresh Goods, is taken from an 1818 newspaper ad for the Concord Shop of Josiah Davis announcing the sale of fabrics such as figured flannels, crimson, bombazettes, and white and black cambricks.
Consulting Curators
Jane Nylander, President Emerita, Historic New England, and Richard Nylander, Curator Emeritus, Historic New England, are the Consulting Curators for Fresh Goods. The project has benefited greatly from the Nylanders’ deep understanding of New England’s material past and their specific knowledge of the Concord Museum’s historic clothing collection. They also served as Consulting Curators for the Museum’s successful Behind Closed Doors exhibition.
Sponsors
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Major foundation support for this exhibition is provided by The Coby Foundation, Ltd.
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Additional funding is provided by Middlesex Savings Bank
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Northbridge Insurance Agency, Inc.
- N.P. James Agency
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The Felicia Fund
- Generous friends of the Museum
FRESH GOODS PROGRAMS & EVENTS
The Concord Museum has developed a full calendar of public programs, workshops, lectures and hands-on activities for anyone interested in fashion, textiles, or a history of everyday life – starting with a Kids’ Opening Costume Party on March 3. Below see some of the upcoming Fresh Goods Programs and for a complete listing go to www.concordmuseum.org.
Kids’ Opening Costume Party, Saturday March 3, 2 to 4 p.m. Hey kids! Bring your grownups to the Concord Museum for a family-friendly opening of Fresh Goods. Put on your favorite costume or outfit, and join us for crafts, games, and snacks. Included with Museum admission. Members free.
Fresh Goods Gallery Talk, Saturday, March 10, 2 to 2:30 p.m. Join Concord Museum Curator David Wood for a closer look at Fresh Goods: Shopping for Clothing in a New England Town, 1750-1900. Check out www.concordmuseum.org for monthly curator-led gallery talks. Included with Museum admission. Members free.
Patriots Day at the Concord Museum
Colonial Cloth with Cluck and Baa Farm, Monday, April 16, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Drop by the Concord Museum to learn about spinning, weaving, and meet the animals themselves from Cluck and Baa Farm of Hollis, N.H. Included with Museum admission. Members free.
Vacation Week – History Adventures, April 17-20, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. to get hands-on with history through a week of different demonstrations of sewing, weaving, and the creation of colonial militia uniforms. Included with Museum admission. Members free.
Fresh Goods Lecture Series
- The Indigenous Look: Attire in 18th Century Massachusetts, Thursday, May 3, 7 to 8 p.m. Aquinnah Wampanoag artist and designer Elizabeth James-Perry will discuss the period from 1750 – 1900 in term of Indigenous Massachusetts attire and jewelry. Elizabeth creates Eastern Woodlands clothing and accessories directly informed from her 17th and 18th -century Wampanoag ancestors, and will bring examples of her work, which has been exhibited nationally. Members free, Non-members $5.
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Transgressing the Color Line: Depictions of Free Blacks in the Popular Press- Thursday, May 10, 7 to 8 p.m.
Join writer and historian Jonathan Michael Square, professor of Fashion History at Harvard University, as he analyzes images of free African Americans in New York City, Philadelphia, and Boston that appeared in the Popular Press. Members free, Non-members $5.
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Shifts, Stays, and Pannier- Thursday, May 31, 7 to 8 p.m.
Join historians and living history interpreters Linda Green and Michelle Gabrielson for an in depth look at how women got dressed every day in the 1700s. They will explore the “ins” and “outs” of a typical 18th century woman’s dress from a common, lower to middling class status to an upper class persona. Each layer of clothing will be discussed with a focus on fabric, style, and purpose. Perfect for anyone interested in the colonial era costume or the lives of women in the 18th century! Museum members free, Non-members $5.
Clothing & Shoe Drive, March 1- July 8 – During the run of the exhibition Fresh Goods, bring new or clean and gently used clothing to donate to the Wish Project in Lowell and Catie’s Closet. The Wish Project is a critical resource for families in need. Catie’s Closet converts school classrooms into place for students to gather clothing and essentials Check concordmuseum.org for a full list of requested items. Tattered and worn out clothing will not be accepted.
Mass Fashion, a consortium of eight cultural institutions, explores and celebrates the many facets of the culture of fashion in Massachusetts. Discover the wide array of fashions, and the stories behind them, on view in the Commonwealth. Visit www.massfashion.org.
About the Concord Museum
The Concord Museum is where all of Concord’s remarkable past is brought to life through an inspiring collection of historical, literary, and decorative arts treasures. Renowned for the 1775 Revere lantern and Henry Thoreau’s Walden desk, the Concord Museum is home to a nationally significant collection of American decorative arts, including clocks, furniture, and silver. Founded in 1886, the Museum is a gateway to historic Concord for visitors from around the world and a vital cultural resource for the town and region. www.concordmuseum.org