“Learning to Sew”

From the collections of PVMA • Digital image © Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Assoc. • Image use information

About this item

This carefully posed photograph of a mother and her daughters in pseudo-Puritan clothing reveals more about early 20th century interests, concerns, and lack of knowledge of the past than it does about the lives of women and girls in colonial America. Many Americans at the turn of the 20th century had developed a newfound fascination with the people, customs, and objects from the 17th through the early 19th centuries. In the midst of industrialization, mass production, and urbanization, some people turned to imagining wistfully and romantically a past that they erroneously thought was a simpler, more intimate world.

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Details

Item typePhotograph
PhotographerAllen, Frances and Mary
Date1898–1900
PlaceDeerfield, Massachusetts
TopicFamily, Children, Marriage, Courtship
EraRise of Industrial America, 1878–1899
Progressive Era, World War I, 1900–1928
MaterialPaper
Process/FormatPlatinum; Photography
Dimension details.01: 8″ x 5″; .02: 6.62″ x 4.75″.
Catalog #1996.14.0328.01-.02
View this item in our curatorial database →
Allen, Frances and Mary, photographer. Learning to Sew. Photograph. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/1996-14-0328-01-02/. Accessed on December 8, 2024.

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