Dress and Millinery shop
In the past, women of all social classes purchased clothing from milliners and dressmakers. Fashions were usually made to order in a small shop with a female proprietress. Hats were designed by hand, deftly detailed for each client. These shops also carried gloves, ribbons, hatpins and other adornments.
MATIE’S MILLINERY SHOP.
Millinery Read
Welcome to Matie’s Millinery and Seamstress Shop! Come in and see all the wonderful wearable fashions from the time when Matie Hansen’s sewing talents as a dressmaker served over three generations of a great many families in Greenville.
In the left corner is a large wardrobe that once belonged to Matie and would have been full of fashions being created or altered for her customers. Next to the wardrobe is a White Rotary treadle-operated sewing machine, made in the United States before electricity was widespread. Arranged around the sewing machine are patterns and a variety of sewing necessities. A sample book shows handmade lace that would have been available for custom-made clothing items in Matie’s shop.
A stack of fabric bolts on the shelf on the back wall await selection by a customer. The embroidered black dickey under the lace shawl was worn by Matie’s mother, “Tina” Hansen in 1901.
On top of the showcase there are fashionable hats and muffs, along with a beaded stole. Note the brown mink fur collar piece worn around the neck which is fastened by the mouth grasping the other end, holding it on the shoulders. A matching muff completes the ensemble.
A black bustle insert, with a sample of hair stuffing attached, shows what would be worn under the skirt in the back just below the waist, as was the fashion.
Within the case one can see an array of m’lady’s accessories to be worn from head to toe:. hats, hatpins, jewelry, gloves, purses and shoes.
Above the display case, did you notice the historic mural of the Entrance to Baldwin Lake? It was painted by local Danish artist HLC Carlsen about 1900. Atop the mural is a shelf of decorative hat boxes (full of hats) .
As you leave Matie’s shop, look above the door at the framed Victorian art piece made of human hair. In the 19th century it was common to save hair of loved ones to braid into floral designs or into wreaths as a lasting memorial. (You can see samples of hair braids from the Green family in the showcase in front of the John Green cabin or in the exhibit of our founding family on the main floor.)
