1880's Brown Wool Coat

Brown wool coat with brown and black plush trim on collar, cuffs and over hips; fold-over tall band collar; princess darts in front, princess seams in back; narrow two piece set-in sleeves with wide cuffs; center front button closure-eighteen 1" vegetable ivory buttons and hand-sewn buttonholes; two inverted pleats and 6 buttons over rear bustle area-3 either side; faux fur trim extends from hips down left and right side back areas of coat skirt.

HCT.1989.486.1

1880-1885

This coat belonged to Ada May Gander, born in 1860, the youngest of seven children. Her father was a farmer and the family lived in Muskingum, Ohio. Ada trained to teach country school and she worked as a teacher, while living at home with her parents, for several years before quitting to keep house for her father after her mother's passing in 1886. Ada later moved to Zanesville, Ohio with her husband, Absolom Jones Jr. in 1899. It is noted that all the women in the Gander family sewed well, and preferred not to spend money on clothes, so it is likely that Ada constructed this garment herself.

Wool

1880-1889