Plymouth memories of an octogenarianDavis, William T. (William Thomas)
History
Plymouth memories of an octogenarian
Davis, William T. (William Thomas)
Plymouth (Mass.) -- History
The only change within my recollection in the occupation of the next
house, which has been for many years in the possession and occupancy
of Salisbury Jackson, and his children and grandchildren, was the
conversion in 1835 of one of the rooms on the street floor by Mr.
Jackson into a store, which he opened in that year after having
occupied for some years a store in the Witherill building on the
corner of Main street and Town Square. In later years the store was
abandoned, and the building restored to its original condition. I
associate an old lady by the name of Johnson, who I think about 1830
occupied one or two rooms in the Jackson house, with a bonnet called
the Navarino bonnet, which had a great run for a time among females
everywhere, old and young. I wonder if any of my readers remember
as I do the Navarino bonnet? The battle of Navarino, which secured
Greek independence, was fought October 20, 1827, in which the Turkish
and Egyptian navies were destroyed by the combined fleets of England,
Russia and France, and so great an interest was felt at that time in
Greek affairs that some ingenious originator of fashion invented a
bonnet made of paper resembling cloth, and of the prevailing shape,
with a crown a little turned up behind, and a front, which entirely
concealed the face and chin from a side view, to which in order to
attract attention and sales he gave the name of the battle. Every
woman bought one, and every woman wore one, the streets were full of
them, and in the meeting houses they were in their glory. But alas,
they were fair weather bonnets, and like the feathers of a rooster,
wore a most bedraggled and flopping appearance when exposed to the
rain. The fashion was short lived, and went out like that of hoop
skirts, as rapidly as it came in, while the world still wonders what
became of them. If any one of my readers has one of these relics
of bygone days, I would be glad to have it to help my memory in
recalling the appearance of my sisters, when one day they reached
home in a drenching rain.
Of Capt. James Bartlett, the occupant of the next house west of the
Jackson house from 1801 to his death in 1840, and of Leander Lovell,
his son-in-law, the next occupant, by whose heirs it was sold in
1880, to recent owners, mention has been made in previous chapters.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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