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GLOVES
PAST AND PRESENT
By
WILLARD M. SMITH
NEW YORK
THE SHERWOOD PRESS, Inc.
1917
COPYRIGHT, 1917
BY WILLARD M. SMITH
All rights reserved
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PREFACE
Most men, apparently, take their gloves for granted. In these days the
little refinements of civilization are accepted among us without a
thought; but in so doing we lose a great deal of enjoyment which we
never were intended to overlook. Least of all are our gloves
commonplace. Mr. Chesterton has something to say about Tremendous
Trifles. To my mind, he might have been talking about gloves. If you
choose to think of them as trifles, then they are tremendous.
For thirty years I have devoted myself to the practical problems of the
glove industry, and my connection with one of the substantial firms of
master-merchant-glovers in the world has taught me how little gloves are
known or appreciated by the millions of persons who buy them and wear
them. The pursuit of glove lore—the historic romance of the glove—has
long since been with me a selfish recreation. Now I desire to share it,
as well as the practical knowledge, with all men and women who have
missed seizing upon the real relation which gloves bear to life.
In the work of gathering together and arranging the material in this
book, I wish to acknowledge my gratitude to Miss Marion Savage, who has
collaborated faithfully with me, and has shared in no small degree my
own enthusiasm for gloves, past and present.
WILLARD M. SMITH.
June, 1917.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. Why Gloves 1
II. Ancient History of Gloves 9
III. The Language of Gloves 18
IV. How Gloves Came to Grenoble 30
V. Glovers in the Eighteenth Century 41
VI. Gloves in Many Marts 52
VII. From Artist to Artisan 67
VIII. Annonay and Its Industry 79
IX. The Gloves We Buy 90
X. Gloves of the Hour 107
GLOVES, PAST AND PRESENT
CHAPTER I.
WHY GLOVES?
“None other symbol—the cross excepted—has so entered into the
feelings and the affections of men, or so ruled and bound
in integrity and right the transactions of life, as the
glove.”—_William S. Beck._
It is no unusual thing to meet American women who are connoisseurs of
the hand-made laces brought to this country from abroad. Laces, like
painting or sculpture, are an object of study; they have been raised to
the level of the fine arts. But how often do we come across a woman—it
matters not how intelligent she may be—who has any real standards to
guide her in the selection of gloves? Whether we have need, in a
business sense, of expert knowledge on this subject or not, nearly
everybody spends enough money yearly on this single detail of dress to
be interested to know just what he is getting. Yet, there is scarcely
any other department of merchandise with which the average person has so
hasty and superficial an acquaintance. Nor is this by any means the
layman’s own fault entirely.
Let us look for a moment at the fabrics which go into the making of
women’s suits and gowns; shoes, men’s shirts, carpets and furs: we
recognize that all these long have been a matter of public education.
Where is the woman who does not know the leading materials for coats and
dresses? She may live far from the great commercial centres, but her
women’s magazine, published in New York, Philadelphia or Chicago, brings
her descriptions by an expert, with colored, photographic reproductions,
of the fashionable novelties. As for the experienced city shopper, if
she were tested with her eyes shut, simply by touching the fabric she
could identify it in most cases and could readily distinguish between
goods of fine and inferior quality.
In the carpet department not infrequently a customer talks intelligently
of “three frame” and “six frame” Brussels, or insists upon being shown
“hand-cut” Wilton. Even the male shopper is not so indifferent in these
days as not to know the names of the several varieties of fine cottons
of which his shirts are made. He is aware of the difference between
plain woven madras and crepe madras; he may prefer cotton cheviot, and
will stipulate whether it shall be the Oxford or the “basket” weave. But
if he be really fastidious, the chances are that he will demand
“soisette.” In the last few years an amazing amount of style and
seasonal variety have been introduced into shoes and furs. The result is
that in these lines we feel obliged to be informed up to the minute.
But, while fabrics and fashions in gloves constantly are changing, how
much discrimination do most persons display in the selecting of this
equally important item of apparel?
A well-dressed woman enters the glove department of a large shop on
Fifth Avenue, New York. She may be an independent professional woman or
she may be the wife or daughter of a man of means. In either case she
should be concerned to know what value she receives for the money she
spends. She asks for mocha gloves; but finding these rather more
expensive than she had supposed, she may be persuaded to accept a sueded
sheepskin under the misnomer of mocha, which substitute—could she but
know it—is a fraud, as even the finest suedes in point of durability are
invariably inferior to, while they strikingly resemble, the Arabian
mocha. The fallacy consists in her not being educated to know that it is
the genuine mocha which she requires and for which she should be
perfectly willing to pay. The unqualified superiority of real mocha to
sueded sheepskin is worth every cent of the difference she would put
into the purchase.
On the other hand, a man has been told that the only serviceable heavy
glove for common wear is the cape glove. He insists, therefore, upon
having the genuine cape—a name originally and properly used to designate
gloves made of superior skins from the Cape district of South Africa. As
a matter of fact, the soft, pliable, widely-worn glove in various
weights, now commercially known as cape, is made from skins grown in
many lands—principally lamb, tanned and dressed by the “napa dipped”
method. In consequence of having wool hide, these skins are not so tough
as the Cape Hope goat with the hair hide. One pays less for them than
for the real cape, but, for ordinary appearance, they are a fair
substitute, and their wearing qualities undoubtedly meet the average
requirement. A practical saving of this sort the public should be taught
to appreciate.
But not for material reasons alone should gloves be given a prominent
place in the curriculum of popular “uplift.” In the most obvious sense
they are too little known, too vaguely appreciated, to be sure; and yet,
the satisfaction of being well-gloved consists in something more than
merely the delightful sensation of having one’s hands neatly, warmly and
substantially covered. We think of gloves first, no doubt, as a daily
necessity. But we also value the finer qualities as a mark of elegance.
Beautiful gloves impart the _coup de grace_ to the formal costume of
either man or woman. At the same time, clinging to this luxury, like a
perfume of old, we are dimly conscious of an aura of half-forgotten
associations, linking the glove with royalty, chivalry and romance; with
famous affairs of honor, with the pomp and ceremonial of the Church,
with countless dramatic episodes in history and literature.
How does it happen that, instinctively, we invest this trifle with so
much meaning? Can it be that we are the repository of memories of past
splendors, invoked by a familiar object which has all but lost its
symbolic and poetic significance of ancient times? Even to-day the
wearing of gloves lends to the individual a sense of dignity and
personal distinction. Like Mrs. Wilfer, of Dickens fame, our grandeur is
increased by our gloves.
In the pages which follow we shall discover that the background of our
subject is one of the richest and most picturesque we could desire to
explore. Gloves have deeply affected the lives of human beings from the
very earliest periods. They have descended to us from a remote
antiquity, and are in very fact our inherited title to nobility, for
they were bequeathed to us by the princely prelates, the kings and
over-lords of the past, whose chief insignia and most treasured badge of
honor was the glove. To comprehend all that they have brought with them
down through the centuries we must retrace a vast deal of history, and
let our imaginations play over scenes and customs far removed from our
own day.
We shall find the glove intimately bound up with the development of
social usages in every land. To solemn observances in which the glove
filled a special role, much of the impressiveness of the stately rites
of the mediæval church was due. The white linen glove on the hand of a
bishop literally represented to the people the stainless purity of the
revered palm raised in benediction. The glove itself was holy. No layman
dared to clothe his hands in the presence of the clergy. Kings and the
military, however, wore gloves with quite a different meaning. In
appearance, also, their gloves were utterly unlike those consecrated for
religious use. Of heavy leather, elaborately tooled or decorated, or the
mailed gauntlet which formed part of a warrior’s armor, they signified
authority, power, and were often conveyed from one prince to another as
an expression of hostility, or as a promise of good faith.
Princely etiquette, indeed, revolved about the glove to such a degree
that the latter became, as it were, the proxy of its master, his
embassador, the mute herald of the royal will. What a high ethical bond
and pledge of honor that leathern effigy of a ruler’s hand actually
constituted! And as the glove descended with the customs of feudal
tenure from sovereign to liege lord, and became gradually the regalia of
a growing landed aristocracy, how the manners of semi-barbarous Europe
were moulded and softened by the glove! At first we find it the jealous
device of the royal few. Then it becomes the badge of superiority among
the over-lords. Their followers receive it; and, slowly, through the
centuries, this fascinating bit of personal apparel works like leaven
until it at last is recognized as the mark of gentlefolk everywhere. It
spreads in proportion as liberty and culture are diffused among the
people. Follow the progress of the glove, and you trace the growth in
enlightenment and refinement of the nations. One of the true forerunners
of democracy—as democracy means the elevating, not the levelling, of
mankind—the glove takes its place among the civilizing forces of the
world.
No small part of the importance which attaches to the subject of these
investigations lies in the relation gloves bear to the history of modern
industry. We shall find that the position of the glove-makers among the
mediæval craftsmen was unique, and of the utmost consequence to the
industrial evolution of Europe. The life of a French city has depended
for many centuries upon the development of the glove drama. And, in
their turn, what have not the glove-makers of Grenoble meant to the
wealth and artistic prestige of France? In the annals of the world’s
trade—from the early days of barter and exchange down to the present
methods of international commerce—gloves have always been conspicuous.
The product in itself is worthy of our wonder. We may marvel at the
beautiful finish, that anything so delicate can also be so strong; we
may admire the style, the cut, the fit of the glove of to-day. And yet,
the perfection of the glove art has by no means been reached.
To the simple prototype of four fingers, thumb, palm, back and wrist,
the glove-makers of our time have added all that makes the present glove
elegant beyond any which has preceded it. Here we have, perhaps, the
most interesting article of personal apparel regardless of the wearer’s
sex. For a glove is a glove, whether it graces a woman’s slender hand or
a man’s stouter member. The same cannot be claimed for the shoe—at
least, not since the passing of the mannish girl. The high-arched,
French-heeled, parti-colored footgear which to-day is patronized by the
feminine species has little in common with the broad-built, low-last
article in which the male walks comfortably about his business. The
tradition of the glove, however, is less erratic, and equally applicable
to man or woman.
It is perfectly possible to out-countenance boredom by turning to our
simplest, our most casually accepted, possessions. Even our gloves may
kindle in us delight by their beauty, or may plunge us into the
mysteries of the past. Gloves are history. Gloves are an art. Far from
being the humble member of our wardrobe we sometimes have carelessly
supposed them to be, they are of exceedingly ancient lineage, and have
retained much of their original regal and aristocratic character. Though
once a symbol and a cult, gloves have been adapted to our Twentieth
Century needs, and the subtleties of a new age are finding expression in
the tireless multiplying of the finest gloves to suit every conceivable
occasion.
The glove which encases your hand—no matter how much a part of yourself
through daily familiarity it may seem—never can be anything but a
stranger to you and unappreciated, until you know gloves. Even the sense
of politeness and prestige which you enjoy is not enough; the glove
legend also should be yours. Not without good reason are we inspired to
live up to our gloves.