Episode 45

We discussed chapters 5 and 6 of Anne Macdonald's No Idle Hands: A Social History of American Knitting which pertain to the Civil War. And, of course, we have more sock knitting during this period in American history. The dearth of socks even inspired Albert M. Hubbard to compose "The Knitting Song: Dedicated to the Patriotic Ladies of the North," "a zesty tribute that quickly became a great favorite with choral groups at fairs and parlor sing-alongs and accounted for even further acceleration of knitting" (p. 102).

So much sock knitting, Bossy was also inspired and wrote this haiku:

Cold, bare, naked feet

American History

Never enough socks.

While the North had more resources and infrastructure thanks to the unfortunately named "United States Sanitary Commission," the women of South showed their devotion and ingenuity in other ways. Those Southern women were industrious, using every scrap of fabric (and even the umbrella frame!) they could get their hands on. Scarlet O'Hara's famous upcycling of the drawing room curtains into a dress had its roots in real events, and reminded us of the skit on the Carol Burnett Show when she appears wearing a curtain rod. And how can we not admire Lucy Nickolson Lindsay of Missouri for delivering vials of quinine and morphine hidden in the coiled locks of her hair and 22 pairs of socks tucked in the hems of her skirts to the frontline? Women on both sides sent notes to the troops in the socks and garments they made to inspire hope for better days:

Brave Sentry, on your lonely beat

May these blue stockings warm your feet

And when from wars and camps you part

May some fair knitter warm your heart."

 Quoted in Anne L. Macdonald, No Idle Hands: The Social History of American Knitting, p. 105.

Bootie is not so sure that she wants to knit socks, despite what Stephanie Pearl-McPhee says. Do check out her blog though: https://www.yarnharlot.ca/

Bossy offered some historical intrigue with the recounting of the afterlife of Napoleon's penis. Bootie discovered there's a Wikipedia page about it: Napoleon's Penis

For more information about the bog people: Bog Body