The Young Campaigner

Writing in Spencerian Script

By William Chapman

Over the years, handwriting styles have come and gone.  In each period of history, a different handwriting style has been taught.  In the Civil War era, the newest and most popular script was Spencerian.  It was developed in 1840 by Platt Rogers Spencer, a teacher and lover of handwriting and the English language, and soon became the standard for education in writing in the United States.  Spencerian handwriting had its heyday from about 1850 until 1894, when Austin Palmer introduced a new, simpler form of script called the Palmer Method.

Most of us today were taught the D'Nealian or Zaner-Bloser styles in school, which both vary greatly from the elegant Spencerian script of the 1800s.

Common Spencerian Hand, Ca. 1862

Spencerian Script is best learned by viewing examples from the period.

 

Gaskell's Compendium of Forms, published in 1883, gives a good set of instructions for learning good handwriting.

"Paper: Ruled foolscap is the best paper for use in practicing, and for teachers to recommend to their scholars in writing schools and business colleges.  It should be firm, and sufficiently thick to prevent shades from showing through the page."

Gaskell also puts emphasis on the importance of a good pen.  During the period, fine pointed steel pens were common.  Quill pens were also still in use for the entirity of the 19th century.  "No fine pointed steel pen will bear more than a day or two of constant service.  Change whenever the pen seems to be worn at the points.", says Gaskell.  Keep in mind that all pens of the period were dip pens, so you should have a good supply of ink and an inkwell handy.  This should be filled with india ink, if at all possible.

Good posture is extremely important when writing.  Use a desk and a good chair if you have them available.  Sit up straight and sit to the right side of the desk (If you are left handed you may want to sit on the left side).  You should hold your pen steadily in your hand between the thumb and first finger to ensure the most control of the pen.  Gaskell recommends movement of the whole arm, combined with that of the hand when writing as opposed to just writing with the fingers or hand alone.  Use of the arm allows for more beuty and grace in the writing.

On lined paper, your capitals should take up three spaces, and lower case letters should take up one.  Descenders, such as the tails of f, y, z, g, should extend down two spaces on lined paper.

The slant of your writing should be kept even all the way through.  If one d's stem is slanted right, they all should be.

There should be enough space between words to write a lower-case m, and enough between letters to keep them from being crowded, according to Gaskell. 

Shading is one of the most important elements of Spencerian writing.  It appears on any curve, or descender, as seen here:

Try copying this poem for practice with the shading.

Learning Spencerian writing takes careful study of period writing, as well as a lot of practice.  If you use the right tools and practice enough, your writing can become indistinguishable from that of the 1800's.

Redware and Brown Earthenware and its Use in the 19th Century

by William Chapman

Surely almost everyone in the living history community is familiar with the sometimes primitive, sometimes beautiful glazed pottery that has come to be known as Redware. This earth-toned pottery has been known for ages for its strength, its rich color, and its versitility. Commonly, this type of pottery is associated with the 18th century, but it has enjoyed a much longer history than that. Miriam Webster's dictionary defines redware as "earthenware pottery made of clay containing considerable iron oxide". It is this iron oxide that gives it its beautiful rust-colored appearance. Redware has been found extensively in archaeological digs all over the western hemisphere, and there is no doubt that its use was widespread. However, by the mid nineteenth century, who was using it? What was it used for? Was there any particular social class that used it more than others?

19th century redware pitcher with brown glaze.

Let's start with some background on redware. Redware is one of the oldest forms of pottery, found in Europe long before recorded history (some dating back to the 12th century BC). It is composed of one of the several major types of potter's clay, red-firing clay, which is prevalent in America. Red-firing clay, because of its high iron content, turns red when exposed to high heat. In its unglazed form, redware is also known as terra cotta, and has been used for flowerpots and tiles for hundreds of years. Redware has been in production on American soil since the 1600's. In the recent excavations at Jamestown, evidence of earthenware made in Europe as well as on-site has been dug in large quantities. Redware is glazed, just like most pottery, and certain glazes can be identified with different areas. Most glazes were clear, but a black glaze appears on English-made pottery. Elaborate artwork can be done on the pottery either by scratching the surface and glazing over it or "slip trailing", which is done by drawing designs on with a different color of clay, usually yellow.

In its mineral composition, brown earthenware is not much different from redware other than the fact that it contains less iron oxide, giving it less of a rust color.

By the dawn of the 19th century, England had moved on to producing more fashionable pearlware and china, leaving America to produce inexpensive and durable earthenware. America's elite and growing middle class bought the British-made goods, while the lower class relied on red, brown, yellow, and cream colored earthenware for their everyday needs.

Redware has turned up in the excavation of Five Points, a 19th century neighborhood in New York city, in use for common domesic items such as chamber pots, pitchers, and even piggy banks. The use of redware in a middle and lower class area such as the Points would suggest that it was definately present in 19th century daily life. Most of the Five Points redware is fairly plain, sometimes bearing pressed designs or other small decoration, but it is far simpler than the elaborate slip-trailed redware of past centuries.

Redware makes appearances in lower-class 19th century context quite often, and there is even concrete evidence of its use by civilians in the Civil War years.

This image shows an officer in camp during the war with his wife and children. On the table is some kind of white-glazed pot, while a brown or red earthenware pot sits on the ground.

From the evidence that we have today, it appears that redware was most common among the lower and middle classes. Finding it in Five Points, other archeaological sites, and period photographs all seem to point towards this conclusion. Redware was inexpensive, practical for use in the kitchen and in the field, and easily obtained by the working class.

An Examination of Five Occupational Photos

The common people in 19th Century America worked hard. Often, the way thy behaved or dressed was affected by their line of work. Tradesmen were proud of their hard work as well. That is why occupational photographs were popular with working-class Americans before the Civil War. Here is an examination of four of those photos from the Library of Congress. These images are all 1850's and they all show the common man's pride for his work.

This image shows a carpenter with his various tools. He is wearing a white work shirt with a large collar, which he wears down over a cravat or kerchief. Such work shirts were commonly worn by tradesmen in 19th Century America as a rugged, practical garment. These shirts were not worn with braces and commonly fit more loosely that regular shirts. This carpenter appears to be wearing hickory or jean cloth trowsers. A small chair sits beside him (possibly some of his work) and a plane and two chizels sxit on top of it. The carpenter wears a low-crowned straw hat with a wide band around it. He has a close-cropped beard of the style that was popular fo young and middle-aged men in the 1850's and 1860's. In his hands, he holds a hammer and a small cut nail. This man makes his profession very evident in his portrait by displaying his tools.

This daguerrotype shows a traveling salesman displaying his wares. He holds two palletes filled with books, pencils, hairbrushes, and other various items (pomade?). A small japanned conical object in the center of the lower pallette is possibly a small child's trumpet. The salesman wears a paletot coat and two straps over his shoulders for carrying his peddler's trunks. Under his coat, the salesman wears a shawl-collar vest (possibly silk) with covered buttons. Around his neck is a black cravat. His hair is parted on the right side and slicked backwards. It also appears that he is wearing a pocket watch (a small chain is visible to the left of his fourth button down). This man was probably a door to door peddler such as the one in this photograph:

This peddler is quite similar to the other one. He is very well dressed in a frock coat and has a cravat on. In this photograph, his trunks can be clearly seen with the japanning being worn off. Both salesmen are displaying their "tools of the trade", but there are some major differences between them and some other tradespeople of the time period. One thing that is very noticeable is that both salesmen are fairly well dressed, which probably means that they made a little bit better living than a common tradesman (they also needed to be well dressed for their job).

This image shows a surveyor and all of his equipment. Surveyors made good money in the 19th century for their work, partially because surveying required a great deal of education as opposed to some other occupations. Behind him is a transit on a tripod. He his holding a map and a set of calipers. He wears a dark wool sack coat and an off-white shawl collar vest underneath it. A simple black cravat is around his neck. Like other occupational photos, this man is displaying his tools with pride for his line of work.

Two teamsters and their oxen standing in front of a wooden fence or barn wall appear in this image. Both of the teamsters are wearing large smocks with pockets on the front. These garments are fairly unusual. Both are wearing oilcloth mechanic's caps and high riding boots. The one on the left holds a crop in his hand. The oxen are yoked and prepared to go. This image is fairly unusual for an occupational photo. It is large and taken outdoors. Most are taken inside and show only the torso of the subject. Obviously, these two teamsters wanted to show their oxen as well as themselves.

As different from one another as all of the trades and occupations in the 19th century were, one thing that everyone was familiar with was photography. Photography allowed tradesmen to show pride in their occupation. Today, they provide a valuable resource to researchers looking for the way a person with a specific way of life would have looked.

Civil War Era Childrens' Clothing Pt. 1, Ages 4 to 6: From Short Dresses to Knickerbocker Suits

The middle of the 19th century saw a change in the way children grew up. The common family structure began to move away from the disciplinarian patriarch-centered structure that was so common in the 18th century and started to move towards a more nurturing and modern family structure where both the mother and the father had equal input in raising the children. Children were included in family affairs, given chairs at the dinner table rather than benches or stools, and became generally more outspoken. Childrens' clothing changed too. In the centuries before the 1800's, very little importance was placed on the stages of a child's life. Children were children and that was that. When the change in parenting came about, people came to the realization that children actually matured in terms of age groups, rather than just suddenly becoming adults when they were old enough. The new importance placed on the stages of childhood led to new developments with childrens' clothing.

It used to be that, before the early 1800's, all children wore simple gowns until they reached the age of four. Then, girls were given more adult looking dresses and boys were "breeched", so to speak. Children who were over the age of four dressed like small adults. In the mid-1800's, a new system developed.

Just like before, all children (boys and girls) wore dresses until about the age of four. Rather than giving them adult clothes then, boys were given "knickerbocker suits" or simple smocks and loose pantaloons or trowsers. Girls wore short dresses with corded petticoats or no hoops at all. When boys reached the age of six or so, they were given adult-style clothing. Girls switched to adult clothing from their short dresses a little bit later than boys did, but it was still in the same general age group.

A girl in a fancy short dress and a young boy in an elaborate knickerbocker suit. (postwar tintype, ca. 1870's, artist unknown, Collection of William Chapman)

The dress of boys at the age of 4 to 6 generally had one thing in common, though it varied greatly it was generally composed of a medium-length tunic or jacket and a set of short pants underneath. Boys had one set of clothes for formal wear and another for informal wear. The knickerbocker suit was the most fashionable formal wear available at the time. Generally reserved for spectial occasions when more formal dress was required, the knickerbocker suit was a loose tunic, rather like a short dress, that was worn with a set of knee-length knickerbockers. The rest of the leg was covered with stockings. More often than not, knickerbocker suits were worn with feathered chapeau-style hats. As with much 19th century American clothing, knickerbocker suits had a heavy French influence. Gold braid and twill tape was commonly applied to these garments for decoration, much in the French zouave style. A military influence was very evident in the appearance of knickerbocker suits. Double breasted fronts with brass buttons and applied stripes that immitated the appearance of sword belts were common. These suits were sometimes worn with sashes. A type of formal jacket called a zouave jacket was also common. Zouave jackets bore a resemblance to those worn by many Zouave units during the Civil War.
For informal wear, many boys wore rather large regular shirts untucked like a tunic with no braces. Occasionally, you see one of these being worn with a belt. Small versions of adult trowsers were worn with these tunics. Some evidence shows that this was also the common garb of lower class boys.
Almost all men and boys in the 19th century wore their hair parted on one side.

Three girls in short dresses. The one on the left seems to have a small print fabric while the other two appear to have solid colors. All three are wearing necklaces and earrings. The girl in the middle has a ring on her forefinger. (medium unknown, ca. 1850's to 1860's, artist unknown, Collection of William Chapman)

Girls clothing was very similar throughout their childhood, but it did have some noticeable differences by age. Very young girls, once they graduated from their infant clothing, moved to knee length dresses. These were made of solid-colored or patterned fabric. Some had low necklines that hit at about the shoulder. In almost all examples, either bare legs, pantilettes or stockings are visible under the hemline of the dress.

A young girl (possibly a boy, but unlikely) in a white dress with a blue sash and a feathered hat. She wears black leather shoes and white stockings. Short pantilettes are visible at knee (black line is also visible at the top of left stocking. Garter?). (tintype, ca. mid-1860's to 1870's (probably post-Civil War), artist unknown, Collection of William Chapman)

Once girls reached the age of six or so, they moved to mid-calf or ankle length dresses. These, much like the knee-length dresses, were designed to facilitate freedom of movement. Hoops were seldom worn until the teenage and young adult years, so most girls either wore corded petticoats for formal occasions or did without. Informal dresses were often made of a light material such as cotton. The fabric used in informal dresses tended to be inexpensive, so small prints or solid colors were common. Formal dresses were much like adult dresses, only shortened at the hemline to about the ankle.
Most girls wore their hair parted down the middle.

The Shape of Music: The History of Shape Notes

by William Chapman
with information from "Shaping up American Music" by Christian Goodwille.

An original piece of shape note music dated 1864.

19th century America was a time and place that revolutionized music. Many new ideas about music emerged as the young nation searched for a national identity. Americans popularized the brass band and composed iconic songs of patriotism like "The Battle Cry of Freedom" and "Dixie". Composers and songwriters like Stephen Foster and Daniel Emmett wrote some of the most famous folksongs ever to come from America. American popular music slowly began to form its own identity. However, while the movement in popular music was happening, there was also a movement in secular music.

It all began in 1790 when a shopkeeper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania invented a system of so-called "shape notes" that was designed for singers. The concept was simple. Shape notes, unlike normal musical notation, were a system of musical notes in the form of triangles, ovals, rectangles, and diamonds (also occasionally half circles and other shapes). Each one of these symbols represented a different note (ie. do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti). That way, singers did not need to be able to read regular musical notation in order to sing in a choir.

Several different systems of shape notes developed over the years, but they eventually became fairly standardized. The first book of tunes written in shape notes was published in 1801 by William Little and William Smith. The first shape note books were published using the European "four note" system (ie. fa, sol, la, mi) By the 1840's other shape note hymnals had been published using a "seven note" system. The "seven note" system soon became the standard.

In 1844, Benjamin Franklin White and Elisha J. King published a hugely popular shape note book called "The Sacred Harp". Franklin and King's book set the standard for American shape note singing. Even to this day, groups like the Mount Union Sacred Harp Singers keep up the tradition of singing songs from "The Sacred Harp".

Shape note singing thrived in America's church congregations up until the early 20th Century. It was widespread in its popularity in the Civil War era. For more information on shape note music, visit fasola.org.