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To: rwfromkansas

So sorry to correct you, but I grew up in New England where Pilgrim lore is much a part of school history. From a quick search on Ask Jeeves:

Women; Women's hair was always worn up and pulled tightly back, and worn under a coif (bonnet) or hat.

Common colors include  red, earthy greens, browns, blues, violets, and grays.  Contrary to popular myth, black and white clothing was clearly not the most common colors worn.  An examination of the probate inventories of many early Plymouth women reveal a large variety of colors.  Mary Ring, a long-time member of the Pilgrim's church in Leyden, and married to one of the more prominent members of the church, had her estate inventory taken in 1631.  She had in her possession at that time: one waistcoat "of mingled color", two violet waistcoats, three blue aprons, two white aprons, one black apron, a red petticoat, a violet petticoat, white stockings, blue stockings, and also had some red cloth, grey cloth, and blue cloth ready for sewing.  Desire (Gorham) Howland, daughter of Mayflower passenger John Howland, had a green apron, red stockings, white apron, and black cloak in her estate inventory.

Men: Whites, beiges, blacks, earthy greens, and browns were the predominant colors in men's clothing.  Contrary to popular stereotype, buckles were not worn on hats, shoes, belts, or anywhere else, nor was black the predominant color except for on Sunday or formal occasions.  From the probate inventories of Plymouth Colony, we learn that Governor William Bradford had a green gown, violet cloak, lead colored suit with silver buttons, and a red waistcoat. Elder William Brewster had green drawers, a red cap, a violet coat, and a blue suit.  And Mayflower passenger John Howland had a red waistcoat listed in his inventory.

SOURCES:

The Thanksgiving Primer, by the Plimoth Plantation Museum, 1991.

A Little Commonwealth, by John Demos, 1970. (Available in the Mayflower Web Page bookstore).

Estate Inventories of the Pilgrims, reprinted in various issues of the Mayflower Descendant as well as in Charles Simmons, Plymouth Colony Records: Wills and Inventories, 1633-1669, Picton Press, 1996.


120 posted on 05/19/2004 7:44:00 AM PDT by mondoman (si vis pacem, para bellum)
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To: mondoman

We are going to have to agree to disagree I guess; this is the area I like to research a lot.

I will concede your point that the Pilgrims did not always wear black and white, however.

But, they did not like the Puritans for their colorful clothes and "lace."


125 posted on 05/19/2004 12:13:37 PM PDT by rwfromkansas ("Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?" -- Abraham Lincoln)
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