February 15, 1987
By Deborah Curtis Drummy
Vigo County Historical Society
Handwarmers recall pleasant memories
I remember as a little girl wearing a gray and pink tweed chesterfield coat. I can imagine my mother, at the time of its purchase, narrowing the selection down to two or three coats and then letting me choose. I’m certain that the main reason I chose that particular coat was because it came with a matching tweed muff, pile-lined and suspended by a neck strap.
There was something very charming and fun about muffs. I recall owning others as a child. The most memorable one was made of gray rabbit fur.
The muff first appeared in Italy at the end of the 15th century, and the fashion quickly spread to France.
These first muffs were small handwarmers made of silk brocade or velvet and lined with fur. Initially carried only by women of rank, the lower classes soon began carrying imitations made of less expensive materials. At one point, in an effort to control extravagance of dress, the French king ruled that commoners could carry only black muffs--colors were the exclusive right of the upper classes. The women ignored the edict, however, and no real attempts to enforce the rule were made.
During this time it also became chic, in one of the more eccentric twists of fashion history, to carry “muff dogs”--tiny fluffy dogs transported inside muffs, their little heads poking out to receive treats and affection.
Although we generally think of muffs as feminine accessories, 17th-century England saw them being worn by both men and women. In the court of Charles II, men often had two fur muffs, one attached to each sleeve at the wrist to be pulled down over the hands or pushed back as needed. By mid-century, though, the single muff returned to favor in the fashions of both sexes in England and France. The papers of diarists Samuel Pepys mentioned that he took “his wife’s last year’s muff for my own wearing.”
In the 18th and 19th centuries, muffs, while retaining their practical purpose, took on new esthetic dimensions. Once just large enough to do the job, muffs became large, beautiful balls of fine fur, often adorned with ribbons, lace and streams of fur tails.
Another interesting fact was that muffs were worn year round, not just in winter. Warm weather muffs were made of lighter fabrics and were highly ornamented with ribbons, lace, buckles and buttons.
In America, meanwhile, much rough work was being done to build a new nation. Although it is hard to imagine muffs fitting into such a setting, they were carried by professional men, clergy and women.
By the late 19th century, however, the fashion had become chiefly feminine. Muffs became larger and barrel-shaped and the preferred materials were fox, sable and squirrel. Velvet was popular in less expensive models, and it was not unheard of to see occasional pieces made from the skins of dogs and cats.
This week’s treasure at the Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley is a muff that probably dates from the late 19th or early 20th century. It appears to be made of rabbit or squirrel fur dyed to resemble mink or sable. It is an interesting example of an attempt to imitate a more expensive model. To add to the illusion of fine fur, small heads shaped like those of minks have been attached to the muff. While it was in vogue to leave the heads on furpieces, close examination of these heads shows that they actually were fashioned by human hands.
Muffs remained quite popular in American until about 1925, when heated motorcars made them unnecessary. With today’s emphasis on exercise and action sports, it seems unlikely that the muff is headed for a great revival in the near future, although I recently spoke with a little girl who refuses to wear her gloves. She prefers to carry a muff. Perhaps she has discovered what I discovered so many years ago: muffs may not be so great while sledding or building snowmen, but in a less active, cold-weather situation, they’re somehow lots of fun.
The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.