Vigo County Historical Society

Historical Treasure Article

Historic Treasure of the Week - April 1, 1984
By Georgia Jones
Vigo County Historical Society

Pockets for women's gowns held money, sewing needs

"Lucy Locket lost her pocket, Kitty Fisher found it. Nothing in it, nothing in it but the binding round it"

This old nursery rhyme is familiar to most of us.

What Lucy lost was not a pocketbook, but the pocket to her dress.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, women's garments did not contain pockets as we know them. Instead, pockets were separate, flat, U-shaped bags tied around their waists with attached narrow tapes.

A slit in the front allowed the woman to retrieve objects from them. Women wore these pockets under their outer skirts...the skirts had corresponding slits.

Pockets were worn singly or in pairs and when fashion demanded let women stylishly widen their hips.

When the slender Grecian-style gowns became vogue at the start of the 18th century the bulky pockets were no longer worn -- instead women carried necessities in reticules.

What was carried in pockets? From advertisements for lost pockets we know women frequently carried their rectangular pocketbooks inside their pockets, also rather trivial items of mending and knitting.

An ad in the Boston Gazette and Evening Journal for Jan. 17, 1763 read: "Lost on the 4th of January, Inst. betwixt Marblehead and Lynn, a small stript Bed-Tick Woman's Pocket, having in it Four Eighteen Pound Pieces, Three Guineas, and one yard of Black Persiar, (a thin silk used for linings).

"N.B. It is hoped this advertisement will be remembered when the snow is dissolved, as it is not unlikely the above-mentioned Pocket and Money may be undiscovered sometime."

Women made or purchased pockets in many materials. Fancy ones, the most frequent survivors, were of crewel or silk embroidery. But women also made plain pockets of simple materials or pieced scraps together in simple designs.

Another suggested use for pockets was to hang them at the head of the bed at night -- as a receptacle for watch, purse, handkerchief, etc.

The pockets at the Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley were made in 1813 in Lynchburg, VA., by Rhoda Morman Anthony, great-great -grandmother of Elizabeth Bevington of Terre Haute.

They have been pieced of two different types of material with tiny hand-sewn stitches. Each pocket has a different type of opening, perhaps designed to hold different types of items. One pocket had a cord loop -- the use unknown to us -- maybe to hold a pair of scissors attached to a ribbon? Instead of the usual tie, this pair of pockets was buttoned on.

The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St. , is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday through Friday. For more information, phone 235-9717 during open hours.