Flower Friday! May 29, 2020

After last week's post, you may understand why I was concerned when my yellow climbers began to bud and showed red.

No fears though, I have pretty yellow blooms!

And so do many of our cyber friends.  This week we honor our foremothers by posting flowers of yellow, purple, and white!  This week seems to be full of irises and columbine!

Barb S. shared these lovely white columbines!

I have some purple columbine in my garden:

Barb Z. shared purple and yellow irises!

White irises by Rosa!

Lorraine B. gifted me some iris tubers last year and they are a lovely shade of lilac!

And then there are Siberian irises!  Purple from Anna and John:

 White ones in my garden!

Please feel free to email (Allentownquilter@gmail.com) photos of the lovely blooms in your gardens or that you see as you walk about!

Have a safe and pleasant day!

Dining Out--The Suffrage Way!

A week ago, a nice young man in our neighborhood assured me he and his wife are doing fine during the pandemic.  He said his cooking skills have improved but he just misses the whole restaurant experience.  

Today our newspaper reported that restaurants have been cleared for "dining al fresco" or eating outdoors.

In 1912, the famed Alva Belmont funded a "Suffrage Cafeteria" in New York City.  

Alva Belmont was a multi-millionaire who later was a driving force in the National Woman's Party.  But in 1912, 5 years before the NWP, she was already a formidable proponent in the suffrage movement.  

The restaurant sported dishes and silverware with "Votes for Women" imprinted on them.

Reproduction dishes are sold now of this pattern!

There were a few ways that the suffragists marketed the cafeteria for men.  The first was that the food was good and cheap.  25 cents for lamb or beef roast (including sides) and 15 cents for stews and cheaper meals.

Another tactic was allotting space in the restaurant for men to eat amongst themselves:

An interesting article on the restaurant can be found here.

On a humorous note, I found this in the Boston Globe:

Have a good day and stay safe!

Memorial Day: 2020

In memory of our brave men and women.

Have a safe and peaceful holiday!

Flower Friday: May 22, 2020

 I knew it would be a massive job.

In  the spring of 2018, I decided to convert my front yard into a Suffrage Garden.  The challenge was to transform a 20+ year old established cottage garden and convert it to a simpler theme of yellow, white, and purple flowers.  The only lawn we have are paths around the four large borders.  Hundreds of plants needed to be transplanted.

I knew the biggest job would entail the move of the red rose bushes.  One cannot have red roses in a Suffrage Garden.  Red roses were the official flowers of the Anti-Suffragettes or "Antis" as they were often called.  

My bushes were vigorous and could grow taller than me when left unattended.  I knew I would have to allot at least a day for each bush in the spring of 2019.  The bushes were not only huge but they had developed a lot of thorns and some misshapen branches.  I along with the other gardeners in our neighborhood wondered what was wrong with the roses.

The following spring our newspaper began to report that our local rose garden had rose rosette disease, a virus that not only infects roses but is extremely contagious.  Sure enough, the red roses had the disease.  Problem solved;  I would have to dig out and remove the bushes anyway.  It was a bear of a job but I got it done.  

Happily, I transplanted flowers from the front to the back and vice-versa.  I dreamt of a garden in yellow, purple, and white and a fitting tribute to our foremothers.  I mused about a quilt design that I could call "The Suffrage Garden".  

Of course nothing is ever that easy.  

Last June, I noticed that my beautiful yellow climber rose had red buds.  It didn't seem right.  I couldn't remember if the buds always started red but maybe I had forgotten and the colors turned  as the buds opened.  The rose was at least 22 years old and had been a mainstay on the arbor my husband built.

Then I noticed there yellow buds as well.

Then the blooms happened:

Yes, yellow and red roses bloomed on the climber.

  A red rose called "Dr. Huey" is grafted to most roses; "Dr. Huey" makes the plant more vigorous.  But if the roses are attacked by disease or environmental problems, "Dr. Huey" takes over.  Eventually the plant becomes all red.  Some gardeners refer to this as a "Dr. Phoeey" takeover.  Obviously the plant was fighting off the Rose Rosette Disease and this had occurred.

I removed the climber.  It was difficult to find climbing yellow roses in June but eventually I found two, replaced the soil, and planted them on either side of the arbor.

And then,

ALL the roses in my garden (front and back) began to show red flowers...except one small pink rose bush out front.

My husband refers to this episode, as The Revenge of the Antis.  I laughed at the time but now I am beginning to wonder about the whole thing.  I mean what are the chances the roses would turn red, a pandemic would force me to put the business on hiatus, and we would get a snowfall in May?

Despite gardening challenges, some nice flowers are featured today:

Bill's amazing yellow peony!

Barb's lovely contribution!

Denise has planted lobelia and yellow zinnias!

Lilies of the valley are blooming here in the Lehigh Valley!

If you have flowers in yellow, white, or purple that you want to share with us, please email me at allentownquilter@gmail.com!

Have a safe and happy day!

Suffrage Drinks

Alice Paul toasting the passage  of the 19th!

Many of the suffragists were aligned with  the temperance movement so it may seem surprising that there was a suffrage cocktail:

Somewhere along the line, I read that there was a "Suffrage-Ade" drink served at an American hotel in London at one point.  I can't remember where I saw that now but I do know that "Suffrage-Ade" became a popular drink at the begining of the 20th century.

Some of you may be experiencing warmer weather this holiday weekend and wish to try this beverage.  I found a recipe that you might wish to try--and it's even safe for kids!

Have a great day!

Take it from the Cop!

Beth and I adore our dogs.  That suffrage beauty in the background is Beth's baby, Pepper.  Suffrage Scout is in the foreground!

Quilters have loved dog through the decades as well!  

Which leads us to this story:

Have a great day!

Fashion Week: Scaring the Fishies!

"One day an editor hesitantly called my attention to what he considered a regrettable error by a suffrage leader of one of Philadelphia's Legislative Districts.  The Suffrage Headquarters in that District had a sign-board on which the world Legislative had been abbreviated so that the sign read Such-and-Such a Leg. Districts, and this had caused derision among some of the men in the neighborhood.  With genuine gratitude, I thanked the editor...

The public of 1954 no longer considers the mention of a woman's leg improper in polite society...but in the early part of the 20th century, if it ever became absolutely necessary to refer to a woman's leg it was called a limb."
 Excerpt of a 1913 incident from Lifting the Curtain by Caroline Katzenstein .

Today's post has nothing to do with women's suffrage but I found this article by chance and thought I would share it. 

 During our program, By the Chimney No More, Beth shares a quilt she made that shows how women's fashions became more modern.  One side shows the Victorian woman--much adorned and covered up.  The other side shows the modern approach of a youthful, Gibson Girl style.  

I found an article and an example:

The headline made me laugh...

It was nothing short of scandalous!

In 1915, this was big news.  "Blushing policemen" chased "Flora MacFlimsies" off the beach:

"One piece bathing suits" were all the rage and sold in lots of stores in NYC.  The problem was that the very same swimsuits were banned from NY beaches!

The writer likened the fashion to a cross between circus costumes and a ballroom gown (gown because of the low neckline).  The short skirt was referred to as "footlight fashions."  The writer also commented that many of the women wearing the suits didn't have a figure that fared well in the new fashion.

The last suit is pretty racy!

Have a great day!

Sorry for the strange font changes on this post.  I don't know why this happens once in a while!

Flower Fridays: May 15, 2020

Welcome to Flower Friday!

In October of 1913, Emmeline Pankhurst, the head of the militant Women's Social and Political Union in Britain attempted to visit the United States.  I don't think she got the reception she had hoped for:

Although she was eventually admitted to the United States to tour, she did not receive accolades from suffrage groups in the United States.  Many suffragists felt she damaged the cause with tactics of broken windows, arson, and even bombings.  The National Association of Woman's Suffrage spoke out against her visit and even state wide groups publicized their disdain for the methods used by the WSPU.

Eventually, Pankhurst was admitted to the United States and did some speaking engagements.

There wasn't a newspaper in the country that didn't publish the WPSU activities.  Suffragists in this country did have reason to believe it damaged the credibility of the suffrage cause.

Two years later, suffragists were still trying to overcome the stigma created by the WPSU.  Wilkes-Barre suffragists held a fund raiser rummage sale and rented a small shop for the event.  In the store window, the women constructed a display that celebrated the suffrage garden, complete with a mannequin dressed in gardening clothes and surrounded by gardening tools.  "Imagine," a local newspaper reported, "(the mannequin) welding a domestic looking garden implement-- and not a bomb or a brick!"

"There is something very beautiful and exceedingly womanly in the plan of the suffrage leaders to scatter yellow flowers broadcast over the state as tokens of 'votes for women' contests now being waged," another newspaper editor wrote.

This week's round-up of flowers to celebrate our foremothers and our right to vote!

Annie sent a photo of a yellow tulip!  It's really challenging to photograph yellow flowers (I KNOW) so stop worrying about the quality!  It's the thought that counts!

Pauline sent photos of yellow zinnias from a neighbor's garden!

Karen sent these lovely blooms, I think they are candy tuft.

Denise's phlox!  A real show stopper this year!

My tulips.  They started as yellow, then opened up to white with lilac on the edge of the petals and now they are purple.  They are a truly suffrage plant!  

Tomorrow we will conclude fashion week with an interesting article I found by chance.  Have a wonderful and safe day!