QUILTS & FABRIC: PAST & PRESENT


Monday, October 15, 2012

Metropolitan Fair: Print Names

The scribble print is Knickerbocker Kitchen.
 
The theme of this year's Moda Civil War reproduction print is the Metropolitan Fair. I named each color after menu items in the restaurant at that 1864 event in New York City. See this post for more about color names
and this post for more about the Knickerbocker Kitchen
 


And I named each of the eight prints after another department at the fair. This little foulard looked French so I named it Girls of Normandy.

Women dressed in the traditional costume of Normandy had a refreshment stand and their puffy hats were quite an attraction.



The large stripe I named for the Floral Temple
 
Flowers and flags were the theme of the displays. The fundraising fairs, which were quite extravagant,  featured a building covered with flowers---a floral temple.
 

 
The smaller stripe is Jacob's Well, named for another refreshment stand. The women emphasized non-alcoholic beverages: lemonade and water.
 
 

The rainbow print is Old Curiosity Shop
 
The fairs were somewhat like museums showing unusual and historic items, such as relics from the Revolution, gathered in various departments including the Old Curiosity Shop, named for Dickens's popular book.
 
There were art departments with paintings and sculpture as well as curious items.
 
 
The leaf print is Wax Flowers, named for the many displays of crafts one could buy.
 
 
Donors had spent months making hats, flowers, pincushions and quilts to sell.
 
 
 
The paisley, a little bit exotic, is named Fortune Teller because there was a booth where you could have your fortune read, not by anyone too exotic, but by a charming young woman who was theatrical enough to entertain and raise a good deal of money for the cause.
 
Cartoonists made fun of the things the women would do to raise money. Here the woman on the left is planning to charge money to snip off a lock of her hair---all for the cause.
 
 

The small star print is named Spirit of the Fair after a daily newspaper published during the Metropolitan Fair and handed out to visitors.

The Great Metropolitan Fair was very well documented. Click on the cover of A Record of the Metropolitan Fair.

http://books.google.com/books/about/A_Record_of_the_Metropolitan_Fair.html?id=iTmjRNgDEV4C

And here is more:
http://archive.org/stream/spiritofthefair00macdrich/spiritofthefair00macdrich_djvu.txt

7 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for this post. I want to let you know that I posted a link to your blog in Creative Busy Bee Craft Inspirations, under the Page 1 post on Oct. 15, 2012. Thanks again.

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  2. Really liked the post and the names of the fabrics.

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  3. So interesting - love the names of each pattern. This may be your prettiest line yet!

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  4. I enjoyed your post today and why you named each print. It helps me enjoy the fabric even more and why I'm going to buy it. I like your patterns very much. Thank you.

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  5. I enjoyed learning about the fairs and how you choose names and fabrics to fit the theme. I look forward to seeing what types of quilts are made with your line.

    Debbie

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  6. Such a lovely line and now I know some more about it. It is lovely but Jacob's Well in particular calls my name!

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  7. I love this fabric line and want to buy some by the yard. Do you know when the fabric will be available by the yard?

    Thanks
    Jean

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