Martinsville a Pictorial History

Womanhood

Celetina Phelps - It was her magnificent flower garden that attracted the sanitarium guest strolling through town, especially Miss Alice Hegan. A Louisville novelist with an inclination for social change, Miss Hegan visited with Aunt Tiny and learned about her "denominational garden," with each flower associated with a particular religious denomination. Her novel incorporating Aunt Tin, Lovey Mary, became a popular success following its publication in 1903.
     Born September 27, 1824, Celestina Phelps died in 1912. Her love of flowers and gardening is kept alive in Martinsville, by the Denominational Garden Club, which was founded in 1937.

August 1927. The vamp was a bold woman who paid little attention to convention in either behavior of dress. The plucked eyebrows, kohl-rimmed eyes, heavily lipsticked cupid bow lips, and the shingle cut hair were indications of a young woman rejecting previous gender restraints. Emphasizing her daring and adventurousness, the vamp accentuated her new-found sexuality with cosmetics and jewelry, like this women's strand of pearls, while hiding it under cloches and slim, waistless dresses.
     The ensemble was in vouge, combining knee-length skirts, blouses, and formless jackets. The new synthetic fabric - rayon and acetate - provided a freer, flouncy movement and airy comfort. They also introduced flesh-colored stockings, which were a necessary element of the leggy vamp look.

     Before they became married women with prominent husbands, this group of close friends gathered for meetings of the "Chafing Dish Club." Primarily a social group which experimented with new recipes and shared old favorites, the members in 1905 were from left to right, Myra "Tot" King, wife of Mike P. King; Miss Maude Egbert, wife of Reginald Ford; Miss Dorothy Cunningham, daughter of C.S. Cunningham; Kate Rundell, wife of Chester W. Rundell; Daisy Grubbs, daughter of Judge G.W. Grubbs, and wife of Ira Eubank; Kate Potorff, wife of James Kelly; Mary Bain, sister of Kate Bain Branch; Barb Finney, wife of Dr. H.O. Burgett, later wife of Herman Piehl; and Ella Schnaiter, wife of Clarence Schnaiter, later wife of Charles A. Hubbard.

C. 1895. The high, stiff, lace-trimmed collar and the leg-'o-mutton sleeves overpower this woman's small face, made even smaller by the manner in which her hair is parted in the middle and drawn severely away from her face. The spectacles are barely noticeable.
     The portrait of womanhood depicted here is still nineteenth-century in perspective: somewhat restrained and confining and still inherently serious-although the decorative lace provides a hint of gaiety.

Excerpts of, “ Martinsville A Pictorial History,” republished by permission of
G. Bradley Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
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Celetina Phelps - It was her magnificent flower garden that attracted the sanitarium guest strolling through town, especially Miss Alice Hegan. A Louisville novelist with an inclination for social change, Miss Hegan visited with Aunt Tiny and learned about her "denominational garden," with each flower associated with a particular religious denomination. Her novel incorporating Aunt Tin, Lovey Mary, became a popular success following its publication in 1903. Born September 27, 1824, Celestina Phelps died in 1912. Her love of flowers and gardening is kept alive in Martinsville, by the Denominational Garden Club, which was founded in 1937.
	August 1927. The vamp was a bold woman who paid little attention to convention in either behavior of dress. The plucked eyebrows, kohl-rimmed eyes, heavily lipsticked cupid bow lips, and the shingle cut hair were indications of a young woman rejecting previous gender restraints. Emphasizing her daring and adventurousness, the vamp accentuated her new-found sexuality with cosmetics and jewelry, like this women's strand of pearls, while hiding it under cloches and slim, waistless dresses. The ensemble was in vouge, combining knee-length skirts, blouses, and formless jackets. The new synthetic fabric - rayon and acetate - provided a freer, flouncy movement and airy comfort. They also introduced flesh-colored stockings, which were a necessary element of the leggy vamp look.
Before they became married women with prominent husbands, this group of close friends gathered for meetings of the "Chafing Dish Club." Primarily a social group which experimented with new recipes and shared old favorites, the members in 1905 were from left to right, Myra "Tot" King, wife of Mike P. King; Miss Maude Egbert, wife of Reginald Ford; Miss Dorothy Cunningham, daughter of C.S. Cunningham; Kate Rundell, wife of Chester W. Rundell; Daisy Grubbs, daughter of Judge G.W. Grubbs, and wife of Ira Eubank; Kate Potorff, wife of James Kelly; Mary Bain, sister of Kate Bain Branch; Barb Finney, wife of Dr. H.O. Burgett, later wife of Herman Piehl; and Ella Schnaiter, wife of Clarence Schnaiter, later wife of Charles A. Hubbard.
	C. 1895. The high, stiff, lace-trimmed collar and the leg-'o-mutton sleeves overpower this woman's small face, made even smaller by the manner in which her hair is parted in the middle and drawn severely away from her face. The spectacles are barely noticeable. The portrait of womanhood depicted here is still nineteenth-century in perspective: somewhat restrained and confining and still inherently serious-although the decorative lace provides a hint of gaiety.