Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 May 1887 — Gallic Propriety. [ARTICLE]

Gallic Propriety.

Nothing is more curious in the history of handkerchiefs than the period ■when French women were supposed to be innocent of the existence of such an article, the handkerchief then being tabooed in polite conversation, while it was beyond the daring of an actor or actress to exhibit a handherchief on the stage, however tearful the dramatic situation might be. Mlle. Duchenois was brave enough to break the rule by carrying a handkerchief in- her hand; but when the exigencies of the scene compelled an allusion to the obnoxious piece of cambric she spoke of it as a “light tissue;” and years afterward cries of indignation saluted the utterance of the awful word of De Vigne’s adaptations of Shakspeare. Josephine, the Empress, brought this to an end. She had bad teeth, and to hide them she adopted the custom of carrying a small square handkerchief, bordered with costly lace, which she was constantly raising to her lips. The ladies of the court imitated this, and the handkerchief was elevated to the important position it has ever since /maintained in the feminine toilet. After the Empress Josephine was divorced, in 1809. she retired to her beautiful seat of Malmaison, where she and her ladies worked daily embroidered handkerchiefs, which were frequently interchanged as tokens of friendship. One of white silk, embroidered in roses—the work of her own needle—she presented to the Empress of Russia.—Clothier and Furnisher.