Archive: Around Town

The Lansing Historical Association opened an exhibit Monday of 19th Century Clothing and Accessories that were worn by Lansing people.  The stunning display features wedding dresses, a maternity dress, a baby waist, swim suit and other clothing of the era, sewing tools and accessories including eye glasses, as well as photographs taken from the Lansing Historical Archive showing Lansing people in the garb of the day.

"It all started because we had this wedding dress I had heard about," says Fannie Welch, who created the exhibit.  "It was in a suitcase, and it needed work.  She had another box and I found some more stuff.  A week and a half ago I met a girl from Hershey, PA who was a native here.  I mentioned we were going to have this show, and she said, Would you like my grandmother's wedding dress?"

Her grandmother was Flora Melissa Sincerbeaux.  She wore the dress when she married Clayton Holbrook Haring in 1899.  The Harings lived at 847 Ridge Road for their entire married life.  The other was worn by Sarah Arminta Davis when she married Theodore Swayze in 1873.


Welch had to be creative about displaying clothes that were made for people who were smaller than people today.  Sincerbeaux's waist was only 22 inches, so the dress wouldn't fit today's larger dress forms.  Welch raided her cupboard to cob together a form made from a plant stand, an upside down five-quart mixing bowl for the waist, a coat hanger for a backbone, and some cardboard, some newspaper, and a coffee can weighted with BBs.

"It's worked out fine," she says.  "The dress is in great shape, and her granddaughter gave me what information she had."


The idea for the show started with a conversation Welch had with Lansing Town Historian Louise Bement.  Bement told Welch that clothes had been donated to the town archive in boxes that had never been opened.  As they foraged through the archive shelves more clothing and accessories came to light.  Welch's first suggestion was to exhibit the clothing at the Lansing Harbor Festival.

"I said we can't do this at the Harbor Festival because we don't know what the weather will be like," Bement says.  "I'll see if the Library can give us a month.  They gave us August, and Fannie just did a marvelous thing."


An accomplished seamstress, Welch took pieces home to restore them and prepare them to be exhibited.  Bement also gave Welch access to photographs in the Town archive.  She created collages of copies of the pictures that show late 19th century Lansing people in costume of their day.  She says she knew some of the people pictured, so was easily able to identify them.

The first thing you notice about the two wedding dresses is that they are brown, not white.  Welch says white was not the style at that time, but traditions around wedding dresses were similar to today's.

"They didn't go for white wedding dresses until the early 1900s," she explains.  "Around 1920 they're more prevalent.  Quite often they would wear it once, or save it for their daughter."

Welch has created many wedding dresses herself for Lansing brides, and has a lifelong passion for sewing.  She says she had a lot of fun during the six or so weeks it took to put the exhibit together.

"I love it.  I've sewn for many years, and have done many weddings," she says.  "I just got on the board of the Historical Association, and I said we should do something so that people know we're here.  We need a little exposure.  This is our first exposure I've already got thoughts for another event."

The collection will be on display in the downstairs gallery at the Lansing Community Library through August 28th.

v8i31