I walked Anya this morning and again at night. In the morning it was flurrying snow, with a cold wind. It was probably colder at night, but it was still and clear, quite lovely. It was cold walking to the bus after walking the dog, and it was cold when I had to do fieldwork outside in downtown Minneapolis on Wednesday afternoon, also in the snow. It may be a mild winter, but it is still winter.
People have been living through Minnesota winters since long before nylon, before goose-down, before wool even. But the constant thread running through winter clothing is simple: we adopt other animal's protection. Whether we kill the animal an use its skin and fur, or harvest hair and feathers, the fact remains that much of our best protection from the cold is nothing more technologically advanced than borrowing other animal's warmth.
My mother remembers that after World War II, it was a great relief to have nylon return to the market. We remember nylon stockings in this regard as a precious commodity during the war, but it was also a useful part of winter coats. Petrochemical-based fibers like polyester and Gore-tex are still used widely, but as linings and for waterproof shells. When I was growing up, polyfill was the insulation in cheap jackets—the good ones were goosedown, or heavy wool. Of fur. Animal fiber.
The funny thing about looking for the history of "winter clothing" is that the source of much of our current styling is a relatively recent fad: cold-weather athletics. Mountain climbing was a new sport in the mid-nineteenth century. Alpine skiing wasn't even in the first two winter Olympics—when you see movies of people on the slopes in Babar or movies from the 1940's, it's sort of a new and stylish thing to do.
And it's that injection of the idea that being outside in the snow and cold is fun that's really changed the way we think about winter clothing. Most of us don't dress for survival, though when it gets very cold that still can be a real concern. Our clothes are about comfort and style.
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My mom writes:
ReplyDeleteFact check: Although nylon was invented in 1935, it was not in the consumer marketplace until after the war. During the war, little storefronts (probably cleaners/tailors) had signs up that they repaired runs in silk stockings invisibly. Similarly, although Bakelite was invented in 1907, the first Bakelite trays were available to the public in about 1946—and these were the first consumer plastic items I remember being available (before that trays were wood or metal). Many things, such as scraper/spatulas, now made of plastic were made of rubber, which was rationed during the war, but became much more available right afterward. I remember the trays because my father’s company, Union Carbide, made the material for them (they were brown) and I remember him bringing one home as a sample to show my mother, who was reorganizing and upgrading the kitchen in my school soon after John was born, in May 1946.
It’s hard to imagine now how different our households looked in the pre-consumer revolution days! There was much less STUFF.