Carol Mercantile interior – AZ Historical Museum

19th Century Mercantiles

19TH CENTURY MERCANTILES Some of my earliest memories involve shopping trips with my mother, back in the . . . well, let’s just say it was a few decades ago. She’d make a list of all the places we had to go—the hardware store for the screws and bolts my dad needed for a project; the paint store for pink …

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The Role of Art in the Westward Expansion

Glorifying the Wilderness Experience So many things drove the westward expansion of the 1800s. The lure of a better life. Cheap land. Adventure. The railroad. Art. Art? Wait a minute. How did art drive the westward expansion? In the mid-1800s, a new wave hit the artistic community, a desire to show nature in its most glorified state. Known as the …

Undergarments for the 19th Century Lady

Luxurious fabrics. Stylish necklines and skirts with elegant swish and sway. The extravagant, Victorian ball gowns of the 1800’s. Ever wonder how those Victorian ladies achieved their extraordinary silhouettes? Layers upon layers of uncomfortable undergarments. Bestselling historical romance author Deeanne Gist commissioned professional seamstress Kelly Cochran to make Deeanne a ball gown she could wear to author events. Kelly provided Dee with an informational …