Once again, October is fancy dress ball, masquerade, and general costumed silliness month at Kickery!
While digging through the Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers website at the Library of Congress for dance references, I came across an interesting announcement of a post-Easter masquerade ball held in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1883:
Masquerade Ball.
The union depot employes [sic] give a masquerade ball at Market hall on Tuesday evening next. The remembrance of the great success of their ball last year will draw many new faces the current season. There will be a grand street parade on Tuesday afternoon, which will be led by Prince Carnival and his cavaliers. One of the features of the evening will be the awarding of the following prizes:
1. For the most graceful round dancing couple will be awarded the championship and two beautiful gold medals.
2. For the most elegantly dressed lady will be given a handsome silk plush dressing case.
3. For the most comic dressed lady will be given an elegant toilet set.
4. For the most elegantly dressed gent will be given a very rich hammered water pitcher set.
5. For the most comic dressed gent will be given a fine cut glass wine set.
6. For the best clown will be given a large cabinet mirror.
7. For the best masqued group, $10 gold piece.
8. For the most natural and complete animal masque, $5 gold piece.
The prince and princess will be appointed and are not entitled to a prize.
--- from The St. Paul Sunday Globe, Sunday Morning, April 1, 1883, p. 5, under "Social World" (original page at Chronicling America)
The timing of this ball is interesting, as it took place nine days after Easter, which was on March 25th that year, rather than before Lent like a traditional Carnival event.
More intriguing was that the ball incorporated a costume contest, which is something I don't recall seeing before, and something of a dance contest as well, with a prize for "the most graceful round dancing couple".
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Happily, the actual event was covered in the same paper a few days later. There was almost nothing about the dancing, beyond the march having been led by a couple with the lady dressed as the Goddess of Liberty, but there was a list of the prize-winning costumes, as well as brief mentions of the crowded hall and the foresight of the organizers in procuring a large enough orchestra to be heard anyway.
THE MASQUERADE.
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A Street Procession and an Evening Ball -- The Prizes.
The terrible condition of the streets curtailed the dimensions of the street parade yesterday afternoon of the union depot masquers, the prelude to their fancy dress ball, which came off at Market hall last evening. While the procession was small it drew to Third street quite a large crowd of spectators. The procession moved away from the union depot about 3:30 p. m., preceded by several mounted masquers and followed by the band in an omnibus drawn by four horses. Next came a wagon drawn by six horses containing thirteen girls dressed in white and faces masked, representing the original thirteen states of the Union, grouped about a raised platform, and presenting a very fine appearance. The trade representations were limited to two or three branches, but helped to lengthen out the procession, attract attention and advertise the ball in the evening.
AT MARKET HALL.
Along towards nine o'clock in the evening the masquers began to assemble at Market hall, and by ten or half-past that immense hall was densely packed by a gay and almost unmanageable crowd. At one time the people were so densely packed in that it was difficult to make room enough on the floor for the dancers. Fortunately the managers had taken the precaution to secure from Seibert's organization an unusually large orchestra, so that the music was strong enough to be heard clearly and distinctly in all parts of the hall notwithstanding the noise created by so many people continually moving around. The principal incident of the ball was the distribution of the prizes, as follows:
Most elegantly dressed lady -- Miss May Raymond -- "Pansy Blossom" -- dressing case. The costume worn by this lady was from Mrs. Herwagan's establishment.
The most elegantly dressed gentleman -- Roxie Kelly -- "Don Juan" -- silver water pitcher. This costume was also furnished by Mrs. Herwagan.
Lena Ludwig, clown, looking glass.
Winter group, Mr. John Towlerton, Miss Annie Towlerton, Mr. Randolph Speel, Miss Ella Towlerton, $10 in gold.
Miss Lamb, Topsy, comic lady, ivory toilet set.
E. G. Heimback, bill poster, wine set.
Ida Johnson, best lady waltzer, gold medal.
W. D. Gausden, best gentleman waltzer, gold medal.
The grand march was led by Mr. Charles Feise and Miss Quinn, the latter costumed as the Goddess of Liberty. The ball was a great success.
-- from The Saint Paul Daily Globe, Wednesday Morning, April 4, 1883, p. 4 (original page at Chronicling America)
Note that this event predates the installation of the Statue of Liberty (finally assembled and erected in 1886) in New York Harbor. so the "Goddess of Liberty" might have been in the "classical" style of a Greek goddess or something more red, white, and blue and star-spangled, but was not necessarily a version of the famous statue, though it is not impossible, since the design had been publicized and bits of it exhibited. The focus on American patriotism (both the Goddess of Liberty and the thirteen girls on the parade wagon) seems more appropriate to an Independence Day event than a post-Easter one to me.
Regarding the "most elegant" winners: "Don Juan" was a perennially popular costume for gentlemen. "Pansy blossom" could have been simply a pansy-colored gown with flower trim, but as a rental and prize-winner, I suspect it was more like one of the following descriptions (taken from an 1887 English fancy dress costume book). Perhaps the lady was even sporting a pansy-shaped headdress, as illustrated below left (click to enlarge):
PANSY. Short white dress trimmed with deep rich-coloured violet pansies, one large one forming the head-dress the petals standing well round the head, like a brim; the bodice made of dark petunia velvet, arranged to simulate the flower, the soft peach crepe de chine draped with pansies; a fan in the shape of a pansy.
Or, dress of amber-coloured soft silk, trimmed with purple bands, outlined with gold; loops of purple and amber-coloured ribbons on the top of the sleeves; head-dress in the shape of the flower; white bibbed apron, embroidered in purple; a gold basket of hearts-ease carried.
Or, dress of violet tulle and satin with profuse trimmings of the flower; wreath and shoes to correspond.
-- from Arden Holt, Fancy dresses described: or, What to wear at fancy balls, Fifth edition (1887). Online at archive.org.
Both "Don Juan" and "Pansy Blossom" were rented from a Mrs. Herwagan. An advertisement of her store from The Saint Paul Sunday Globe, Sunday Morning, March 26, 1882, p. 8 (original page at Chronicling America) is shown at left (click to enlarge).
The "most graceful round dancing couple" transmuted into "best lady waltzer" and "best gentleman waltzer", confirming that "round dance" simply meant a couple dance, not a choreographed sequence. I'm disappointed that no one seems to have won the "best animal masque"!
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A final brief mention of the event appeared in the following Sunday's paper:
Last week was the rebound. The first week after Lent was so given over to social events that the second week was quite largely devoted to getting rested. The "doings" were therefore less numerous and less attractive than the week preceding, and probably less than the week to come. A masquerade ball at Market hall Tuesday night was probably the last appearance of "Prince Carnival" until next winter. The era of strawberries and ice cream, watermelon and green corn, is now approaching and the social world will soon be agitated with the vegetable festivities appropriate to the season.
-- from The St. Paul Sunday Globe, Sunday Morning, April 8, 1883, p. 6, under "Social World"
(original page at Chronicling America)
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Awarding prizes for costumes at masquerade balls was not unique to this event. I looked back in the newspaper to see whether I could find mention of the previous year's event. I didn't have any luck, but I did find another post-Easter event in St. Paul from 1882:
Standard Club Masquerade.
The annual masque of the Standard club took place in the sumptuous hall of the society on Jackson street on last Thusday [sic] evening. As usual the appointments were rich and elegant, that affair being pronounced a decided success by all present. The costumes were picturesque, unique and elegant, and about seventy couples participated in the festivities of the evening. Dancing reigned supreme and an elegant supper was spread.
After an evening of unalloyed festivity, prizes of a $5 gold piece each were awarded as follows: Most elegant lady mask, Miss Henretta [sic] Haas, Flower Girl. Most elegant male mask, Mr. Jacob Satler, Don Juan. Best comic female mask. D. Eagle, as Barnum's Fat Woman. Best comic male mask, Mr. Joseph Michaels, as Wun Lung, a Chinaman. The prizes for the best group were awarded to a company which represented characters [f]rom the operetta of "Patience." The group was a perfect gem of beauty and elegance and was composed of the following: Miss Fannie Goodkind, Miss Emma House, Miss Jennie Heineman, Ia Berman and Will Goodkind. A special prize was awarded to Miss Alhenberger, of Stillwater, who was given the credit of wearing the best disguised mask.
-- from
The Saint Paul Sunday Globe, Sunday Morning, March 26, 1882, p. 4, under "The Social World" (original page at Chronicling America)
I'm not sure whether they were just awarding the masks alone or whether "mask" was an idiomatic reference to the entire costumed person. (Edited 10/9/2022 to add: further research shows that it meant the entire costume, not just the mask.) It's not clear to me whether at either event they were literally holding a "masquerade" (with masks) or not, though "best disguised" certainly sounds like it would require a mask.
I also wonder whether that was the same Don Juan costume from Mrs. Herwegan's as was worn in 1883!
I'm not sure I want to see every fancy dress ball I attend turn into a costume contest, but if one wanted to award a few prizes, these events at least document the practice and serve as models of how it was done in the American midwest in the 1880s.
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