Wings, 1912

Here's a costume-oriented cotillion figure from Twentieth Century Cotillion Figures, by H. Layton Walker (Two Step Publishing Company, Buffalo, New York, 1912) that is missing its dance instructions:

Wings.
These are to be about two feet long and made on wire of crepe paper, painted with gold, and as they are made in all colors, it is intended that they should match the color of the gown of each dancer and so present a perfectly harmonious ensemble.  A heavy hook is fastened where the two wings join, so that they may be attached to the end of the decolletage of the black [sic] of the bodice of each terpsichorean flower, thus prematurely precipitating these mundane possessors into their angel (so-called) possessions.  Crimped paper in every shade is made to assimilate the neck ruches of liberty silk and mousseline de soie, now so much worn, and these also make a pleasing medium of exchange of friendliness, yes, of something stronger oftimes. among those participating in the dance.  Silver and gold pencil holders are also used for this purpose, making not only an ornamental but a useful present to ladies as well as to gentlemen.  The gold ones have a jewel in the end in place of the rubber, and the silver ones have rubber.  The latter are also made with the distinctive features of the colleges and universities.  Harvard to have a crimson enameled flag bearing the letter “H,” in white as its decoration.  Yale, the flag to be in blue and white, while Princeton, the black and orange colors, etc.

There's quite a bit to unpack here: what did the wings look like?  What were the crimped-paper neck ruches?  And the pencil holders?  How was the figure danced?  

Taking these one at a time: let's first think about those wings. 

By convenient coincidence, a pair of wings from Belgium, dated c1910, that look very similar to what was described above were recently sold on an auction site.  The image at left (click to enlarge) is taken from the listing here; scroll all the way down for the original listing and more photos.  

They are 30" long, made of wired gold cord or trim surrounding some sort of translucent fabric with gold stars on it, and do in fact have the large hook at the center for fastening to a gown.  It would be easy enough to make (or have made) a bunch of these in different colors so that, hopefully, each lady could present a "harmonious ensemble".

Next, the favors: neck ruches for the ladies and silver and gold pencil holders for both ladies and gentlemen.

There were lots of different styles of neck ruche or frill in the early 1910s; the one at left is taken from the article "Ruches and Frills in Pleasing Variety for the Neck", published on page M7 of The Washington Post on May 5, 1912.  Quite a variety of frills, collars, ruches, etc. were described and illustrated, but this one looks like it would be fairly easy to do in "crimped paper" with a ribbon to hold it in place.

Silver and gold pencil holders are surprisingly easy to find online; there are entire sites devoted to their history and quite a few for sale on auction and antique sites.  Here are three examples with features similar to those described in the figure:

1. Antique 1912 Sampson Mordan & Co. London Sterling Pencil and Eraser Chatelaine Pendant, Engraved RF (sold on Etsy in 2017, here).  This pencil holder pendant is about 4 5/8" and has an eraser, visible at lower left in the left-hand picture and upper right in the right-hand picture.

 

 

 

 

 

2. Victorian Silver & Enamel British Empire Flags Propelling Pencil / Seal - Crest of Lysons, Sampson Mordan & Co c1900 (sold by Steppes Hill Farm Antiques Ltd, here).  This pencil is enameled with the flags of the British Empire, but a similar design could be used for the collegiate flags.  

 

 

 

 

3.  Antique Solid 9ct Gold Sampson Mordan Magic Propelling Pencil, 1908 (sold on Etsy in 2019, here).  This pencil has a telescoping pencil tip and a "twist action tip" to retract the pencil lead.  It doesn't have a jewel in the end, but one could be substituted for the ball that currently tops it.

 

 

 

 

The paper neck ruches are one thing, but these pencils really give some idea of how much money could be spent on cotillion favors.

Now: what to actually dance?  A mildly horrifying French figure called Les Ailes (The Wings) was published in Eugène Giraudet's Traité de la danse (Paris, c1900 edition):

Deux ailes de gaze sont épinglées aux épaules de la conductrice.  Pendant qu’elle danse avec son cavalier, deux danseurs, armés d’énormes ciseaux en carton, la suivent en cherchant à lui couper les ailes.  Celui qui y parvient danse avec la dame du cavalier conducteur.

My loose translation:

Two gauze wings are pinned to the [female] conductor's shoulders. While she dances with her gentleman, two others, armed with enormous cardboard scissors, follow her, trying to cut her wings. Whoever manages it dances with the lady of the conductor.

I don't particularly like this figure; the idea of cutting off wings bothers me.  Happily, there is no mention of scissors in Walker, so I don't think it was meant to be the same as Giraudet's figure.

A much more promising description is found in Ardern Holt's The Cotillon (London, c1895).

Wings.—Large butterfly wings, made of various coloured tinsel muslin, are distributed to the gentlemen, who fasten a pair to the back of the lady's dress they select to dance with.

The wings described in Walker's figure sound more like angel wings than butterfly wings like the ones shown at left in an image taken from Masquerades, Tableaux and Drills (New York, 1906).  But the figure seems to follow the same general concept, though there might be some conflict between the gentleman's choice of dance partner and the desired color-coordination of the wings.  I suppose gentlemen could make a point of selecting wings that match the dresses of the ladies they wish to partner.

And, finally, a note on the gift-giving, also from Holt:

Gifts.-Many figures are the occasion for giving and receiving acceptable presents, frequently of a most costly description, and they naturally add much to the gist of the Cotillon. Sometimes they are handed round in sealed packets, and this distribution of gifts is generally the final figure. Bags with numbers are sometimes handed round corresponding with those on the several packets containing the gifts provided, such as jewellery, vases, chains, scarf pins, bangles, mirrors, frames, writing desks, Japanese ornaments, bonbons, lace pins (indeed, any article of jewellery), scent bottles, bundles of cigars or cigarettes, clocks, almanacks, penwipers, &c, brought in in baskets, those destined for the ladies and gentlemen being wrapped in different coloured paper. The leader presents one to each couple, who in their turn present them to the partners they select, and of course there are many modes of giving. 

One of the most common modes is "favor and dance", meaning give a gift and then dance with that person.  I'm not sure how exactly this would work with the gentlemen also carrying wings to attach to their ladies, though.  Gifts could also be exchanged at the end of the figure.  Or, since the description of the figure is really quite badly edited ("their angel (so-called) possessions"?), the gift-giving might not really belong in there at all.

Comments

[Sandra Stevens]

I am so glad to actually see a cotillon accessory! Cotillon figures are full of unusual object, and it is sometime hard to figure out how they'd look. Thank you a lot for this article.

[Susan de Guardiola]

I suspect most cotillon accessories were ephemeral - the equivalent of cheap modern paper party products - and weren't made to last.