The story of my life ; or, The sunshine and shadow of seventy years / by Mary A. Livermore ... with hitherto unrecorded incidents and recollections of three years' experience as an army nurse in the great Civil War, and reminiscences of twenty-five years' experiences on the lecture platform ... to which is added six of her most popular lectures ... with portraits and one hundred and twenty engravings from designs by eminent artists ...

122

122 THE STORY OF MY LIFE.

Slippers of the flimsiest sort, without heels, and laced about
the ankle, were the orthodox foot-gear, for the street as
well as the house, except in the severest weather. Then
"11Polish boots" and moccasins knitted by women, were worn
over the thin shoes and slippers, which were of heavy yarn,
warmn and comfortable.
I was never inducted into the costume of the time, be.
cause my father forbade it. He declared that his daughters should not wear "6stays," low-necked dresses, nor "1paper-soled slippers " on the street, while he paid the bills. I
coveted the tabooed garments, and once attempted to outgeneral him. It was easy to coax my "1Aunt Mary " to
manufacture for me a pair of stays, for they were wholly
home-made, and never sold in the shops. I rejoiced in them
for a few hours. But when my father came home, his keen
eye observed my constrained movements and cramped figure, and he understood immediately to what they were due.
Calling me to his side, he took from his pocket his huge
sharp jack-knife, and cut asunder the lacings at the back,
and the straps on the shoulder, and they dropped to the
floor. Leading me to the kitchen, he thrust the offending
stays into the glowing fire with this sententious comment:
" Tell your Aunt Mary that I can burn these things just as
fast as she can make them! " I knew that he could and
would, and discreetly desisted from any further attempt to
overrule his authority in the matter of dress.
I owe it to my sensible and resolute father that I was
not injured in my youth by unhealthy dress, no matter how
much it was the fashion. Ignorant of physiology or anatomy, his good sense stood him in place of scientific knowl