A Place for A Girl


The Carousel, Unknown

When Titania is around her parents or her governess, she has certain activities that she is expected to do, like practice her scales on the piano or work on her cross-stitch sampler. Her parents have also bought her a few dolls, and she is starting to collect different clothes for them. Titania loves to take a day trip to the museum or go to see a pantomime show. When she gets a few minutes to play outside in the courtyard with her girlfriends, they enjoy skipping rope or having tea with their dolls.

Dolls have been popular for many centuries, and the Eighteenth-Century is no different. However, during this time period, dressing the dolls became a very popular and exciting practice. French dressmakers would send their fashions to England to display on the dolls. 14 These fashions were made of luxious fabics such as velvets, sation, lace, fur, and jewels. Doll clothes were very expensive. Those who could afford to buy them might only have one or two dresses for their doll.

Also brought over from France during the Eighteenth-Century were dolls' houses, or "baby houses", as they were then called. 15 The furniture was so beautiful and ornate, that even adults played with these toys. Doll houses would contain spinning wheels, tables with silver tops, basin, candlesticks, cups and saucers, tea pots, silverware, and much more.


'Shire Hall', interior and exterior of a doll's house

Young girls of the upper-class also had the opportunity to go to many different cultural places, particularly if they lived near London. Going to the museum was very exciting for young girls, although it was quite expensive due to the high entrance fee. 16 The British Museum was a popular place to go, and children would spend the whole day there. Parents also frequently took their children to the theatre. Drama was very popular during the Eighteenth-Century, however, some parents found that particular type of theatre in appropriate for their children to see. Pantomime is another popular form of entertainment. It was designed for children, but adults enjoyed it as well. It was introduced as a comedy or classical tragedy17, and with performances lasting up to three hours, children loved it. When girls grew older, some parents saw it fit that they leave to spend a season in London, or at least attend some balls in the country. However, these girls would never be allowed anywhere unless accompanied by their governess or nurse.

While lower-class young girls had to spend time sewing and mending clothes for the family, girls like Titania had maids who took over that duty. These girls did ornamental needlework, such as samplers. There were long and narrow, sometimes measuring in only two or three inches either way, and were stitched upon canvas 273. These samplers had designs, animals, maps, or landmarks from nature. Girls might also stitch the alphabet, numbers, or a Bible verse. It is also questionable how much needlework affected the health of these young girls. It is assumed that their eyesight suffered, and they could have possibly suffered from lathargy, fainting fits, and general hysteria.18


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