learing from other blogers

The first post I read was Daniel’s, about firefighting.  I learned a lot about the normal characteristics of what was a fireman: Catholic, working class, and Irish.  I was also interested to find out that it was strictly voluntary and there were no standard safety precautions taken till later on.  From Eliot’s I learned about the Black Sox scandal.  I did not realize that the World Series in 1919 was fixed.  I also learned about the players, and how the scandal was handled in court etc.  On John’s blog, I really enjoyed thinking about electricity in a different way.  To know that people overtime went from taking a natural form of energy and directing it in a way that would allow life’s tasks to be simplified is increadible.

Gibson Girl: The Girl Next Door

            In our recent studies, in Mrs. Lawson’s class, we have learned about America’s commercialization and innovation in the late nineteenth century.  For my research paragraphs I have chosen Gibson Girls.  I had never heard about them before Mrs. Lawson made me go look it up, so I just assumed they were a group of women that had some significance as a club.  Actually, Gibson Girls are a series of black and white drawings of women sporting what Charles Dana Gibson, the illustrator, thought the well kept, American women should look like.

            I first learned about Charles Dana Gibson (1864-1944).  As a child, he caught an awful sickness and was in bed for a few years.  To keep his child occupied, Charles’ dad taught his son how to draw.  They say he had raw talent as an artist, and he built up his skill till he was a master.  When he was older he used his wife, Irene Langhorne, as inspiration for his new set of sketches.  After finding his inspiration, he started sketching his idea of beautiful women.  One of his first and most famous models was Camille Clifford.

            The black and whites were of women who had hour-glass figures, long, tied up hair, nice attire, and of course beautiful.  These recognizable women were on everything possible that could be sold.  They made lots of money just off of selling the face of women in America.  But, it wasn’t just the beautiful face that had everyone fooled, the meaning behind it had a lot of powerful messages that were somewhat new to the nation.

            One source says, “[The Gibson Girls personified] beauty, independence, personal fulfillment (she was depicted attending college and vying for a good mate, but she was never depicted as part of the suffrage movement), and American national prestige.” She also represented self-confidence, strength, athletic but she could still maintain her femininity, and be a role model in fashion and character for women all over.  Some say she was the Barbie of her time.  Gibson even created Gibson Man, so the perfect women could have the perfect man.  He was not as popular, though, because what he stood for was already a strong and traditional conception of American men.  This gave women the opportunity and the green light to show that they were actually good for something.

          Marketing for material thing that would help enhance women's natural beauty, in order to live up to/ with hold the Gibson Girl look, became a new revelation in American.  Manufactured goods were peaking in purchase participation.  One advertisement for Thomson's Crown Corsets says, "These corsets are superior to any others on exhibition.  We recommend them for shape, style, and quality of material, finish and general excellence, and worthy of all merit as claimed for them by the manufactures.  We recommend the Medal of SUPERIORITY."  Along with the enticing description, it also shows a sketch of what resembles the Gibson Girl wearing the corset.  This seems like a great selling technique, because everyone wants what the most popular look has/is.

            Though the Gibson Girls were very famous and were a perfect representation of the American woman, World War I came and changed ideals.  Women went from wanting to be beautiful with long, flowing dresses, to needing something less feminine such as a suit.  They focused more on the practicality of an outfit, which would allow them to fulfill any war related work tasks, with a little more ease.  Once that new tone of women’s fashion came in with the war, the Gibson Girls became an unpractical thing of the past.

           

Gibson Girl

I have three pages of written information on the Gibson Girl.  It contains what it was, importance, influence, what it portrayed etc, and information about Charles Dana Gibson.  I'm pretty much done with all my research except, not including primary sources (I need to go back through the instructions though to make sure I do have everything).  I'll be back tomorrow so maybe we can discuss what I need to catch up on

Women were excluded from the National Labor Union because male workers argued that women were used to drive down their wages and they justified their hostility by invoking the ideal of domesticity.

I know that the immigrants took a big step in coming over to this country.  They risked everything for a better life for their children.  Some of the immigrants tried to leave their culture behind and adopt the American traditions.  The ones that did continue their culture, shaped the American culture into a more well rounded and appreciative nation.  Thanks to those immigrants, the American culture became more diverse and open to accepting other nationalities.

            Growing up, my parents drilled me with information about my ancestors.  On my dad’s side of the family we just had a family reunion celebrating my great grandfather’s immigration from Holland 100 years ago.  All my great aunts and uncles dug around for pictures and artifacts that was from what they had left of their parents.  Even though I knew most of the family history, the pictures really pulled all the stories together.

 Holland Flag

Appreciation for Heritage

Growing up, my parents instilled in me a strong since of heritage. Watching this film, I was somewhat surprised at how little some know about their ancestors.  I believe knowing your roots allows an individual to be able to have a since of belonging. Knowing your family history can allow you to appreciate the hardships that immigrants took on in order to create a better life  for their kids.  Once you find out your heritage, the tradition can be practiced to obtain a greater appreciation for it.
           Learning about your past can be enlightening, but some of it is knowledge that applies to you.  Such as a medical background that can possibly save you life.  Wether it is a heart disease which is genetic or something like sickle cell enimia that is predominately found in the African American race.  The past can also give you a greater appreciation for the present.  You could be surprised at how close you came to not being here.  It could be due to an epidemic that whipped out your great-grandmother's family except for her, or something like the Holocost that created an enormous spike in the death toal. Knowing and continuing to lean about your heritage should be a very important must do in anyone's life.

Rockefeller

9-26-11
Rockefeller, after working hard for his money in the Standard Oil Company, but in 1890 he got out of the oil buisiness and dedicated his last 40 years to being a phylanthropist.  Besides the fact that he had huge amounts of money, and wanted his name to live on, there was no specific reason for him giving money.  His money allowed for the advancment in research for North America.  These scientific studies led to the descovery/ advance in knowlege of hookworms and yellow fever.  A large part of his money also went to education. [picture: hookworm]