What's in a Name: Pulseheaters/Wristletts

[56spencer]

Greetings,

I'm reading the diaries of Rachel and Samuel Cormany ("The Cormany Diaries: A Northern Family in the Civil War", James C. Mohr, editor, Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, 1982) and came across the below in his and her writings and thought it might be of interest.

Rachel Cormany (Mrs. Samuel Cormany), December 31, 1864: "...after my husband left I set to work & knitt or crocheted him a pair of pulseheaters & a pair for the Col., barided and souled him a pair of slippers, crocheted him a lounging cap"

Samuel Cormany, January 3, 1865: "Lieut Barnes returns from leave. Brought me a pair of slippers, 2 prs wristletts & a fine lounging cap. Rachel's own "hooking" and making."

One possible factor in the different names for the same object (pulseheaters/wristletts) is that Rachel was originally from Canada West (now Ontario Province) and Samuel was from Chambersburg/Franklin County, Pennsylvania. This is the first time I've come across this term for what I envision as a wrister.

Also, I'm curious as to Mrs. Cormany using "Knitt or crocheted" in reference to the pulseheaters. I am under the impression that these two processes are very different from each other.

All for now,

[col90]

Re: What's in a Name: Pulseheaters/Wristletts

Greetings,

I'm reading the diaries of Rachel and Samuel Cormany ("The Cormany Diaries: A Northern Family in the Civil War", James C. Mohr, editor, Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, 1982) and came across the below in his and her writings and thought it might be of interest.

Rachel Cormany (Mrs. Samuel Cormany), December 31, 1864: "...after my husband left I set to work & knitt or crocheted him a pair of pulseheaters & a pair for the Col., barided and souled him a pair of slippers, crocheted him a lounging cap"

Samuel Cormany, January 3, 1865: "Lieut Barnes returns from leave. Brought me a pair of slippers, 2 prs wristletts & a fine lounging cap. Rachel's own "hooking" and making."

One possible factor in the different names for the same object (pulseheaters/wristletts) is that Rachel was originally from Canada West (now Ontario Province) and Samuel was from Chambersburg/Franklin County, Pennsylvania. This is the first time I've come across this term for what I envision as a wrister.

Also, I'm curious as to Mrs. Cormany using "Knitt or crocheted" in reference to the pulseheaters. I am under the impression that these two processes are very different from each other.

All for now,

Hi Kevin...That's actually the first use of "pulseheaters" I've seen also, but those are also called wristers or muffattees. I don't see that the wristlet is referring to those, since wristlets are usually something that mimics a bracelet...there are period patterns for them that mention making them from velvet ribbon, etc., so I'm seeing this as referring to two different items.

In addition, you're right..knitting and crocheting are two different things, but wristers, or muffattees, may be knitted or crocheted, and perhaps she was referring to this, although the way it is stated is a bit confusing.

Colleen

[col90]

Re: What's in a Name: Pulseheaters/Wristletts

This is an image of a wristlet from December 1860 Godey's.

And another from April 1860

Samuel Cormany, January 3, 1865: "Lieut Barnes returns from leave. Brought me a pair of slippers, 2 prs wristletts & a fine lounging cap. Rachel's own "hooking" and making."

And I"m wondering, considering what wristlets are, if he was buying them for a present....or if he was truly calling "wristers" by this name.....odd, isn't it?

Colleen

[KarinTimour]

Re: What's in a Name: Pulseheaters/Wristletts

Dear Kevin and Colleen:

Thank you for posting such wonderful quotes! I have read of people using "wristlets" but I've never seen in print the term "pulseheaters."

The Museum of the Confederacy has a pair of what were identified by the person who donated them as "purlse warmers." They are very short -- between 2.5 and 3 inches if memory serves (my notes aren't easily accessible this morning), and don't have a hole for your thumb. I think they were literally worn around your wrists, without covering your hand or being intended to cover your hand at all. I suspect they would keep a draft from zooming up your coat sleeve, or they might also be in that grouping of items like "belly bands" where people in the 19th century had health beliefs that weren't necessarily borne out by science. Belly bands were bands of usually red flannel that I think were supposed to guard against rheumatism.

Coleen, perhaps the two images you have were meant to be worn with a ladies' dress that had pagoda or more open work sleeves, so as not to crush the decorations? Or perhaps they were worn over the cuff of a dressy dress when the hall might be chilly? Come to think of it, how did they heat opera houses and large spaces in our time period? Is that the real reason we see things identified as "opera hoods" -- because you'd be sitting there in the draft for four hours listning to Mozart?

"Wristers" or "muffettees" are longer, and all have a hole for your thumb, and are meant to start at your wrist joint like a glove or mitten would. They cover your hands but allow access to your fingers, especially for men who had to work outside in the winter (soldiers, coachmen, loggers, fishermen, anyone who had to ride long distances in the winter and would need to use the surface of his fingers for reins, etc.).

And as you note, Kevin, perhaps they are just regional differences in terms referring to the same items.

When she said that she was going to "knit or crochet" the items in question, I'm wondering if they were very fast to make, and she made those first and when she was writing about it later in her diary couldn't remember whether they were knit or crochet, and she'd already packed them for shipment so couldn't check. The other items took longer, so she distinctly remembered how she'd made them. Or perhaps she only crocheted certain things, whereas others she could either knit or crochet, depending on her mood and how much yarn each took. Colleen, I think you've posted on this in the past, but when you compare crochet and knitting, doesn't knitting take more yarn to make an item about the same size?

My two cents,
Karin Timour
Period Knitting -- Socks, Sleeping Hats, Balaclavas
Warm. Durable. Documented.
Atlantic Guard Soldiers' Aid Society
Email: Ktimour@aol.com

[Silvana Siddali]

Re: What's in a Name: Pulseheaters/Wristletts

Some time ago I went through all of the knitting and crochet patterns in Godey's, Peterson's, and La Mode Illustree for the antebellum and war years, as well as a few other journals & needlework books published from the 1840s-60s. (LMI began publication in 1860.) I don't recall ever seeing a muffatee made entirely in crochet. I would think that crochet would be too inflexible. You want something that fits snugly around the wrist without needing to be buttoned or fastened. Godey's & Pete's carried many patterns for knitted muffattees that were finished off with a crochet border -- though of course those were usually meant for a lady. The ones I've seen for men were generally done entirely in knitting.

Still, there were lots of other types of patterns that combined both knitting and crochet, so maybe she knitted him a pair of wristers and finished them off with some kind of decorative border. I've certainly seen knee warmers done that way, and there's a nice knitted gentleman's neck warmer (sort of like a turtleneck sweater without the body or sleeves) that has a crochet border.

Off the top of my head I think I've counted at least a dozen patterns for muffattees in these magazines. In addition there are also the usual vague instructions in the needlework books (i.e., knit until it's the right size), almost always done in brioche stitch. Polly Steenhagen did an interesting experiment with brioche knitting that proved that it's extremely efficient for preserving warmth. This leads me to speculate that muffattees were probably fairly common accessories for both men and women.

Godey's carried this pattern for a pair of crocheted shooting mitts in 1865.

[col90]

Re: What's in a Name: Pulseheaters/Wristletts

Dear Kevin and Colleen:

The Museum of the Confederacy has a pair of what were identified by the person who donated them as "pulse warmers."

Oh how great..I'll have to ask for them when I go back in a few months to do some work there...and they sound like the shorter muffattees, since there are some patterns for those that are shorter than others.

Colleen, perhaps the two images you have were meant to be worn with a ladies' dress that had pagoda or more open work sleeves, so as not to crush the decorations? Or perhaps they were worn over the cuff of a dressy dress when the hall might be chilly?

Actually, that is exactly what they are meant for...many times the directions will mention wearing them over the cuff of a dress, or even over the "wrist", so the dress then would be open...in addition, they are sometimes worn with an evening dress, when the sleeves are short...they are a bracelet, decorative type thing...not meant to keep anything warm, but they are the only things I've seen reference as "wristLETs", as opposed to "wristERs", which we know is a more practical thing, as you note.

"Wristers" or "muffettees" are longer, and all have a hole for your thumb, and are meant to start at your wrist joint like a glove or mitten would. They cover your hands but allow access to your fingers, especially for men who had to work outside in the winter (soldiers, coachmen, loggers, fishermen, anyone who had to ride long distances in the winter and would need to use the surface of his fingers for reins, etc.).

When she said that she was going to "knit or crochet" the items in question, I'm wondering if they were very fast to make, and she made those first and when she was writing about it later in her diary couldn't remember whether they were knit or crochet, and she'd already packed them for shipment so couldn't check. The other items took longer, so she distinctly remembered how she'd made them. Or perhaps she only crocheted certain things, whereas others she could either knit or crochet, depending on her mood and how much yarn each took.

Yeah, this is the puzzling part.

Colleen, I think you've posted on this in the past, but when you compare crochet and knitting, doesn't knitting take more yarn to make an item about the same size?

Exactly, and in some cases, almost twice as much.

Colleen