Santa Barbara-Ventura-San Luis Obispo County CA Archives History - Books .....Dress And Manners 1891
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Book Title: A Memorial And Biographical History Of The Counties Of Santa Barbara, Ventura, And San Luis Obispo

DRESS AND MANNERS.

  For fifteen or twenty years before American occupation, the general conditions
were much the same, save in a political sense, as they were for fifteen or
twenty years after that period; as the reader and the traveler of the present
day find those conditions full of picturesqueness and romance, it is desirable
to give herein some account of the manners, customs, and usages of those times.

  At this period, Santa Barbara was, next to Monterey, the most important town
in the territory. Here, as a general thing, paused en route for Monterey the
governors sent up hither from Mexico, to rest and to learn something of the
duties of their office. These and other visiting magnates usually were guests of
the de la Guerras, the Carrillos, or the Ortegas, these being the principal
families.

  Here was the center of trade for a hundred miles around, and hither tended all
roads and all riders.

  The houses were generally built in the shape of a parallelogram, sometimes of
adobe walls only, sometimes a framework of timbers, filled in with adobe. The
simplest form was a habitation of one room, with bare walls and clay floors.
Houses of the better class had a species of piazza on one or more sides. Thatch
roof were sometimes used, although tiling was the preferred material; not seldom
the rafters were crossed by rods or tules, covered with a layer of mud or of
asphaltum. Generally the door, window-frames and rafters constituted the only
wood about the structure. The walls often were whitewashed. The best of the
houses were built after the Spanish fashion around & patio or court, containing
plants and sometimes a fountain. The floors were sometimes boarded, but more
frequently were of earth. Some of the wealthier inhabitants had glass to their
windows, but a grating was the more general rule. The kitchen was apart, in a
separate shed or hut. The houses had no fire-places. In the poorer houses, the
only furniture would be a handmill or a metall for grinding corn, and a few
pieces of pottery or ironware for cooking purposes, the beds being composed of
rawhides spread on the ground, and perhaps a hammock. Sometimes there was a
table, and stools or benches. Joints of a whale's vertebrae were often used for
chairs. Some had beds of poplar, lined with leather, and fitted with pillows,
sheets, and blankets. Where there was linen, the slips were frequently used over
silk, and enriched with drawn-work. After 1824, some of the richer families had
rather handsome furniture- mirrors, bureaus, and tables inlaid with shell, etc.,
brought from Peru or China.

  Up to 1834 the chief features of men's costumes were: Short and wide breeches,
fastened at the knee above deerskin boots, made like gaiters or leggings, and
held up by gaily-embroidered garters or by bunches of ribbons; a wide and loose
waist-coat, usually blue, open at the lower part to show the silken sash,
generally crimson, or indeed, the two or three sashes with which the men often
swathed themselves; over this a blue jacket, trimmed with big metal buttons. A
silk handkerchief was knotted about the throat, another on the head; and the hat
was wide-brimmed, low-crowned, and fastened by a string or loop passing under
the chin. The hair was in a queue.

  Women of the middle class wore chemises with short sleeves, richly embroidered
and trimmed with lace, a muslin petticoat flounced and belted with scarlet,
shoes of velvet or satin, a cotton rebozo or headscarf, pearl neck- •' lace and
earrings, and the hair hanging down the back in one or two braids. Others, of
the higher class, dressed in the English style, wearing, instead of the rebozos,
rich and costly shawls of silk, satin, or Chinese crape. The skirts were so
narrow as to impede freedom of step in walking.

  When the Hijar-Padres colony arrived, they brought new fashions. The breeches
were replaced by calzoneras, a kind of trousers, whose outside seams were left
unjoined, to be closed by means of buttons and button-holes. The hair was cut
short in the back, but left quite long in the front.

The women now exchanged their narrow skirts for more ample draperies, and coiled
their braids on the crown of the head, around a comb. All women of means and
position wore hose, as it was deemed immodest to let more than the face and
hands remain uncovered.  The poorer women, and old women in general, wore no
gown over the petticoat,  and on the waist a chemise with sleeves falling below
the elbow. The neck and breast were covered by a black kerchief, of silk or
cotton, doubled cornerwise, the corner being fastened at the back, the two
points passing over the shoulders, and crossing, being fastened at the waist by
pins. The more humble women retained and wore continually the rebozo. Shoes had
points turned up at both toe and heel.

  The dress of the Barbarenos is described as having consisted of "a
broad-brimmed hat, usually black, with a gilt or figured band around the crown,
and lined with silk; a short jacket of silk or figured calico, the European
skirted body-coat never being worn; a shirt usually open at the neck; a
waistcoat, when worn, always of rich quality; the trousers wide, straight, and
long, usually of velvet, velveteen, or broadcloth; occasionally knee-breeches
are worn with white stockings; shoes of deerskin are used; they are of a dark
brown color, and being made by the Indians, are commonly much ornamented; braces
are never worn, the indispensable sash twisted around the waist serving all
their purposes; the sash is usually red, and varies in quality according to the
means of the wearer; if to this is added the never-failing cloak, the dress of
the Californian is complete. The latter article of dress, however, is a
never-failing criterion of the rank or wealth of its owner. The caballero, or
gentleman aristocrat, wears a cloak of black or dark blue broadcloth, with as
much velvet and trimming on it as it is possible to put there; from this, the
cloaks gradually descend through all grades until the primitive blanket of the
Indian is reached. The middle class wear a species of cloak very much resembling
a table-cloth, with a large hole in the center for the head to go through; this
is often as coarse as a blanket, but it is generally beautifully woven with
various colors, and has a showy appearance at a distance. There is no working
class amongst the Spaniards, the Indians doing all the hard work; thus a rich
man looks and dresses like a grandee, whilst even a miserably poor individual
has the appearance of a broken-down gentleman; it is not, therefore, by any
means uncommon to see a man with a line figure and courteous manner, dressed in
broadcloth or velvet, and mounted on a noble horse, completely covered with
trappings, who perhaps has not a real in his pocket, and may even be suffering
from absolute hunger."

  There was one feature peculiar to the women of Santa Barbara, all of whom wore
a camorra -a black silk kerchief, folded into a band about two inches wide, tied
around the forehead and into a knot under the nape of the neck.

  Wealthy women wore diamond rings, pearl or golden necklaces, and ear-hoops or
rings and other jewelry.

  At this time, almost the only means of communication between ranchos or
settlements was by horse; and no race in the world, perhaps the Bedouins not
excepted, were better riders than the Californians. Horses were constantly kept
standing saddled at the doors of stores and dwellings, and walking was a means
of progression in great disfavor, even for the shortest distances. Tailing the
bull, lasso-throwing, and many other feats of strength and skill were practiced
by the young Californians. They were great lovers of sport and amusements, and
races, dances, etc., were improvised upon the slightest inducement. The guitar
was almost the only musical instrument, although a few harps were introduced
during the last few years before American occupation.

  The arrivals of the trading ships were events among these people. The vessels
had a cabin fitted up as a shop or salesroom, and thither flocked the
housewives, to buy domestic utensils, trinkets, and fabrics, often of the very
finest, to be paid for by the head of the house in hides and tallow. As payment
on a cash basis hardly even entered into the transaction, the rancheros keeping
a running account with the traders, these latter practically had the
simple-hearted provincials at their mercy, all the more that the price of wares
was rarely asked before or at the time of purchase.

  Perhaps the most graphic description of the country and its people is that
given by Richard Henry Dana, in his "Two Years Before the Mast," which is an
account of his voyage to, and sojourn on, the coast of California, in a trading
vessel, 1836-'38. Accordingly some extracts are given.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

A MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY 
OF THE COUNTIES OF
Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura, California

Illustrated

Containing a History of this Important Section of the Pacific Coast from the
Earliest Period of its Occupancy to the Present Time, together with Glimpses of
its Prospective Future; with Profuse illustrations of its Beautiful Scenery,
Full-Page Steel Portraits of its most Eminent Men, and
Biographical Mention of  many of its Pioneers and also of Prominent Citizens of
to-day,

BY MRS. YDA ADDIS STORKE.

"A people that take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors -will
never achieve anything worthy to he remembered with pride by remote
descendants."—Macaulay.

THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY.
1891.

Barlow-Sinclair Printing Co., Chicago.


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