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Article: "REMEMBER THE MAINE, BOYS, AND THE PRICE OF THIS SUIT".(clothing and nationalism in the Spanish-American War of 1898)
- Article from:
- The Historian
- Article date:
- September 22, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Have we worked out our democracy in regard to clothes farther than in regard to anything else?
Jane Addams, "The Subtle Problems of Charity"(1)
What did dress have to do with democracy? In the late 1890s, Americans often confronted the relationship between citizenship and clothing. On the city streets immigrants wore new clothes as a self-conscious assertion of their Americanization. In newspapers, magazines, and store windows, advertisers sold everything from men's suits to women's corsets by associating them with events such as the election of President McKinley, George Washington's birthday, and the Declaration of Independence. During the ...