“I Did Not See the Use of Being Uncomfortable on Thanksgiving Day”: Tight Clothes and Big Meals in 19th-Century America

"I Did Not See the Use of Being Uncomfortable on Thanksgiving Day": Tight Clothes and Big Meals in 19th-Century America

11/27/2025 10:00 AM EST

In an 1861 letter to her mother, sixteen-year-old Louisa Russell recounted a Thanksgiving feast that battled against her "considerably tight" clothing.

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