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 THE PARIS GLOVE STORE 
 
 S. W. LAIRD & CO 
 
 390 MAIN STREET 
 BUFFALO 
 
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 Co/irr/o/i/,;/ ,ggj^ 
 
 OTIS U. KEAN & Co.. 
 
 Compilers and Publishers 
 
 Advertising Literature. 
 
 Buffalo. N. V. 
 
1[ntro&uctor\?. 
 
 In presenting our Brochure on fall and 
 winter gloves, it occurred to us that a few facts 
 bearing upon the historical phase of the subject 
 would not be amiss, and, though necessarily 
 brief, we trust may prove interesting to our 
 readers. 
 
 Our display of gloves for the present season 
 shows the same characteristic excellence which 
 has always been our aim, and a range of style 
 and variety calculated to meet the requirements 
 of the most exacting buyer. 
 
 We feel that in point of prices there is no 
 need to make mention, since a liberal patronage 
 is the truest indication of our policy in this 
 regard, and we can promise in the future the 
 same "sterling worth" we have given in the 
 past. 
 
 Attention is also called to our corset depart- 
 ment, in the belief, that for the lady who has 
 not yet worn the Fascia Corset there awaits a 
 real revelation, the extent of which she can 
 appreciate, onlj' when once encircled by the 
 graceful curves of this. The Oueen of all corsets. 
 
Cbe JBirtb of the ©love. 
 
 " "Cis as H sboulJ entreat 
 vou, wear vour iilovc." 
 
 -Otbello. 
 
 The first pair of gloves of which we have any record 
 was the covering of skins which Jacob wore upon his 
 hands to deceive his blind father, and it is a singular 
 fact, that these hand-coverings, then used for deception 
 and treachery, came in time to be a pledge of faith, a 
 token of fidelity all over the world. The glove is unique 
 in its universal use to symbolize good faith, from the 
 Oriental custom of giving the purchaser a glove at the 
 transfer of property, to its use as a love favor and a 
 challenge. 
 
 Some authorities say that the use of gloves as a pro- 
 tection to the hands was known to the cave-dwellers. 
 However this may be, it certainly was to the Romans 
 and Greeks. 
 
 In the Norman period we find gloves worn only by 
 men, and even then they were considered the append- 
 ages of the rich and great. They were an important 
 factor on all ceremonial occasions, and were conse- 
 quently very ornate and of rare material and workman- 
 ship, and many of them decorated with precious .stones. 
 The gloves of bishops were of silk and linen, richlj- 
 embroidered, and those of monarchs were white with 
 broad, pointed cufT. The presentation of the royal 
 gloves at the coronation ceremony is a custom which 
 still prevails, for in the records of Victoria's coronation 
 is the Duke of Norfolk's petition to present the Queen's 
 coronation gloves. 
 
 While we of to-day use gloves only as a protection 
 
 and an ornament, in the intervening centuries they had 
 
 a significance aside from this. Churchmen wore gloves 
 
 as a sign of purity ; judges, as a token of the integrity of 
 
 their office ; men pledged their honor by their gloves ; 
 
 and perhaps we may be pardoned for 
 
 saying that this custom still survives with 
 
 us, since our gloves are sold "on honor." 
 
B ■Waalhing 
 ©love. 
 
 Two-Clasp Pique (il;i 
 Two-Toned Stitchint; 
 Si.oo to Sq.oo. 
 
:-"-S. 
 
 ©cntlcman's "CClalfting 
 (Blovc. 
 
 English Cape Leather, 
 i)ne Clasp at the Wrist, 
 Oak Tan and Red Shades 
 are correct. 
 Ji.oo to $2.25. 
 
' f! 
 
 Enylisb Cape Icatbcr 
 IRiMncj ant> (loacbinci (Blove. 
 
 In Havana-Browns and Red Sli. 
 $l.oo to $2.00, 
 
®l& IRo^al ©loves. 
 
 SoiTie of the gloves worn by royal personages still 
 exist. We illustrate a glove worn by England's maiden 
 queen, Elizabeth, and a very ornate affair it is — of fine 
 white leather, profusely embroidered in gold thread, 
 and having a yellow fringe and lined with drab silk. 
 Elizabeth's hands were very beautiful, we are told, 
 the charm of which she was wont to display by the 
 repeated removal of her gloves. DuMaurier writes how 
 he had heard from his father "that, having been sent to 
 her, at every audience he had with her majesty, she 
 pulled off her gloves more than a hundred times to 
 display her hands, which, indeed, were very beautiful 
 and very white." Either the royal hands were a deal 
 larger than a lady of our time would care to possess, or 
 they knew not in those days the grace of our perfect- 
 fitting gloves, for those of Elizabeth's are as much as 
 three and one-half inches across the palm, and have a 
 thumb five inches in length, the entire glove being about 
 a half-yard. 
 
 We are told that gloves were not adopted by the 
 
 gentler sex as a class until after the Reformation. But 
 
 when once the fashion had taken hold of the feminine 
 
 mind, they made up by lavish ornamentation what they 
 
 had lost in time. Gloves of fine leather, with great 
 
 cuflfs elaborately' ornamented with exquisite embroidery 
 
 in rich and delicate silks, wrought with mar\'elous 
 
 ingenuity and skill, now became a veritable mania. 
 
 Lace-trimmed gloves were also worn ; and 
 
 a language of the glove arose, so that a 
 
 secret correspondence could be carried on 
 
 by certain knottings of the fringe. 
 
 Whatever may be said of the gloves of 
 the past, they are at least picturesque and 
 interesting, as well as varied in style. 
 

 m 
 
 B Xibcatrc an^ 
 IReccption ©love. 
 
 Hour-Button, White or Cream Glace. 
 Broad Stitching- of Black or Self-Color. 
 
 $I.OO, $T.25. $1.50, 51.75. 52.00. 
 
iPerfiimeO ©loves. 
 
 " ©loves as sweet as 
 ^ama8l3 roses." 
 -Shakespeare. 
 
 Thus did the peddler advertise his wares in 
 the days of good Queen Bess. While perfumed 
 gloves were used in both France and Spain 
 prior to this time, it was the evident partiality 
 of her dress-loving majesty that brought about a veri- 
 table perfume craze. Housewives became learned in 
 the distillation of sweet waters, and the preparation of 
 all mannerof sweet-smelling essences. Ladies vied with 
 each other in a lavish employment of scent. "All ap- 
 parel was perfumed ; hair and shoes and fans gave out 
 sweet-smelling savor, and all kinds of jewelry contained 
 cavities filled with strong essences. Perfumed gloves 
 were not the least conspicuous of these toilet accessories." 
 The ordinary method of perfuming the glove was to 
 mix the substance or odor with oil, and rub it into the 
 glove, or else to prepare a pomatum and smear it over 
 the inner surface of the glove. Spain had now become 
 famous for her embroidered and perfumed gloves, and 
 thus the preference was shown for those of Spanish 
 make, the fragrance of which was of a very enduring 
 character. 
 
 This love of luxury andultra-refinement now reached 
 an extreme pitch. As .Shakespeare says: " The very 
 winds were love-jsick with perfume." Into their bath 
 the fair ladies threw musk, amber, aloes, myrrh, cedar 
 leaves, lavender, mint, and other fragrant herbs and 
 spices — everything was made to give forth an aromatic 
 fragrance — an unbridled luxury that bid fair 
 to outdo the fair dames of Rome. 
 
 The use of perfumed gloves has never wholly 
 died out. In Prance, and even in America, 
 Russia leather gloves are worn to this day, for 
 the sake of their aromatic tpialitj'. 
 
B Semi=®rcs0 
 
 (Slovc. 
 
 Two-Clasp or Four-Butto 
 Suede or Glace Kid. 
 
 $1.00 to $2.00. 
 
Somctbing about ©auntlets. 
 
 The use of the glove as a challenge, carries us back 
 to the chivalrous days of the armoured knights and 
 ladies fair : the blare of trumpets, the neighing of steeds, 
 the ring of steel as the gauntlet is flung into the lists, 
 and the hush as it is taken up ; the lance in rest, the 
 clash of conflict — all, happily, but the romantic picture 
 of the past. 
 
 The use of the glove as a gage is very ancient, and 
 it involved the very highest point of honor. 
 
 Besides its use in the courts of chivalrj', the glove 
 was used in appeals of felony, and in civil disputes as 
 to property. If a man accused of crime took his 
 accuser's glove on the point of his svirord, and in the 
 ensuing combat came out victoriou.s, it vv^as considered 
 sufficient proof of his innocence. The same was true as 
 to disputed ownership of land. 
 
 When the .sovereign of England was crowned, it was 
 cu.stomary for a knight to appear as champion, casting 
 down the gauntlet, and challenging to mortal combat 
 any who dared gainsay the monarch's right. This 
 ceremony was in use for the last time at the coronation 
 of George IV. 
 
 When two knights rode together in combat, it would 
 often happen that one wore in his helmet a dainty glove, 
 a glove far different indeed from the steel one he had so 
 recently taken up, the favor of some fair ladj- of his 
 love, who was perhaps looking down upon him then. 
 Thus he was for a second time bound to quit himself 
 valiantly by the same token of a glove; a slight thing 
 enough, but one which has ever been bound up with 
 ideas of honor and deeds of knightlv valor. 
 
c*/ *^=*^^' 
 
 ^ 
 
 B ifullsKiegs 
 
 (Slove. 
 
 $1.50 to $4.00. 
 
Some IbiBtorical 
 (3lov>cs. 
 
 Among others of the gloves that remain 
 from those old days, is a well-worn pair made 
 of substantial leather, stitched with red and 
 gold, and with a border pinked in the wrist. 
 \'ery unpretentious, indeed, beside the hand- 
 coverings of kings and queens and gilded 
 nobles ; yet their ver^- wrinkles mean more 
 to the world than the whole of that gaudy lot ; for 
 if tradition does not misinform us, these gloves 
 were worn by England's greatest son, Shakes- 
 peare. What a world of meaning that phra.se 
 attaches to these bits of leather, still bearing the 
 imprint of the hand that penned the masterpieces of 
 our literature. 
 
 We are reminded that the bard's father was a 
 glover by trade, and we of to-day certainly have cause 
 to rejoice that the son was not enamored of his father's 
 following, for who knows but that the hand that .startled 
 the world by its touch might only have plied a modest 
 craft. 
 
 Whatever may have been the shortcomings of the 
 gloves of those days, certain it is there could be no com- 
 plaint as to variety. Old records speak of "single 
 gloves and gloves lin'd, top'd, lac'd, fringed with gold, 
 silver, silk, and fur, and gloves of velvet, satin, and 
 taffety." 
 
 The practice of wearing gloves at night to impart 
 delicacy to the skin was common, in the seventeenth 
 century, to gentlemen as well as ladies. To even 
 greater lengths did the fairer sex go towai ds beautifying 
 their complexion. It was not uncommon to wear gloves 
 lined with unguents, or to cover the face with a mask 
 plastered inside with a perfumed pomade. Some steeped 
 slices of raw veal in milk and laid them on the face. 
 " Young and tender beauties bathed in milk ; beauties 
 who were no longer young, and far from tender, bathed 
 in wine or the like." Gloves of chicken skin were 
 thought to have peculiar virtue, and were worn at night 
 to make the hands .soft and white. They were so fine in 
 texture that they could be packed in a nut-shell, and were 
 prized by cavaliers as dainty gifts for their lady-loves. 
 
When we introduced the I'ascia Corset to 
 the ladies of Buffalo, some three years since, it 
 was in direct competition with all the most 
 widely known makes. We were confident that 
 the Fascia was superior to any of these, and 
 that an article of such unqualified merit must 
 eventually win the place it so markedly de- 
 served. 
 
 The constant increase in the demand for 
 Fascia Corsets shows conclusively in what 
 regard they are now held by the ladies of 
 Buffalo. 
 
 The Fascia is a Parisian-made corset, molded 
 upon the forms of living models ; thus, in the 
 graceful flow of its lines, it reflects nature's 
 own handiwork. It is made up in French Cou- 
 tille, French Zanilla, and Figured Italian Cloth, 
 making a durable as well as a beautiful corset. 
 The whole corset is carefully and thoroughly 
 made, and only the ver}- finest quality of 
 Greenland Whalebone is used in its manufac- 
 ture. 
 
 In short, it is the crowning masterpiece of 
 the corset-maker's art. Attention is called to 
 the accompanying illustrations, which suggest 
 some of our latest models. 
 
36(acf? an^ "CUbite $5.00 jfaacia. 
 
 JSlacI; an^ XlUbitc $10.00 jfascia. 
 
TlUbitc jfascia, $7.50. 
 
 36lacft jfascia, $8.00. 
 
021 534 342 ft 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 021 534 342 A