On Wednesday March 5th, 1862, two gentlemen and an “unfortunate” girl (A prostitute) were brought to Inspector Reid (The same man who investigated the Jack the Ripper murders, incidentally) in Southwark, London, under accusation of the murder of a local brothel keeper and the arson of a house in order to hide their crime. Their defense – her crinoline caught fire! Just as she was about to kiss her lover goodnight, said lover stated, suddenly her clothing was “All of a blaze” and she “screamed out”. Upon questioning, this witness agreed that there had been a fire in the grate. The unfortunate lady fled from the room with skirts ablaze, and down past a corridor which contained a room where the other two witnesses were located, engaged in such activities as could be expected. Upon hearing the commotion and throwing open the door, they witnessed the lady fall to the ground, and her lover declare that she was “Dead, quite dead”
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| Picture by G Vickers 1858 |
So, what was a crinoline? Basically, a big petticoat! As any avid watcher of costume dramas will be aware, dresses went through a multitude of changes throughout the late 1700s and early 1800s. From ridiculously wide, to very slim and narrow, and then back out again. In 1837, a young queen Victoria took to the throne and at once became an icon of fashion! She was, in fact, to remain interested in fashion until the death of her husband, Prince Albert. With her, the slim pointed waist-lines and wide skirts began to return. This fashion spread out not just to members of the gentry, but to mistresses and servants alike! In fact, one 1861 victim of a crinoline fire was a domestic servant in her late 50s, as recorded by the Cork Examiner. Initially, crinolines were made of linen and horse hair which were heavy and layered. Later, in 1856, the metal cage crinoline was first designed. This must have been a real relief, for where before the ladies were swamped in heavy skirts, now they had the freedom of a light-weight alternative. Perhaps it was this sudden change in weight which caused the rise in fires in the 1860s? Certainly, they were on the rise. In Boston, America, 1858, a newspaper reporting a death by crinoline fire stated that there had been, by that time, at least 19 crinoline fires in England over the past decade. In 1863, in the Nairnshire Telegraph, an article spoke of how, at the inquest of such a death, the coroner had beseeched ladies to speak to their laundresses about adding a “chemical preparation” to their muslin in order to render the dresses “uninflammable”, adding that the cost was such a trifle, and that it could save their lives. Sulphate of Ammonia was offered up as such an example. Quoting another article from The Times, he added that with as many crinolines as were worn by the ladies in his life, and “with as little caution as women-folk are known to show”, if the dresses were not soaked in such a solution, and a fire-guard not been installed, like they would all “by now, be burnt sacrifices”.
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| French Cartoon "The final Minutes of Madame Crinolina" - 1860 |
It can be seen also, that these fires were considered normality, rather than abnormality. In a report from the Western Mercury, a young newly-wed woman named Katherine Hackett, from east London ended her days ablaze due to her two crinolines touching the grate and coming alight as she turned to hang up her bonnet by the fireside. Katherine had been out for the day and was in the act of changing from her walking clothes to her house clothes, and had already removed coat, bonnet and overdress when her layered petticoats caught fire. Sadly, the poor lady did not survive this fire. However, before she died, she was able to give evidence as to what had happened, and there stated that twice before she’d caught her crinoline alight, but had not been hurt in these prior fires. Her husband was able to confirm this. Aside from this incident, there was the rise too in the sale of protective fireguards. Once such product was advertised under the headline “Save your wives and daughters from the fire!” in the Wiltshire gazette
So why were they so dangerous? Mainly, it was the fabric of the dresses themselves. Worn at the time were often of fine silk or muslin or stiffly starched cottons. These types of materials needed to be treated at the time to stop them being flammable. In cases such as the lady above, a single spark falling on the dress could lead almost instantly to an inferno. In the quoted Nairnshire article, an investigation found that untreated muslin “Burned up like paper” when touched to a lamp. As stated above, I do wonder, too, if the sudden change from wearing heavy skirts, to these new much lighter cages led to underestimating what they wore, leading then to mistakes in going too close to the fires.
Sources:
- DE BLAQUIERE, (1883). Precautions Against Fire. The Leisure hour: an illustrated magazine for home reading, 183-185.
- The Dundee Courier, Sepember 24th 1862, p4
- The Staffordshire Advertiser, Oct 1st 1864, p5
- The Western Morning News, Feb 8th, 1861, p2
- The Western Morning News, April 7th 1865 p.3
- The Morpeth Herald, March 2nd 1861, p.7
- The Taunton Courier, Oct 8th 1862, p.7
- The Wiltshire Gazette, XLV-2031, March 8th, 1860, p.1
- The Cork Examiner (evening edition), Nov 19th, 1861, p.4
- The Dublin Evening Mail, December 21st, 1861, p.1
- The Nairnshire Telegraph, Feb 4th, 1863.
- Matthews David, Alison, Fashion Victims: The Dangers Of Dress, 1st edn (Bloomsbury, 2015), Chapter 6
- Godfrey, S. (2010). Moving through Fashion in Nineteenth-Century France. Critical Studies, 33, 143.
- Vincent, Susan J, The Anatomy Of Fashion, 2nd edn (Oxford: Berg, 2009)