Sewing Notions

Copyright La Crosse County Historical Society

Peggy Derrick

Needlework skills are deeply associated with femininity in Western culture.

Just one glance at the photograph tells you that all these items were made and or used by women. Quilting bees and sewing circles are distinctly female activities, and skill with a needle and thread was once an important feminine quality.

Ironically, the image we have of a Victorian lady demurely sitting with her tatting shuttle or embroidery hoop is an image that coexisted with the increasing industrialization of textile manufacturing: as more and more fabrics and laces were actually made in factories, the notion of the “feminine arts” became more and more romanticized.

At the same time, women’s magazines of the late 19th century exhorted them to use their skills to decorate their homes with artistic handiwork because the aesthetically pleasing home would encourage their children to grow up to be better educated, and to value the arts.

Victorian women took their responsibilities to heart and covered every possible surface with doilies, crazy patchwork, embroidery, netting and any number of hand-crafted textiles.

Historians argue that 19th century needlecrafts helped women develop social networks, gave them social standing and a means to express themselves artistically, cope with grief, participate in their religion, and raise money for social and religious causes.

The sewing notions pictured here span roughly 100 years, from the early 20th century through its end.

They are mostly anonymous donations because years ago they were not deemed important enough to catalog.

I only know the provenance of the pin cushion in the upper left-hand corner because I made that myself.

Continuing clockwise from there, they consist of spools of thread and a thimble, an example of lace tatting with two celluloid tatting shuttles, a pair of “stork” embroidery scissors with a handmade case, a small sample of needlepoint on canvas, a tapestry needle and a folding ruler.

Today, everything we can possibly need, want or use can be manufactured and purchased. Yet the human need to make things with our hands is still alive, and old-time crafts are still practiced as a means of personal expression or relaxation.

Hand work may go through cycles of popularity, but it never disappears, because it still satisfies our need to beautify our surroundings, and to express ourselves through physical manipulation of materials.

When we learn and practice these old-time crafts we participate in a living tradition, and experience connections to makers in the past.

This article was originally published in the La Crosse Tribune on July 13, 2019.

Aletta's Pillbox Hat

Carole Mullen

Copyright La Crosse County Historical Society

Catalog Number: 1983.012.02

This elegant pillbox hat sewn by La Crosse milliner Aletta Werel offered its wearer the height of style in the late 1950s to 1960s.

Handcrafted of gold and silver brocade with cream veiling, it was just the thing for a woman to wear to a fancy party or wedding to make a fashion statement.

Pillbox hats were the rage at that time, especially during the Kennedy administration (1960-1963), when Jacqueline Kennedy wore them frequently.

Naturally, everyone wanted to look like the glamorous first lady. Metallic brocade was especially fashionable then, too, appearing as a part of many dressy ensembles.

Of course, hats had been important fashion accessories for women for decades. The World War II years were no exception. Most women owned several hats in different styles and with varying degrees of dressiness.

Hats were a virtual necessity for women at most social gatherings. This offered Aletta, an enterprising local milliner, the opportunity to start her own business.

Aletta Boma was born in 1899, the daughter of La Crosse grocer Sebastian Boma, and lived here her entire life. She married Matthew Werel, a World War I veteran, in 1918. Together, they had two daughters, Aletta and Dolores.

By the 1940 Census, Aletta is listed as running a hat business from her home at 826 S. 9th St. in La Crosse. Both daughters were married and living there, so they may have helped their mother in the business.

Aletta apparently did well, because the first listing for her millinery business appeared in the La Crosse City Directory in 1945.

Aletta’s Hat Shop was located at 904 S. 9th St., just a block down the street from Aletta’s house. The shop remained there until 1953, when Aletta moved to a more prominent location at 801 5th Ave. S.

Aletta’s hats were known for their quality. Each was designed and sewn by her. Her label, “Aletta, La Crosse” inside hats constituted her stamp of approval.

After her husband Matthew’s death in 1959, Aletta continued to run her hat business. She had a following in the city, as well as a good livelihood. Her hats were well known, and she was expert at making them.

The last La Crosse City Directory listing for Aletta’s Hat Shop was 1970. By then, fashions had changed to a more youthful, casual look. Women’s hats were no longer needed for almost every occasion.

Decreasing demand and ill health may have figured in Aletta’s retirement at age 71. She died a few years later in 1976, and was buried in La Crosse’s Catholic Cemetery.

Aletta’s brocade pillbox hat represents an era when hats were an essential part of women’s attire. It also showcases the career of an enterprising La Crosse woman who made her millinery talent work for her for at least thirty years.

This article was originally published in the La Crosse Tribune on July 6, 2019.

This object can be viewed in our online collections database by clicking here.

Augusta Beutler's Button Box

Copyright La Crosse County Historical Society

Amy Vach

Catalog Number: 2016.010.03

This wooden button box belonged to a successful local dressmaker. The box is under 5 inches tall, 9 inches deep and 14 inches long, with three drawers containing various sizes of bone and shell buttons stored on wire rods.

Augusta Dobe Beutler was a lifelong resident of La Crosse.

In 1909, she opened her own dressmaker’s shop, where she employed six to eight women.

Her dressmaking shop was successful and prosperous.

She was known for her skill of creating a pattern from only a rough sketch or a brief description from a customer.

Most of her business came from wealthy women of the city. Besides creating fancy dresses for special events, she would produce outfits for young women going off to college, sometimes living in their home for several weeks while working on a wardrobe.

In 1914, Augusta, or Gussie, married Arthur Beutler, a local grocer. Since she was a dressmaker, Beutler made her elegant wedding dress of organza and eyelet lace. After her marriage, Beutler’s life became one of the domestic duties: child care, cooking, cleaning, washing and ironing.

She continued with her sewing, as evidenced by this button box. For many years after her marriage, Augusta’s favorite social gathering was a sewing club at First Lutheran Church. As they worked on their sewing projects and made items for the church bazaar, the members became close friends.

Gussie Beutler’s only daughter, Elizabeth “Betty” Mittelsteadt, saved mementos of her mother, such as the button box and her wedding dress, both of which are now in the La Crosse County Historical Society’s collection. In February 1943, Betty Beutler had married Karl Mittelsteadt, who lost his life on a ship that was sunk in the Pacific Ocean during World War II that same year.

After her husband’s death, Betty returned to her family home and lived with her widowed father. Mittelsteadt remained in the family home for nearly the rest of her life, working as a teacher and playing the organ in her church.

She passed away in 2012, and her longtime neighbor and friend Mary Wente oversaw the donation of several items, including this button box.

This article was originally published in the La Crosse Tribune on June 29, 2019.

This object can be viewed in our online collections database by clicking here.