Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair - Bed Linen & Quilts Booth - May 1864
3D red/cyan anaglyph created from stereo card, courtesy of the Missouri Historical Society - Online Collections at: mohistory.org/collections
MHS Title: “Women Working at a Bed Linen and Quilt Booth at the Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair. (U.S. Grant Sign on Back Wall).”
Date: May 1864
Photographer: J. A. Scholten (1829 – 1886)
Notes: The Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair was a fundraiser for the Western Sanitary Commission to provide for the relief of sick and wounded soldiers of the armies in the Mississippi Valley. The event was held in St. Louis, Mo., during the last couple weeks of May 1864.
Missouri, a southern border state that seceded from the Union in 1861, seems an unlikely venue for such an event, but Union forces occupied the state throughout the war, and the Fair turned out to be a big success, raising about $550,00.
Below are newspaper accounts that provide general information on the Fair, and specific information on the Bed Linen and Quilts booth (the side booth is pictured here, not the main one), the policy on admission of black attendees, the special building erected just for the “stereopticon,” and an article to illustrate that donations came from other states besides Missouri.
-------------------------------
MISSISSIPPI VALLEY SANITARY FAIR
CIRCULAR
St. Louis, Mo., February 5, 1864.
“This Fair will be held in the city of St. Louis, Mo., on Tuesday, the 17th day of May next, to continue two or more weeks. Its object is to raise a sufficient fund for the sanitary uses of the armies in the Mississippi Valley, and for relief of their sick and wounded, under the general direction of the Western Sanitary Commission, whose headquarters are at Saint Louis. This Commission acts by direct authority from the Secretary of War, and enjoys all the rights and privileges which can properly be extended to such an organization. It is under the regulation of the Medical Department, and in connection with it; and, by special orders of Major General U. S. Grant, and of Assistant Surgeon General, Colonel R. C. Wood, it is recognized throughout the Western Department on equal terms with the U. S. Sanitary Commission, whose headquarters are at Washington…. it has aided in the care of the sick in every campaign and of the wounded from every battle-field from Wilson's Creek to Port Hudson, from Pea Ridge to Chattanooga…”
----------------------------------
The Daily Countersign
Published by the Ladies' Executive Committee for the Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair
St. Louis, May 20, 1864.
"The Department of Bed Linen and Quilts has, prominent among its decorations, a portrait of the soldier who "knew well how to die, but never to surrender," the lamented of the whole country — General Lyon — by which it might be distinguished. It purports to contain only quilts and bed linen, but shows a very fine assortment of sofa pillows and afghans, which would seem more properly to belong" to the Fancy Goods Department. They are very elegant, of different patterns, dark and light, large and small. This department occupies two tables, one central and one at the side; and the central one contains perhaps the most showy of its articles. The most noticeable is a heavy silk quilt, made entirely of the national colors, beautifully combined, and corded heavily with scarlet, finished at the corners by tassels. We understand no definite price has yet been fixed upon it, but it will be raffled for before the close of the Fair, so those who desire it would do well to secure their chance. There is also a large woolen quilt, of the hexagon pattern, which is entered for the premium, and will also be raffled for, unless disposed of previously. Here one can certainly find quilts and bed spreads of all kinds — silk, cotton and woolen — for large beds, cribs and cradles, plain or highly ornamented. We cannot refrain from calling attention to one large knit spread. It is of white cotton, and beautifully knit. The one which bears a cat rampant, and must have cost much labor, will speak for itself. This is the place for the house-keeper who finds her pillow-cases "giving out" to supply herself for a long time to come. She can have her choice of cotton or linen, plain or embroidered, and of all styles and shapes. She cannot have, however, the elegantly embroidered set which may be found at the central table, for it is already sold."
------------------------------
The Daily Countersign
Published by the Ladies' Executive Committee for the Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair
St. Louis, May 21, 1864.
"We trust that no one visiting either the city or the Fair will fail to go and see the Stereopticon, as without exception it is far more beautiful as a work of art than anything of the kind ever exhibited in this country, showing in wonderful perfection the success of the photographic art. Its views of statuary and sculpture embraces more than could be seen in months of travel in the old world. Any one visiting it, will not fail to go again. Open each day at 11 A. M., 3 P. M, and 8 P. M."
------------
May 23, 1864 edition
“The Stereopticon, one of the most wonderful achievements of modern science, is to be seen in the large building on Olive street, west of the main entrance, at 3, 8, and 8 9 ½ P. M. This immense building was erected by the Sanitary Committee, expressly for this modern wonder. Admission 25 cents.”
[I can’t recall the source, but I read somewhere that this building held 1,000 people. I don't think it was a 3D show, per se, but more of a slide show, shown on a large screen in a movie theater like setting. –PT.]
See a Stereopticon illustration at this link: digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A1...
See projectors at this link: www.magiclantern.org.uk/lanterns/biunial-lanterns.php
See Wikipedia article on Stereopticon at this link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereopticon
-----------------------------
Chicago Tribune
Monday, May 23, 1864.
From St. Louis.
The Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair.
“From Our Special Correspondent. St. Louis, May 18, 1864. To commence a letter from this city to-day with- out immediate allusion to the great Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair, would be to ignore an object upon which our citizens have in common with those of other places on similar occasions gone mad. “Fair on the brain” is the prevailing malady. The Fair was inaugurated yesterday by a magnificent procession, of which Maj. General Pleasanton was the Grand Marshall….Thousands of Illinoians are in town and they flocked to Washington Square, and stood for hours in the melting sun in hope of seeing Gov. Yates and hearing him speak. General Rosecrans made a few remarks, and the crowd was enthusiastic. All the stores were closed, and the city; never looked finer in the profusion of flags and bunting everywhere displayed.
To-day the Fair building was thrown open to the public, and it is simple justice to say that the quantity of things on exhibition, and the magnificence and completeness of all the decorations and preparations surpasses anything previously attempted in the Sanitary Fair line. With the experience and error of all its predecessors in view, the managers have succeeded in producing an exhibition which will long be remembered as the superlative of the beautiful. Financially, the Fair will probably surpass that of Brooklyn and only fall behind New York, which must be regarded as an extraordinary attainment for a city of a mixed population like St. Louis, where the rebel ladies are still outspoken in their sympathies with Jeff Davis and whose people have moreover suffered largely from the war besides having given generously in times past for the same cause. It is a wonder to those engaged in the business that the Fair is so successfully started. Many ladies in soliciting donations of refreshments and assistance in work on streets, or in blocks assigned to the committee, were openly insulted by secession remarks and frowned at as if they and not the soldiers were the recipients of such contributions. But some secessionists who want to be thought loyal at least have given their time and money (on compulsion as it seems) to save their credit, and thus the rebel families have some honor left, though these gifts do not amount to a tithe of the sum expended by the Union ladies of St. Louis for the sick and wounded rebels in our hospitals.”
----------------------------------
Chicago Tribune
Saturday, June 4, 1864
"Mr. F. T. L. Boyle.
St. Louis, Mo., [month omitted] 27, 1864.
Executive Committee Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair:
Gentlemen: Understanding that it is your determination to continue the admission of negroes on an equality with whites, rendering it possible that white ladies may be subject to the insult of being called on to serve these negroes. I, while such counsels prevail among you, decline longer to serve even for the good object in view, and here-with now tender my resignation. FERDINAND T. L. BOYLE,
The only comment we care to make on the above is, that Mr. Boyle, a few months ago, was an earnest applicant in this city for the command of a regiment or brigade of negro troops! —Missouri Democrat."
-------------------------------------
The Evening News
Gold Hill, Nevada Territory
Wednesday Evening, April 27, 1864
NEVADA'S CONTRIBUTION.
"The people of this Territory have responded very cheerfully to the call made upon them by the managers of the Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair, more than fifteen thousand dollars' worth of silver bars having been purchased for that purpose. Of this amount the town of Gold Hill furnishes nearly five thousand dollars. The following dispatch was sent over the wires this morning:
General Rosecrans, President at Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair, St. Louis, Mo.
We hear the echo of your appeal. Nevada Territory will send over fifteen thousand dollars in gold and silver bars for the Mississippi Valley Fair. ALMARIN B. PAUL, President Storey County Sanitary Assn.
These massive bars of glittering bullion will be an unwonted and astonishing sight to thousands at the great Fair, and will give them an exalted idea of the wealth, liberality and patriotism of this remote Territory."
-----------------------------
Red/Cyan (not red/blue) glasses of the proper density must be used to view 3D effect without ghosting. Anaglyph prepared using red cyan glasses from The Center For Civil War Photography / American Battlefield Trust. CCWP Link: www.civilwarphotography.org/
Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair - Bed Linen & Quilts Booth - May 1864
3D red/cyan anaglyph created from stereo card, courtesy of the Missouri Historical Society - Online Collections at: mohistory.org/collections
MHS Title: “Women Working at a Bed Linen and Quilt Booth at the Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair. (U.S. Grant Sign on Back Wall).”
Date: May 1864
Photographer: J. A. Scholten (1829 – 1886)
Notes: The Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair was a fundraiser for the Western Sanitary Commission to provide for the relief of sick and wounded soldiers of the armies in the Mississippi Valley. The event was held in St. Louis, Mo., during the last couple weeks of May 1864.
Missouri, a southern border state that seceded from the Union in 1861, seems an unlikely venue for such an event, but Union forces occupied the state throughout the war, and the Fair turned out to be a big success, raising about $550,00.
Below are newspaper accounts that provide general information on the Fair, and specific information on the Bed Linen and Quilts booth (the side booth is pictured here, not the main one), the policy on admission of black attendees, the special building erected just for the “stereopticon,” and an article to illustrate that donations came from other states besides Missouri.
-------------------------------
MISSISSIPPI VALLEY SANITARY FAIR
CIRCULAR
St. Louis, Mo., February 5, 1864.
“This Fair will be held in the city of St. Louis, Mo., on Tuesday, the 17th day of May next, to continue two or more weeks. Its object is to raise a sufficient fund for the sanitary uses of the armies in the Mississippi Valley, and for relief of their sick and wounded, under the general direction of the Western Sanitary Commission, whose headquarters are at Saint Louis. This Commission acts by direct authority from the Secretary of War, and enjoys all the rights and privileges which can properly be extended to such an organization. It is under the regulation of the Medical Department, and in connection with it; and, by special orders of Major General U. S. Grant, and of Assistant Surgeon General, Colonel R. C. Wood, it is recognized throughout the Western Department on equal terms with the U. S. Sanitary Commission, whose headquarters are at Washington…. it has aided in the care of the sick in every campaign and of the wounded from every battle-field from Wilson's Creek to Port Hudson, from Pea Ridge to Chattanooga…”
----------------------------------
The Daily Countersign
Published by the Ladies' Executive Committee for the Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair
St. Louis, May 20, 1864.
"The Department of Bed Linen and Quilts has, prominent among its decorations, a portrait of the soldier who "knew well how to die, but never to surrender," the lamented of the whole country — General Lyon — by which it might be distinguished. It purports to contain only quilts and bed linen, but shows a very fine assortment of sofa pillows and afghans, which would seem more properly to belong" to the Fancy Goods Department. They are very elegant, of different patterns, dark and light, large and small. This department occupies two tables, one central and one at the side; and the central one contains perhaps the most showy of its articles. The most noticeable is a heavy silk quilt, made entirely of the national colors, beautifully combined, and corded heavily with scarlet, finished at the corners by tassels. We understand no definite price has yet been fixed upon it, but it will be raffled for before the close of the Fair, so those who desire it would do well to secure their chance. There is also a large woolen quilt, of the hexagon pattern, which is entered for the premium, and will also be raffled for, unless disposed of previously. Here one can certainly find quilts and bed spreads of all kinds — silk, cotton and woolen — for large beds, cribs and cradles, plain or highly ornamented. We cannot refrain from calling attention to one large knit spread. It is of white cotton, and beautifully knit. The one which bears a cat rampant, and must have cost much labor, will speak for itself. This is the place for the house-keeper who finds her pillow-cases "giving out" to supply herself for a long time to come. She can have her choice of cotton or linen, plain or embroidered, and of all styles and shapes. She cannot have, however, the elegantly embroidered set which may be found at the central table, for it is already sold."
------------------------------
The Daily Countersign
Published by the Ladies' Executive Committee for the Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair
St. Louis, May 21, 1864.
"We trust that no one visiting either the city or the Fair will fail to go and see the Stereopticon, as without exception it is far more beautiful as a work of art than anything of the kind ever exhibited in this country, showing in wonderful perfection the success of the photographic art. Its views of statuary and sculpture embraces more than could be seen in months of travel in the old world. Any one visiting it, will not fail to go again. Open each day at 11 A. M., 3 P. M, and 8 P. M."
------------
May 23, 1864 edition
“The Stereopticon, one of the most wonderful achievements of modern science, is to be seen in the large building on Olive street, west of the main entrance, at 3, 8, and 8 9 ½ P. M. This immense building was erected by the Sanitary Committee, expressly for this modern wonder. Admission 25 cents.”
[I can’t recall the source, but I read somewhere that this building held 1,000 people. I don't think it was a 3D show, per se, but more of a slide show, shown on a large screen in a movie theater like setting. –PT.]
See a Stereopticon illustration at this link: digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A1...
See projectors at this link: www.magiclantern.org.uk/lanterns/biunial-lanterns.php
See Wikipedia article on Stereopticon at this link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereopticon
-----------------------------
Chicago Tribune
Monday, May 23, 1864.
From St. Louis.
The Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair.
“From Our Special Correspondent. St. Louis, May 18, 1864. To commence a letter from this city to-day with- out immediate allusion to the great Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair, would be to ignore an object upon which our citizens have in common with those of other places on similar occasions gone mad. “Fair on the brain” is the prevailing malady. The Fair was inaugurated yesterday by a magnificent procession, of which Maj. General Pleasanton was the Grand Marshall….Thousands of Illinoians are in town and they flocked to Washington Square, and stood for hours in the melting sun in hope of seeing Gov. Yates and hearing him speak. General Rosecrans made a few remarks, and the crowd was enthusiastic. All the stores were closed, and the city; never looked finer in the profusion of flags and bunting everywhere displayed.
To-day the Fair building was thrown open to the public, and it is simple justice to say that the quantity of things on exhibition, and the magnificence and completeness of all the decorations and preparations surpasses anything previously attempted in the Sanitary Fair line. With the experience and error of all its predecessors in view, the managers have succeeded in producing an exhibition which will long be remembered as the superlative of the beautiful. Financially, the Fair will probably surpass that of Brooklyn and only fall behind New York, which must be regarded as an extraordinary attainment for a city of a mixed population like St. Louis, where the rebel ladies are still outspoken in their sympathies with Jeff Davis and whose people have moreover suffered largely from the war besides having given generously in times past for the same cause. It is a wonder to those engaged in the business that the Fair is so successfully started. Many ladies in soliciting donations of refreshments and assistance in work on streets, or in blocks assigned to the committee, were openly insulted by secession remarks and frowned at as if they and not the soldiers were the recipients of such contributions. But some secessionists who want to be thought loyal at least have given their time and money (on compulsion as it seems) to save their credit, and thus the rebel families have some honor left, though these gifts do not amount to a tithe of the sum expended by the Union ladies of St. Louis for the sick and wounded rebels in our hospitals.”
----------------------------------
Chicago Tribune
Saturday, June 4, 1864
"Mr. F. T. L. Boyle.
St. Louis, Mo., [month omitted] 27, 1864.
Executive Committee Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair:
Gentlemen: Understanding that it is your determination to continue the admission of negroes on an equality with whites, rendering it possible that white ladies may be subject to the insult of being called on to serve these negroes. I, while such counsels prevail among you, decline longer to serve even for the good object in view, and here-with now tender my resignation. FERDINAND T. L. BOYLE,
The only comment we care to make on the above is, that Mr. Boyle, a few months ago, was an earnest applicant in this city for the command of a regiment or brigade of negro troops! —Missouri Democrat."
-------------------------------------
The Evening News
Gold Hill, Nevada Territory
Wednesday Evening, April 27, 1864
NEVADA'S CONTRIBUTION.
"The people of this Territory have responded very cheerfully to the call made upon them by the managers of the Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair, more than fifteen thousand dollars' worth of silver bars having been purchased for that purpose. Of this amount the town of Gold Hill furnishes nearly five thousand dollars. The following dispatch was sent over the wires this morning:
General Rosecrans, President at Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair, St. Louis, Mo.
We hear the echo of your appeal. Nevada Territory will send over fifteen thousand dollars in gold and silver bars for the Mississippi Valley Fair. ALMARIN B. PAUL, President Storey County Sanitary Assn.
These massive bars of glittering bullion will be an unwonted and astonishing sight to thousands at the great Fair, and will give them an exalted idea of the wealth, liberality and patriotism of this remote Territory."
-----------------------------
Red/Cyan (not red/blue) glasses of the proper density must be used to view 3D effect without ghosting. Anaglyph prepared using red cyan glasses from The Center For Civil War Photography / American Battlefield Trust. CCWP Link: www.civilwarphotography.org/