User:Gandydancer/sandbox

Decline in insect populations

The True Cost

midland

Busk–Ivanhoe Tunnel 

 

[]

[] CO guy Chalk Creek trail

[] vintage Buenie

[] Leadville ice palace

[] Mount Princeton hot springs (Nathrop and Elmo)

The study at PNAS:

American Council on Science and Health Glyphosate Bee Death Story Is Bee-S

The Guardian "The biggest impact of glyphosate on bees is the destruction of the wildflowers on which they depend,” said Matt Sharlow, at conservation group Buglife. “Evidence to date suggests direct toxicity to bees is fairly low, however the new study clearly demonstrates that pesticide use can have significant unintended consequences.”

[[The Scientist[[

refs: Friedman's curve

WHO recommendations Intrapartum care for a positive childbirth experience;

Propublica complications survey:

Birth choices (birth plans)

Info re high mortality:

How to choose a provider:

PD-US

The skinny jean is $195, while the blazer is $695 and the wrist band is $98. Even the T-shirt doesn’t come cheap, with a steep $89.50 price tag. The men’s shoe is $350 and the polo shirts are $98.50.

Best ref: https://www.clemson.edu/extension/natural_resources/continuing_education/documents/mw2014_materials/history_ecology.pdf

Origins
The longleaf pine ecosystem was shaped over thousands of years by frequent, low-intensity fires ignited by both lightning strikes and the Native American population. Periodic burning was practiced by the Native American population for hundreds of years to control wildfires and improve wildlife habitat. This fire regime produced woodlands, savannas, and prairies and sustained the ecosystem’s high biodiversity. At the time of the European invasion, longleaf pine was dominant on about 30 million ha, occurring from southeastern Virginia to eastern Texas. The arrival of the Europeans brought a rapid decrease in the habitat necessary to sustain the longleaf ecosystem. In the century after the arrival of Columbus diseases with mortality rates as high as 90–95% diseminated the native peoples. With the decline in the Native American population and the still small European/African population in the southeastern United States, fire became a less common practice and dense hardwood forests began to fill open areas.

Frequent burning was again practiced with the settlement of immigrants which were primarily from Scotland, Ireland and western England where burning was customarily practiced at that time. While frequent, often yearly, burning helped to regenerate the longleaf ecosystem, the settlers introduced new threats including the introduction of domestic livestock, with feral hogs an especially destructive threat.

Row crop farming and pasturing gradually broke the tradition of open-range burning in much of the South, although burning continued in the extensive pine-woods of the Coastal Plain. However, wealthy northerners bought plantations after the Civil War for hunting retreats and stopped extensive burning on their lands (Frost, 1993; Johnson and Hale, 2002). Northern attitudes about woods burning did not blend well with the Southern custom of firing the woods for hunting and grazing purposes. Between 1850 and 1870, steam technology for logging developed and proliferated as logging began in earnest in the southern Coastal Plain (Frost, 1993). By 1930, most of the large longleaf pine, except those protected on hunting pla

Prairies Woods burning in the longleaf ecosystem became common once again as European settlers and their African slaves replaced Native Americans. Immigrants were primarily from western England, Scotland, and Ireland, where burning and open range herding was customary (Johnson and Hale, 2002). These new settlers burned to achieve many of the same goals of Native Americans. They burned frequently, often annually, to keep the woods open and for improved grazing and hunting. Now, however, wildlife competed with domestic livestock for palatable forage and exotic species were introduced into the ecosystem. Especially damaging to longleaf pine regeneration, feral hogs (Sus scrofa) saturated tidewater Virginia and northeastern North Carolina by 1750 (Frost, 1993). Row crop farming and pasturing gradually broke the tradition of open-range burning in much of the South, although burning continued in the extensive pine-woods of the Coastal Plain. However, wealthy northerners bought plantations after the Civil War for hunting retreats and stopped extensive burning on their lands (Frost, 1993; Johnson and Hale, 2002). Northern attitudes about woods burning did not blend well with the Southern custom of firing the woods for hunting and grazing purposes. Between 1850 and 1870, steam technology for logging developed and proliferated as logging began in earnest in the southern Coastal Plain (Frost, 1993). By 1930, most of the large longleaf pine, except those protected on hunting pla

Prairies and open savannas gradually succeeded to dense mixed hardwood forests reversing the process by which Native American

have been attributed to smallpox, typhoid, bubonic plague, influenza, mumps, measles, hepatitis, and other diseases that spread rapidly in the Americas in the century after Cdolumbus

European and African diseases were brought to the Caribbean around 1500 A.D. and advanced to Central America, Mexico, and the southern United States prior to the arrival of the Spanish in the region (Verano and Ubelaker, 1992). When the explorer DeSoto marched his army of 600+ men across the South in 1539–1542, he found villages of Native Americans already decimated by disease. Mortality rates as high as 90–95% have been attributed to smallpox, typhoid, bubonic plague, influenza, mumps, measles, hepatitis, and other diseases that spread rapidly in the Americas in the century after Columbus (Dobyns, 1983; Smith, 1987; Lovell, 1992). The Mississippian Culture collapsed by 1600 A.D. as a result of European intrusion and diseases. The arrival of the English in the early 17th century continued the pandemics that decimated Native Americans for another century (Hudson, 1976; Smith, 1987; Carroll et al., 2002). With the decline in the Native American population and the still small European/African population in the southeastern United States, fire became a less common practice and was confined to smaller areas. Prairies and open savannas gradually succeeded to dense mixed hardwood forests reversing the process by which Native American

Periodic burning was practiced by the Native American population for hundreds of years to control wildfires and improve wildlife habitat.

Native Americans burned locally around their settlements to reduce fuels and protect themselves from wildfires (Williams, 1989; Johnson and Hale, 2002). They also influenced the character of the broader landscape by using fire to enhance wildlife habitat and increase wildlife populations, aid in hunting, favor berry- and nut-producing plants and other palatable forage, maintain open landscapes for ease of travel, and protect themselves from ambush by predators and enemy tribes (Hudson, 1976; Williams, 1989; Pyne et al., 1996; Bonnicksen, 2000; Carroll et al., 2002). Frequent burning reduced biting insects like blackflies, ticks, fleas, mosquitos, and other pests, improving the quality and health of their lives (Bonnichsen et al., 1987). The early hunter-gathere

southeastern Virginia to eastern Texas, it dominated the Coastal Plain The extent of the ecosystem declined dramatically when the longleaf pine timber was logged during the 19th and 20th centuries without provision for regeneration. It has continued to decline as fire exclusion, conversion to agriculture and other tree species, development, and other factors have taken their toll. A policy of fire exclusion initiated in the early decades of the 20th century has been especially damaging, as it created an uncharacteristic fire regime that allowed the longleaf ecosystem to succeed to a hardwood or mixed pine-hardwood forest. Now only 1.2 million ha remain and hundreds of plant and animal species are in peril. Over 30 species are listed as federally endangered or threatened. Restoration efforts are underway to ree

The prehistoric assumption of how the longleaf pine ecosystem was shaped comes from investigation of the time period of the ice age of the earth. Though the ice age period happened thousands of years ago, geologists feel certain about the reasoning of its start. The main ice cap of the original ice age extended southward to parts of the now present Ohio River of North America. From this phenomenon of freezing, the south portion of North America was affected with a cooler and dryer climate. As a result, vegetation such as the longleaf pine and other pine species were associated with the coastal regions of the unexposed ice cap areas. These unexposed areas consisted of now present states Florida to Mexico. In the periods to follow, as the earth’s climate slowly warmed, the ice caps receded northward. With this slow succession, the climate of the south progressively changed to warm and dry. Also as a factor of the climate change, evolving of the longleaf pine ecosystem took place.

Although some geologists feel confident about the reasoning of the beginning of the ecosystem, some speculation of this reasoning is challenged by other researchers. This fact of challenge comes from little to no systematic data based out of the coastal regions of Florida to Mexico. With this lack of systematic data, no statistical values for reconstruction of the original ecosystem can be calculated. However extensive literature from various explores of southeastern North America is reliable when it comes to reconstructing original ecosystem information. Such literature is dated back as far as 1608, when captain John Smith recorded his accounts of the forest and first exports products of pines close to the new settlement in Jamestown, Virginia.

In 1839 a treaty with the Dakota tribe allowed some settlement of the upper Mississippi River but few settlers lived in the Minnehaha Creek watershed area because Fort Snelling owned most of the land. After Minnesota became a territory in 1849 and the Traverse des Sioux Treaty in 1851, settlement began to increase. In 1852 the size of the military reservation was reduced and "within a couple of years, the rich water resource drew hundreds of settlers. Seeds of towns sprouted along the creek and the shore of Lake Minnetonka. Settlers could “pre-empt” or claim 160 acres at a low government price as long as they built and occupied a house, fenced and cultivated land right away.

Godfrey was born in Orono, Maine, January 18, 1~1.3• He came to commercial St. Anthony in 1847 and, with Franklin Steele, built the first/saw mill at the Falls of St. Anthony. He also built the first house in Minneapo&is, and his daughter, Harriet, was the first white child born in Minneapolis. Ard Godfrey died in Minneapolis on October 15, 1894•

Minneapolis and St. Anthony merged in 1872, so there are others who can claim to be earlier Minneapolis residents. The oldest existing house from that earlier settlement was built by Ard Godfrey in 1848, two years before Stevens' home; that house is now at the small Chute Square park in the city.

In 1853 Mr. Godfrey erected a dam on the creek below Minnehaha Falls and built a small saw mill and added buhr stones for grinding grain. Two or three years later the mill was destroyed by fire.

After Mr. Godfrey left the St. Anthony house it was successively occupied by R. P. Upton, Geo. A. Nourse, and Edwin Clark, with their families, until the fall of 1863. During all of these years many pioneers were sheltered beneath its roof. The house has been moved twice since its original location, once for opening a street to the Winslow House, and once to give room to the Union Iron Works shops. It is the oldest frame house in the city and is in a fair state of preservation. It would seem to be the proper thing for some society or association to have this house put in order and removed to one of the parks of the city for preservation.

Also in 1852, established a settlement on Joe Brown’s old claim at the mouth of the creek. Godfrey built a sawmill the following year, and a gristmill some time later. He built his house atop the bluff where the Veteran’s Hospital now sits. The Godfrey family left the site in 1871. The gristmill burned in 1879. Remains of the milldam are still visible. This mill is the exception that proves the rule for it could not compete with the greater water power of St. Anthony Falls. So Minnehaha Falls, made famous by Longfellow’s Song of Hiawatha in 1855, became a park rather than the hub of its own city.)

The Song of Hiawatha brings fame


Mineral Belt Trail, starting up California Gulch and coming down Evans Gulch. 

geology

trail - Homestake mine

railroad history

mineral belt trail

Saguache

twin lakes...dayton...lake county split

john dyer

Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans.

Ebola and Marburg hemorrhagic fever are caused by members of the genera Ebolavirus and Marburgvirus, respectively, in the family Filoviridae. The names of these viruses have undergone several taxonomic changes since they were first discovered, including new changes officially accepted in 2013. Currently, the genus Ebolavirus contains five recognized viral species: Zaire ebolavirus, Sudan ebolavirus, Taï Forest ebolavirus (formerly Cote d’Ivoire ebolavirus), Reston ebolavirus and Bundibugyo ebolavirus. The common name for the single virus in each of these species is Ebola virus (formerly Zaire ebolavirus), Sudan virus (formerly Sudan ebolavirus), Tai Forest virus (formerly Cote d’Ivoire ebolavirus), Reston virus (formerly Reston ebolavirus) and Bundibugyo virus. Marburgvirus contains a single species, Marburg marburgvirus (formerly Lake Victoria marburgvirus), and two individual viruses, Marburg virus and Ravn virus, within this species.

Aerosol transmission has been reported in some experimentally infected nonhuman primates, although virus does not seem to spread readily between cages in other studies. While people might theoretically become infected by this route, aerosols do not seem to be important during human outbreaks.

One study detected antibodies in dogs, but did not find virological evidence of infection

How efficiently filoviruses can spread by casual contact during the early stages of the illness is still uncertain, but transmission was not reported in some cases, and isolation of infected individuals has been sufficient to stop outbreaks in Africa.

Whether African filoviruses can cause mild or asymptomatic infections is still uncertain. The possibility of such infections is suggested by reports of antibodies and cell-mediated immune responses to filoviruses in people who have no history of Ebola or Marburg hemorrhagic disease. Seroprevalence rates tend to be higher in groups that have more contact with wild animals or live in rural forest ecosystems. However, illnesses without hemorrhages might have been misdiagnosed as other diseases such as malaria, which can also be severe. Cross-reactivity with other viruses may also be a problem in serological tests. In particular, there may be undiscovered filoviruses in Africa (and other locations) that are less pathogenic or nonpathogenic in humans.

It's not even that the highest-quality study happens to the orthodox one; the problem is that the POV pushers on the other side define the highest-quality study as being a source that is written, edited, peer-reviewed, and published exclusively by people who have solidly anti-altmed credentials and whose conclusion supports the anti-altmed POV. According to one side, minority viewpoints deserve some space (see WP:YESPOV) to provide a reasonably complete description of their POV, including a description of claims that they make for scientific evidence. According to the other side, we shouldn't cite any sources written by professionals in that field, even if the source is a systematic review and concludes that the profession is not evidence-based medicine, and we definitely should not admit to even the possibility of the tiniest shred of evidence that something that is currently, according to our incomplete knowledge, considered to be "alternative" might have some possible efficacy. I see no hope for resolution: we cannot re-write MEDRS to eliminate POV pushing in these articles, and we're getting it on all sides. WhatamIdoing (talk) 23:39, 20 July 2014 (UTC)

photo
William Henry Jackson



This culture of rape is also a culture of impunity where upper-caste Hindu perpetrators of these crimes are protected within India’s rape culture at all levels of the justice system. UN Special Rapporteur Ms. Rashida Manjoo relays in her recent report on the status of women in India that there is a “deeply entrenched patriarchal attitude of police officers, prosecutors, judicial officers.” This coupled with the unsavory reality that members of the police, judiciary, and public officials often collude with perpetrators to keep Dalit women from filing claims and receiving justice. june 9

Violence against various groups is also of concern. Dalit and Adivasi women and women from other scheduled castes and tribes and other “backward classes” are frequent victims of multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, as well as violence.

Numerous testimonies shared on recurrent episodes of communal violence against religious minorities, including Muslims and Christians, reflect a deep sense of insecurity and trauma of women living in those communities. Experiences included women being stripped, burned, attacked with objects inserted into their vaginas and sexually assaulted in myriad ways because of their religious identity. It was reported that perpetrators of those crimes usually held positions of authority and often went unpunished. Further, those minorities are allegedly excluded from access to education, employment and adequate housing on equal terms with other citizens, despite the existence of affirmative action schemes and measures by the Ministry of Minority Affairs and the National Commission for Minorities aimed at empowering minority women through the provision of knowledge, tools and training.

Women living in militarized regions, such as Jammu and Kashmir and the northeastern states, live in a constant state of siege and surveillance, whether in their homes or in public. Information received through both written and oral testimonies highlighted the use of mass rape, allegedly by members of the State security forces, as well as acts of enforced disappearance, killings and acts of torture and ill-treatment, which were used to intimidate and to counteract political opposition and insurgency.

United Nations April 1, 2014

Double Rape, Lynching In India Exposes Caste Fault Lines June 2

Dailut women in India

NYTs article

Beulah Henderson Beulah Henderson, née Washington, was the first singer to combine yodeling with blues music. Little information remains, but is known that she was born in [New Orleans, Louisianna|New Orleans]], married Billie Henderson in 1906, and traveled the vaudeville circut performing with Billie as a singling/comedy act known as "The Jolly Hendersons".

Background
Using the language of the time, Beulah Henderson was a "coon shouter" and she sang "coon songs" during the years that vaudeville theater was a popular form of entertainment. Coon songs were a genre of music that presented a racist and stereotyped image of Blacks. They were popular in the United States and around the English-speaking world from 1880 Vaudeville had its roots in the earlier, similar form of entertainment, the minstrel show. The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface.

Early life
Little information about Henderson's early life has survived. Most of the information to be found about her has been gleaned from the Indianana Freeman, one of the first news papers owned by and printed for Americans of African decent. The Freeman carried an entertainment page where they included bookings, reviews and other information about entertainment throughout the eastern half of the country.

Beulah Washington, was born and raised in the first vaudevillian known to offer a combination of yodel songs and blues, or, at least, up-to-date ragtime songs incorporating the language and spirit of blues. Her advertisements in the Freeman claimed she was 'America's Only Colored Lady Yodeler'. She was born and raised in New Orleans, where she appeared at the New Globe Museum in 1905 singing My Fairy Coon in a stock company headed by Billy Henderson.

Billy Henderson was a 'popular comedian' from Atlanta who had moved to New Orleans in 1901 to open a restaurant. By 1906 he and Beulah had formed a song-and-dance team and struck out for theatres along the Gulf Coast. In December 1906, correspondence from Jacksonville's Exchange Garden Theater revealed:

Mr William H Henderson, of the team of Henderson and Washington, will wed his partner, Miss Beaulah Washington, on Sunday evening, December 9th, at the Lincoln Park, Jacksonville, Fla. It will be one of the grandest weddings that has ever taken place before a public audience.

Appearing in Southern theatres and parks over the next four years, Beulah Henderson crossed paths with blues pioneers like Ed Peate and Butler 'String Beans' May, as well as with yodeler Monroe Tabor. By 1910 she had established herself as a premier 'coon shouter'. Correspondence fromLagman's Theater, Mobile, Alabama, in August 1910 said, 'Beulah Henderson as a 'coon shouter', has gained the distinction of being the greatest that has ever set foot on the soil of Mobile County. She is at present singing such great successes as The Grizzly Bear, Stop That Rag and other great hits'.

In October 1910, when Billy and Beulah made their Northern debut at the Grand Theater, Chicago, critic Carey B Lewis noted they 'dance and sing, the numbers being Stop that Scorching the Hand [sic] and Sleep Baby Sleep. When they were held over the following week, Lewis found them 'bristling with fun in black-face, singing successfully, Lone in Dixie, Stop that Rag, Stop Scorching that Ham and Are You On.'

sign up for paper:

The first black newspaper to carry an entertainment page on a continuing basis was the Indianapolis Freeman . Starting in the 1890s, the Freeman ’s entertainment page included not only local attractions but also news from shows appearing in other cities, which was usually mailed in by the proprietors or managers of these shows. The Christmas issue of the Freeman carried an annual review of the stage in which the top shows of the year were re- viewed and the prospects for the coming year were discussed

vaudevillian known to offer a combination of yodel songs and blues, or, at least, up-to-date ragtime songs incorporating the language and spirit of blues. Her advertisements in the Freeman claimed she was 'America's Only Colored Lady Yodeler'. She was born and raised in New Orleans, where she appeared at the New Globe Museum in 1905 singing My Fairy Coon in a stock company headed by Billy Henderson.

Billy Henderson was a 'popular comedian' from Atlanta who had moved to New Orleans in 1901 to open a restaurant. By 1906 he and Beulah had formed a song-and-dance team and struck out for theatres along the Gulf Coast. In December 1906, correspondence from Jacksonville's Exchange Garden Theater revealed:

Mr William H Henderson, of the team of Henderson and Washington, will wed his partner, Miss Beaulah Washington, on Sunday evening, December 9th, at the Lincoln Park, Jacksonville, Fla. It will be one of the grandest weddings that has ever taken place before a public audience.

Appearing in Southern theatres and parks over the next four years, Beulah Henderson crossed paths with blues pioneers like Ed Peate and Butler 'String Beans' May, as well as with yodeler Monroe Tabor. By 1910 she had established herself as a premier 'coon shouter'. Correspondence fromLagman's Theater, Mobile, Alabama, in August 1910 said, 'Beulah Henderson as a 'coon shouter', has gained the distinction of being the greatest that has ever set foot on the soil of Mobile County. She is at present singing such great successes as The Grizzly Bear, Stop That Rag and other great hits'.

In October 1910, when Billy and Beulah made their Northern debut at the Grand Theater, Chicago, critic Carey B Lewis noted they 'dance and sing, the numbers being Stop that Scorching the Hand [sic] and Sleep Baby Sleep. When they were held over the following week, Lewis found them 'bristling with fun in black-face, singing successfully, Lone in Dixie, Stop that Rag, Stop Scorching that Ham and Are You On.'

From the Grand, Billy and Beulah dropped down to the Belmont Theater, Pensacola, Florida, and 'knocked 'em a 'twister'.' Also on the bill, as a team act were Ma Rainey and Laura Smith. On closing night the Hendersons joined Laura Smith and others for a 'genuine Italian macaroni supper' prepared by a chef named Aleck Alaska, then played whist 'until the 'wee sma' hours in the morning'. Next day they left for Lagman's Theater, where Billy organized a new stock company that included 'coon shouter' Alberta Smiley and future blues recording artist Mattie Dorsey.

The Jolly Hendersons (Indianapolis Freeman, 4 Novenmber 1911).When Billy and Beulah played the Houston Theater, Louisville, Kentucky, in February 1911, they were billed as 'The Jolly Hendersons'. Credited as 'one of our foremost colored producers', Billy staged some original musical comedies, including The Cowboy of the West and A Texas Ranger, while Beulah sang Lullaby.

At this point in her career, Beulah's coon shouting was preempted by her yodeling. A May 1911 report from the Gaither Theater, Cincinnati, said, 'Miss Henderson ... sings Sleep, Baby, Sleep, a very old song'. At the New Crown Garden Theater, Indianapolis, in October 1911 manager Tim Owsley noted:

The Jolly Hendersons offered a clean, bright and snappy act of singing, talking and dancing. Each song rendered by the jolly pair won for them an encore. Mr Henderson is a real clever light comedian, while his partner, Miss Henderson, is just as clever as a singing and talking soubrette. In fact she is one of the first lady yodlers that we have had the pleasure of hearing.

Billy and Beulah Henderson posted this advertisement in the Freeman in May 1913:

The Classy Colored Comedy Pair THE JOLLY HENDERSONS featuring Beulah Henderson America's only Colored Lady "Yodler"

In June 1913, while Billy went on tour with the Billy King Stock Company, Beulah went home to New Orleans. She stayed at her mother's house, 2417 Bradish Street, and made a few solo appearances at E D Lee's Lee Theater. When she joined her husband with Billy King's Stock Company at the Lyric Theater, Kansas City, in July, she was billed as 'America's greatest yodeler', and she was 'repeatedly encored, singing her famous 'Yoodle' song'.

After Kansas City, news from the Billy King Stock Company fell off, and when Billy Henderson surfaced again on 17 August 1915, he was managing the Hippodrome Theater in Richmond, Virginia. Meanwhile, Beulah hadreturned to New Orleans and was working the Storyville cabarets. A note on 25 July 1914 said 'Bessie Edington, Beulah Henderson, Lena Leggett, Arthur Winn, and the peerless Walter (Nooky) Johnson still hold their own and some one else's at the Manhattan cabaret'. Another note in late July informed that 'Miss Beulah Henderson and Lena Leggins are holding out at Pete Lalas, Customhouse and Marais. They are doing good work and drawing large crowds'.

During the first week of September 1914 Beulah appeared at the Star Theater, Shreveport, Louisiana, with a New Orleans-based stock company headed by irrepressible entrepreneur and all-round vaudevillian William Benbow, who described her as 'America's foremost (Col.) yoddler'. As the manager of Storyville's infamous Poodle Dog Cabaret in January 1915, Benbow reported that Beulah was 'still entertaining for the first class cabaret'. He said she was ' ... pleasing as usual'. On that note, news of 'America's Only Colored Lady Yodeler' gives out.



Looking for the perfect baby-shower gift for a certain well-dressed duchess? Consider Kay Goldman’s new book Dressing Modern Maternity, a history of the Page Boy maternity label. The groundbreaking Dallas clothing company was founded in 1938 by the three Frankfurt sisters, who were frustrated with the limited options in maternity wear. Combining stylish design with innovative business practices, Page Boy dominated the maternity market for five decades. Jackie Kennedy, one of the first victims of “celebrity bump watch,” was a Page Boy client; so was Elizabeth Taylor.

With two more paparazzi-friendly pregnancies–Cambridge (ongoing) and Kardashian (just ended)—putting maternity fashion in the global spotlight, it would seem that the timing of this release couldn’t be better. There’s just one problem. As Women’s Wear Daily recently pointed out, both Kim and Kate joined the growing ranks of mommies-to-be who spurn maternity clothes in favor of adapting their pre-pregnancy wardrobes or buying slightly larger versions of the kinds of clothes they usually wear—and, with minor alterations, could wear again after the baby arrives.

This isn’t just recessionista chic; for most of the history of fashion (and motherhood) expecting moms have managed just fine without maternity clothes. The relatively high cost of textiles in the pre-industrial age made it impractical to wear any article of clothing for just a few months; most pregnant women wore their everyday clothes, altered or made with extra material that could be let out or taken in with frequent childbearing. It wasn’t until the early 20th century that women began buying clothes expressly designed for two. Maternity clothing, then, is a fairly recent phenomenon, and a close reading of Dressing Modern Maternity suggests that its days are numbered.

It’s a common misconception that “in previous centuries women secluded themselves during pregnancy,” Goldman writes. Pregnancy was an open secret, and clothing neither hid nor advertised it. By the mid-19th century, however, changing cultural norms and medical opinions meant that visibly pregnant women often lived sheltered lives, if they could afford to; when they ventured out, patented “maternity corsets” kept bumps in check.

As women became more active outside the home in the early 20th century, the question of what to wear during pregnancy grew more urgent. One of the first firms to market maternity clothing was Lane Bryant, launched in 1904 by dressmaker Lena Bryant (the bank misspelled her name when she opened her business account, and it stuck). Bryant’s simple, inexpensive maternity dresses were adjustable, but did not solve the problem of uneven hemlines as the tummy expanded and fashion dictated ever shorter skirts.

In 1937, Dallas secretary Edna Frankfurt Ravkind was pregnant with her second child and unable to fit into her usual elegant wardrobe. With true sibling camaraderie, her younger sister, Elsie, told her she looked like "a beach ball in an unmade bed.” Three days later, Elsie—who had studied accounting and design at Southern Methodist University—had cut up one of Edna’s pre-pregnancy suits and remade it as a maternity ensemble in the slim silhouette of the day. Within months the sisters opened their first boutique, strategically situated on ground floor of the office building housing most of the OB-GYNs in Dallas. Little sister Louise, a fashion design major, joined the family firm in 1941. The company’s name came from its logo of a page boy blowing a trumpet to announce the birth of an heir to the throne.

The secret to Page Boy’s success was Elsie’s patented skirt design, which fit snugly around the hips without hiking up in front. A scooped-out window in the front accommodated the expanding abdomen; a long jacket covered the window. Ads boasted that Page Boy’s skirts were “not wrap-around.” For the first time, maternity clothes resembled the latest Paris fashions. As Elsie was fond of saying: “You can’t hide the fact that you’re expecting a child... but you can detract from it.”

Page Boy also benefited from auspicious timing. Although ready-to-wear had been around for a century, at first only menswear and utilitarian clothing were mass-produced; fashionable ladies’ garments were the last to succumb to the industrial machine. By 1930, however, most women were buying their clothes from department stores or mail-order catalogues rather than having them custom-made. The baby boom and postwar prosperity transformed consumer buying power and spending habits, making the idea of clothes that would last just a few months palatable.

In 1940, on a family vacation to Los Angeles, Edna impulsively rented a storefront on Wilshire Boulevard, deeming it the perfect spot for Page Boy’s second boutique. On opening day, actress Margaret Sullavan bought an entire maternity wardrobe. It was the start of a beautiful friendship between Page Boy and Hollywood. Celebrity clients included Lucille Ball, Judy Garland, Debbie Reynolds, Princess Grace, and Mrs. Errol Flynn; Eva Marie Saint, nine months pregnant, accepted her 1955 Best Supporting Actress Oscar for On the Waterfront in a Page Boy-style skirt suit. Naturally, Page Boy used photos of these famous fans in promotional materials; true to their logo, the sisters were experts at blowing their own trumpet. By 1950, Page Boy’s “unexpected fashions for expectant ladies” were available in five boutiques and 350 department stores nationwide.

Page Boy offered maternity outfits for every occasion, from ski clothes to fur-trimmed dinner suits to lingerie. Originally geared to affluent and professional women, the company increasingly targeted small-town, stay-at-home moms as well. The patented cut-out skirt came with flat panels that could be sewed over the abdomen after giving birth, to extend the garment’s life (and appeal to customers who weren’t even pregnant). Dresses had hidden zippers to expand and contract the waistline—the original “during and after” garment. Ads highlighted the fact that Page Boy’s clothes were washable.

Changes in fashion in the 1960s hurt Page Boy more than the declining birthrate; trendy tent dresses and shifts could double as maternity wear. In response, Elsie declared “the cut-out skirt is dead” and designed skirts with stretch waistbands that could be worn with the short tops then in vogue. These skirts—which Elsie called “as simple as Mrs. John Kennedy’s”—could remain in use after the baby arrived. (Jackie Kennedy—a Page Boy client during her pregnancies—never appeared in the company’s publicity materials, a rare instance of discretion.)

The company rallied again in the 1980s, as a new generation of professional women spent lavishly on maternity wear, and fashion dictated power suits and tailored, preppy clothes that could not easily transition from everyday wardrobes to maternity. Page Boy offered a personal shopping service for busy working mothers-to-be and on-trend styles like bomber jackets and leather miniskirts—a first for the maternity market. The contemporary notion that pregnant women should show off their legs—because they can—originated with Page Boy. You can’t hide the fact that you’re expecting a child, but you can detract from it.

But these “pregnant yuppies,” as Elsie called them, wanted to wear familiar designer brands, not maternity-only brands. (By popular demand, Guess Jeans introduced a maternity line in 1985.) They also appreciated the convenience of buying maternity clothes, accessories, and baby things under the same roof—a move Page Boy resisted. At its peak, in 1984, the company had 30 boutiques across the country. But in 1994, the struggling company sold out to Destination Maternity.

The same concerns that made Page Boy a runaway success in the 1930s—cost, fit, changing styles and lifestyles—may doom maternity clothing today. With the sluggish economy and the increased emphasis on fashion—and fitness—at all stages of pregnancy, it’s no wonder that women are beginning to question whether maternity clothes are really necessary. It’s become a point of pride for a pregnant woman to wear her regular wardrobe as long as possible, as well as a point of comfort, physical and psychological. Would we recognize Kim Kardashian without her leather miniskirts, animal prints, and stripper heels? Would she recognize herself?

While even Kardashian gave into flats and tent dresses in her seventh month—a development that made headlines—it’s hardly unrealistic for pregnant women to expect to wear their pre-pregnancy clothes into the third trimester, with the help of a belly band or minor alterations. Doctors used to encourage eating for two; now, they closely monitor patients’ diets and weight. Prenatal Pilates and personal trainers ensure that women of means—the traditional consumers of upmarket maternity wear—stay fit throughout pregnancy, and slim down quickly after giving birth.

Cost, too, is an issue, even for celebrities. The Duchess of Cambridge—who regularly recycles her designer outfits—has only been spotted in a few maternity dresses, and they were from budget-friendly Topshop, ASOS, and Séraphine. The rest of the time, she has made do with her usual enviable wardrobe of wrap dresses, coat dresses, and shifts, perhaps with a button relocated here, a hemline adjusted there.

“We created a monster that came back to haunt us,” Elsie Frankfurt said of the tent dress. Today’s maternity industry has worked hard to convince customers that maternity clothes are fashionable and functional, offering maternity skinny jeans, maternity yoga gear, maternity bikinis, and more maternity cocktail dresses than a woman who can’t drink alcohol will ever need. Mall stores like Gap, H&M, and Ann Taylor Loft have added maternity collections that are virtually indistinguishable from their regular offerings. Even Spanx launched a maternity line in 2007. (While there’s always been a market for maternity support garments, these weren’t the maternity corsets of yore; Spanx explicitly targeted the thighs and butt, not the bump.)

At the same time, our everyday clothes have become more and more like maternity clothes. Stretchy fabrics are no longer reserved for swimsuits, just as custom-made clothing is no longer reserved for the wealthy, thanks to eShakti, Etsy, and the like. Maxi dresses, blazers, T-shirts, and leggings transition easily to maternity wear. There’s no excuse for looking like a beach ball in an unmade bed. If this trend continues, maternity clothes may be one less thing to expect when you’re expecting.



Lena Bryant Malsin was a Jewish American clothing designer and entrepreneur who founded the clothing chain Lane Bryant.

Malsin (born March 1879; died September 26, 1951) was born Lena Himmselstein in Lithuania and was raised by her grandparents after being orphaned. In 1895, Himmelstein immigrated alone to the United States, settling in New York. Without family, she supported herself by working as a seamstress for a dollar a week. A gifted dressmaker, Lena quickly became skilled at her craft and within a year was earning an extraordinary wage of fifteen dollars per week.

In 1899, at the age of 20, Lena married David Bryant, a Jewish immigrant jeweler from Russia. Soon after their first son Raphael was born, David died suddenly and the widowed Lena, thrown back on her own devices, supported Raphael and herself by returning to dressmaking in their cramped Upper West Side apartment.

By 1904, Bryant’s dressmaking business had become so successful that she opened a shop on Fifth Avenue with living quarters in the rear. Lena's brother-in-law lent her $300 to open a bank account as working capital, and when the bank officer accidentally misspelled her name on an account application as Lane, that became the new store name. Thus began the pioneering women’s clothing enterprise known as Lane Bryant.

Lena was an innovator, well ahead of her times as a designer and an entrepreneur. According to historian Louise Klaber, at the turn of the century proper ladies who happened to be pregnant were rarely if ever seen in public. When one of Bryant’s pregnant customers asked her to design something "presentable but comfortable" to wear on the street, Bryant created a dress with an elasticized waistband and an accordion-pleated skirt. She thus produced the first known commercial maternity dress. The garment liberated the increasing number of middle-class women who wanted to break with Victorian tradition. It also helped poorer pregnant women who had no choice but to go to work. The maternity dress soon became the best-selling item in Bryant’s shop.

In 1909, Bryant married Albert Malsin, who became her business partner. Bryant continued as chief designer and Albert Malsin concentrated on the firm’s business operations. By 1911, Lane Bryant’s shop was grossing $50,000 per year. Its great potential was limited, however, because none of New York’s newspapers would accept advertising for maternity clothes. Tradition still dictated that such topics were not discussed in the press. It took the Malsins until 1911 to convince the New York Herald to accept an ad. When the paper did, Lane Bryant’s entire stock was sold out the next day. The company’s success was now assured.

To cope with newspaper discrimination against maternity clothes advertisements, the Malsins decided to create the first mail order catalog for maternity wear. By 1917, mail-order sales revenues for Lane Bryant, Inc. exceeded a million dollars. By 1950, the company’s mail order sales made it the sixth-largest mail order retailer in the United States.

Having succeeded in maternity wear and catalog sales, Lane Bryant Malsin’s next great innovation was ready-made clothing for the stout-figured woman. Before World War I, no mass manufacturer of women’s clothing addressed this market. After measuring some 4,500 w