As a history lover I often think about what it would be like to have lived in one of these eras.  How different my life would have been.  In the 1850's and 1860's just the amount of clothing would seriously have made me nuts.  chemise and bloomers, stockings and petticoats under a dress made of yards of material and possible a corset and hoop.  Just think of the way we cook and clean and travel and then think of how things were done in the 1800's.  So maybe I don't have so much to complain about after all.  Part of the fun for me of studying people's history is this...and trying to picture myself there, would I have been able to weather the war with as much grace and determination that many of the did ? So here is a picture of a lovely lady of the Civil War time, dressed in her hoop dress for a photo, maybe to send to her soldier ?