This is a very sober, typical business suit of the early 20th Century. Note the commuter-friendly ticket pocket on the outside of the coat.

The sack suit in these images dates from around 1880. While most sack suits of the time tended to be in sober colors like black and dark gray, a general exception seemed to apply for plaid and plaid sack suits. While not a dominant style, they were not uncommon and allowed a rare opportunity for exuberance in a period of otherwise restrained male fashions.

I recently built a web page to demonstrate an easy way to create a search form you can drop onto any web page that will search your library's online catalog.

The form is accessing the EOS International Sales Department's demonstration catalog. The same model, by changing the specific names, values and URLs, can be used to access many other SQL based online databases.

It also includes a demonstration of and link to one of my favorite tools, "Feed2JS", which takes RSS feeds and turns them into web content.

3rd FRIDAY of EACH MONTH
7:00 pm -­ 10:00 pm
Doors open at 7:00 pm; dancing begins at 7:30 pm

Join the Simi Valley Victorian Dance Society one evening a month for waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and a variety of other dances of the 19th Century ballroom.

Programs will feature instruction and open dancing.

Historical attire is not required. Recorded music. Beginners welcome and no partners required. Comfortable shoes recommended.

"I was exceedingly delighted with the waltz, and also with the polka. These differ in name, but there the difference ceases--the dances are precisely the same.

The Full title is "An analysis of country dancing: wherein are displayed all the figures ever used in country dances, in a way so easy and familiar, that persons of the meanest capacity may in a short time acquire (without the aid of a master) a complete knowledge of that rational and polite amusement. To which are added, instructions for dancing some entire new reels; together with the rules, regulations, and complete etiquette of the ball room. By Thomas Wilson ... Embellished and illustrated with engravings on wood, by J. Berryman."

Trust me, it's not that hard

I am a man on a mission. My mission is to establish a basic level of historical understanding in what we refer to as "Regency Dance". The current state of things in Regency Dance is, from a historical perspective, pretty dismal. In all but a very few places, the terms "Regency Dance" and "English Country Dance" are more or less interchangeable, with a slight concession that, if you are calling it a Regency Dance, you should probably keep the number of recently created dances to a minimum. The steps and stylings that gave the Country Dance of the Regency its character are entirely dispensed with, and people walk through the choreographies without any notion of what could be.

The Saturday night dance at the Queen Mary Art Deco Festival, 2010. Music by Dean Mora and his orchestra.