Weiss, Albert

[ Broadside ] BUY THE "IRONSIDES" CORSET...Name registered as Trade Mark May 2, 1882 ... Double Hip "Ironsides" Corset ... "Manufactured by Worcester Corset Co., Worcester, Mass. U.S.A. Every Pair Warranted"

Ware, Massachusetts: Albert Weiss c1882. 7 7/8 x 8 7/8 inches. Printed in black ink on a tan paper. Paper creased, soiled, chipped at extremities, and worn at old crease lines affecting a few letteres. Laid down on Filmoplast R tissue. Three nice woodcuts at top showing corsets and logo of Worcester Corset Co. A few penciled numbers on rear. Good. [28315]


This broadside focuses on what is known "by all ladies and the trade" : that the value of the corset is in its strength and durability. It notes the "greatest objection" until this invention was the greatest weakness - the bones or stays over the hips which were prone to breakage. It extolls the durability of this new design : the side steels, bones, patent lock clasp, and other features. An interesting and rare survival - we find no examples in OCLC.

"Known first as The Worcester Skirt Company, the company was founded in 1861 in Worcester, Massachusetts, by David Hale Fanning. It specialized in making hoopskirts to support the full skirts that were in vogue. By March 1, 1872, the company shifted foundation directions, as the focus of the woman's silhouette changed from hoop skirts to shaped torsos and hips, and it was renamed the Worcester Corset Co. Fanning became president when the company went public in 1888. In 1901, the name was changed to the Royal Worcester Corset Co." (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

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