Important Historical Fashion Design: Merry Hull Linen Gloves Dated 1938

Glove collectors will be enchanted by this early, exquisite pair of linen Merry Hull gloves.

Gladys Whitcomb Geissmann moved to NYC from Columbus, Ohio and changed her name  to Merry Hull. In 1938, she invented the first 3-dimensional glove design with additional panels that gave a more tailored fit as well as more freedom in movement. Her unique design eliminated the problem of popping seams and bulky gathers around the fingers. 

Merry Hull's name was well known to fashionable women in the late 1930s, through to the 1950s. Her glove advertisements were in multitudes of fashion trade and retail magazines including Cosmopolitan and Vogue...as well as nearly every newspaper. 

Merry Hull's early label is in this pair of exquisite gloves, which date to between 1938-1939 by patent filing and grant dates. The gloves carry that brilliant gold, embroidered label with the hand-with-wings logo and first patent number of 2,125,673 also embroidered inside. Her patent filing date for this glove design was March 1, 1938 and it was granted that year.  

It is Merry Hull's ingenious design that allows the gloves to be made from fabric that is not stretchy. The gloves fit the hand like a well tailored couture suit.

This particular pair of Merry Hull gloves are made from extremely fine, woven linen with what appears to be a small amount of silk plied into the linen fiber, which adds that additional sheen. The gloves are nothing less than luxurious. 

From an estate, these gloves have not been on the market since they were first purchased decades ago. Not only are they stunning in color and quite unusual, but they are also historically important in the history of American fashions. 

Merry Hull gloves just like these are found in important museum collections and curators have written academic papers about this designer and the importance of her patented glove-making designs. In fact, it is said that she alone changed glove design for the first time in 300 years. 

One reference to research if you wish to learn more is from The Costume Society of America's Gayle Strege, curator at Ohio State University Historic Costume & Textiles Collection titled Merry Hull’s Gloves. The paper was presented by Strege at the Costume Society of America Region III annual meeting, St. Paul, Minnesota, October 2002. 

According to history, Hull's patent was sold almost immediately, and Merry Hull made an impressive $200,000. Today, Hull is listed as one of the top American inventors in history as well as historically important fashion designer.

Civil War Era Fingerless Gloves Date To Circa 1861

True Americana.

Hauntingly beautiful…these exquisite silk lace gloves from circa 1861.

They are approximately 153 years old and are indeed from the American Civil War period. They are also the largest sized gloves from this era that we have had the pleasure in handling.

They come from a New Hampshire estate and their original owner was not identified. The gloves were found crumpled and had been obviously stored in an old trunk in an attic for well over a century in time. We weren’t sure what would happen, but we took the risk and took them back to the Studio here at The Gilded Griffin and handed them over to our conservationist. 

The result is breathtaking. 

The cleaning took nearly 2 weeks and was finished using museum archival conservation standards. No bleach was used. The gloves will require archival tissue storage, and should remain beautiful for many decades to come.

The gloves are fingerless aside from the thumb and are in overall excellent condition aside from a tiny snag on the palm (obvious in the photograph attached) and an even less obvious snag on the back of the left hand. These would make ideal candidates for restoration. Certainly, these will make any Civil War reenactor’s heart beat a little faster because they will make a glorious pattern for both study and replication.

We have attached a digital copy of an ambrotype from the collections in the U.S. Library of Congress. Please reference hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.34959).

  

The image, dated to circa 1861 and listed as American Civil War era, shows a woman wearing similar gloves. As a side note just for extra interest, it should be noted that the gloves in this image are likely dyed to match her hat and the darker color found in her brightly colored dress. They were quite likely not black as many people often believe due to early photographic technologies.

Fingerless gloves or half gloves are worn throughout history, but certain patterns and lengths can help to identify their age. “Godey’s Lady’s Book” from 1841 shows women wearing ball gowns with fingerless lace gloves. Although similar in length, mesh style and edging the lace gloves from this earlier period are plainer in style. They also do not have thumbs or fingers, although they do end halfway down the palm.

These particular Civil War era gloves feature intricately detailed lace edgings against the mesh and also have tiny ruffles that are accentuated when tied.  

The workmanship on these glistening silk gloves is masterful. The intricate lacework requires magnification to see its superfine detail. The gloves are the color of ivory…the color only found in natural silk…and they shimmer in the light. They are entirely original right down to the finely woven silk lacings used to tie them in place along the edge of the wrist and slightly up the arm.

The glove design is perfection in creative problem solving. The ties are adjustable, allowing the wrist and fingers to move without risk of pulling or breaking the gloves. 

They are in excellent overall condition best described as excellent. They are larger than any we have ever found from this era and easily fit up to a slim glove size of 7.5.  

They are quite flexible and strong enough for gentle wear, although we caution against this to collectors because their long term value will only be maintained if they remain in this marvelous condition. 

The total length is 7-1/8 inches or 18cm. The palm measurement is 5-3/4 inches or 14.5 cm.