Wednesday, August 19, 2020

"Women having tea" in Budapest

Since August 18 marked the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, the one guaranteeing American women the right to vote, I find myself pondering what it means to be a woman voter in America these days. And so I found myself looking for vintage images of suffragists, and I came across this one on the New York Public Library's site.

The image is one I'd not seen before, and perhaps that's because these women aren't in America. The title is "Women having tea," and the information accompanying the photo says it was created in 1913 at the International Woman Suffrage Congress in Budapest. I don't know about you, but this photo doesn't scream "suffrage" to me, and I like it all the more for that reason. (Plus, I love the teakettle on the table.)

Also, note how the women's feet are propped on boxes. I had not thought about this before, but retail historian Jan Whitaker just had an intriguing blog post about restaurant chairs and noted that early ones were too tall for many women. I don't know if this photo was taken in a restaurant or a home, but the chairs (or maybe the table?) seem too tall for these ladies. If you're interested in Jan's latest post on her restaurant blog, you can find it here.

5 comments:

  1. I noticed the boxes first thing! We just don't think about what people in previous times had to go through.

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  2. Yes - we do need to vote! I am glad to see our photo icons have reappeared after weeks of a blank! (next to our favorites)

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  3. That's an interesting photo! Since those costumes are obviously not what women in early 20th century Budapest normally wore, I wonder why they were wearing them at a woman's suffrage conference. And in regard to those "booster boxes," I could sure use one in many restaurants nowadays! You may have noticed that lots of restaurants and cafes these days use REALLY tall stools for most of the seating. I don't like them at all, as they are hard to climb into and out of, since I am only 5'2". I don't know why they are so popular, since they seem to have been designed only for basketball players.

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  4. Interesting photo. I noticed the boxes because they reminded me of a picture the school sent showing how to make virtual learning more comfortable.

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