I have had Mrs. Tuttle the dressmaker the past week, making me two dresses … an all wool mouselain & a nice printed muslin that I may wear to the Buckfield Rail Road Ball at the Nesinscott’s House.
–– Persis Sibley Andrews, Paris, Maine, December 16, 1848
They were dressed in white most wholly with short sleeves & many of them had spotted muslin and they looked as well as many fashioned balls…
–– John Martin on Ball at Carlton Corners, Hampden, 1841
