In 1984, Cornelia Davis donated her family’s cummerbund, together with a complete mourning outfit, to Kansas State University’s Historic Costume and Textile Museum. The record of the cummerbund states Cornelia donated the item on behalf of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. O.B. Burtis. Orville Brown Burtis and his wife, Gertrude Harling, were prominent citizens of Manhattan, Kansas, hobnobbing with the likes of Dan Casement, a respected and well-known stockman and a founding member of the American Quarter Horse Association.

Orville was born in Fredonia, Kansas, on June 13, 1892, to Walter and Winifred Burtis. In his teens he attended the Kansas State Agricultural College with his younger sister Wilma. Orville was heavily involved during his stint at KSAC. He was a member of the Aztex fraternity, the Student Council, and he was the Cadet Colonel of the regimental troops. He majored in animal husbandry, which would later aid in his career as a stockman and rancher (Royal Purple). In 1917, at the age of twenty-five, Orville enlisted in the World War I draft. The registration card, filled out by Burtis, states that he was a self-employed farmer, probably working for his father, and unmarried, as of then. He was a man of medium height and weight with dark brown hair and brown eyes (Registration Card). About a year later, Orville was married to Gertrude Harling.

Gertrude Elisabeth Harling was born October 30, 1897, to parents Walter and Elisabeth Harling, hailing from London, England. Her parents migrated to the United States, specifically to Lehi, Utah, before the birth of their children. Gertrude was the last of three children born to the Harlings; Miriam and Faith were her two older sisters (Census).

Gertrude attended Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, a university that prides itself on its history of admittance and acceptance of women and black students, at the same time that her future husband was attending KSAC (“Washburn”). After graduation, she would go on to marry Orville and become a Burtis.

Orville and Gertrude were married in 1918. They soon settled down in Manhattan, Kansas, with Orville’s family. The 1920 United States Federal Census notes that Walter J. Burtis is the head of the Burtis clan. His son Orville (Orval in the census) and his wife are both part of the Burtis household, living and working on the family farm. The family is listed as being able to read and write. This ability could be attributed to the upper middle class status of the family. Walter Burtis owned land and managed a home farm, which would later inspire his son to continue the family trade.

According to the 1925 United States Federal Census, Orville and Gertrude owned their own farm and had already three of their children, Orville Jr., Cornelia, and David. Orville’s occupation is listed as being a stockman in addition to being a farmer.

The Burtis family home, for a time, was the Dewey Ranch. Orville leased the land for his growing family. His daughter, Karen Burtis Butler, wrote an article for the Bison and Bluestem journal about her experiences on the family farm. “In the summer there were enumerable picnics, either in the yard or across the creek to the east. I remember good storytelling, singing until the moon came up, just visiting and finishing the hand cranked ice cream” (6). On the farm, there was never a lack of adventure or chores for the young children. For Karen and her sister, Cornelia, helping their mother with housework was a daily task. Karen’s earliest jobs included gathering eggs, dusting, and washing dishes. Their mother spent most of her time preparing three meals a day for the family and guests. Karen noted that the Burtis household always had guests: 

Mother and Dad also took in several older, single, women who needed a home and could help with household duties. Then there were young gals who came because they wanted to ride horses, but reluctantly, had to work inside first. At various times, the big room on the third floor housed young families and a couple of newlywed college students. “Residents” came and went, keeping the house full much of the time. (Burtis Butler 6)

The household was full of visitors and hired ranch hands. The Dewey Ranch was a home for the Burtis family as well as a home away from home for all of the additional friends on the land. For fun, the family would play card games, roast marshmallows in the fireplace, and square dance. These Saturday night square dances would often lead to Sunday morning church sermons. A community formed around the Ashland Church (which is now vacant) and the Dewey Ranch.

The Burtis family name became well known in Manhattan, Kansas. Orville Burtis and Dan Casement, a Manhattan cattleman, were fellow businessmen and great friends. Casement was the main force behind Orville becoming President of the American Quarter Horse Association. In 1953, Orville was elected as the President of AQHA and served two terms. He bred and owned his quarter horses. His standing in society was higher than other farmers because he was a both a farmer and stockman. He provided horses and cattle to surrounding farmers (“Orville Burtis”).

A woman with an extremely tiny waist wore the mourning outfit. The bodice, which pairs with the cummerbund, measures only twenty inches around the waist, while the cummerbund is a mere twenty-eight inches. If this bodice were sold in stores today, it would be in the XXS section, which is nonexistent in most stores (“Out There Clothing”). In other words, a shopper would have to venture into the children/tween’s section for a size that petite. The cummerbund, at least three sizes larger than the bodice, could be found in the women’s medium section. Marla Day, the curator of the Historic Costume and Textile Museum at Kansas State University, struggled to find a mannequin that 

could wear the entire outfit and had to settle with dressing a modern-sized mannequin in only the cummerbund.

Mourning outfits, or widow’s weeds—an expression designating a woman dressing in black clothing, were made of crepe, wool, silk, cotton, or a blend of these fabrics (Loeffel-Atkins 21). However, the most popular material was crepe. The term “weeds” comes from the garments becoming a rusty color with age (Loeffel-Atkins 21). The cummerbund is comprised of two different overlapping materials. The center diamond shape is made of black mourning crepe, or silk crepe. Its texture looks like crepe paper that people use to decorate a child’s birthday party. Silk crepe is a very lightweight material and thus perfect for layering. It is made with “tightly twisted weft yarns, or filling, running in reverse directions from left to right” (“Silk de Crepe”). Within the diamond there are three vertical lines created by ruched folds. Although not perfectly straight, the folds create an added flair to the piece that is just simple enough not to draw too much attention. 

The rest of the cummerbund is made of silk taffeta. This material is used for the bands surrounding the center as well as for the knotted work that outlines the diamond shape. The taffeta constructs two different layers. The top layer slopes toward the middle and connects to three knots surrounding the center, while the middle layer creates the three knots surrounding the top of the center. Compared to the silk crepe, the silk taffeta has a shinier, more lustrous finish (“Silk Taffeta”). Framing the edges of the taffeta pieces are thirty-two French knots, sixteen on each side of the center. The French knots are roughly the size of an eraser tip and spaced an inch to an inch and a half apart. After years of wear, they are slightly coming undone. Like the French knots, the pleating on the taffeta is almost unrecognizable. What once could have been delicate and precise folds now make the garment look like it should visit the dry cleaners to steam out some wrinkles.

The final pieces to this cummerbund are the four pairs of hook and eye clasps on the ends. On the left side rest the black eyes, four evenly spaced along the six-inch wide cummerbund. They sit neatly in ruched lines. On the opposite end and on the underside of the garment are the hooks, also black. The ends of the cummerbund are fraying, which could easily have been caused from normal wear and tear over time.

While the bodice of the mourning outfit is not the focus of this project, it provides insight into the origin of the cummerbund. A tag inside of the bodice indicates that the items were created in Paris by Madame Percheron.

Unfortunately, scouring the web for Madame Percheron did not return any search results. The only conclusive evidence the label provides is that this item was made in Paris. In all 

likelihood, it was purchased there as well. It would make sense that the mourning outfit would originate from Paris, as mourning culture began across the pond.

In the nineteenth century, death was common. War raged across the world, childbirth was dangerous for women, and babies did not have high survival rate. Victorians were one of the first societies to grasp on to the presentation and act of mourning. Mary Brett claims that “death was not the most tragic event for Victorians, but to die unremembered and not mourned was greatly feared” (17). Families and friends of the deceased would host extravagant funerals and commemorate their lives by creating jewelry of teeth or hair, wreaths, clocks, poetry, portraits, paintings, or anything else they thought could capture the essence of their lost loved ones.

Victorian-era Americans took their cues from England. They copied the images of Queen Victoria, who made the “ritual of mourning fashionable” (Loeffel-Atkins 6). Like the royal Queen, Americans also had loved ones to mourn, and what better way to do that than by expressing their sorrow and grief through art.

The mourning process, for women, lasted for at least three months, yet depending on her emotional ties to the deceased, mourning could span for a duration of several years. For men mourning their wives, the period of mourning was only three months. This shortened period allowed for the husband to return to work.

Mourning did not occur in one fell swoop; it had many stages. “Slowly the widow would go through the mourning stages, from first mourning, second mourning, ordinary mourning and finally light or half mourning” (Loeffel-Atkins 25). As one progressed through the stages, the restrictions lessened and flare could be added to the outfit. In second mourning, the woman could put away the mourning veil and begin donning clothing in colors other than black, such as white cuffs and sleeves. In the final stage of mourning, the widower was “reintroduced into society” and returned to life as usual (Loeffel-Atkins 21). 

It is highly likely that Gertrude Burtis’s mother Elisabeth was the original wearer of our cummerbund. The date range of her life, 1870-1938, corresponds with the creation date of the cummerbund. Elisabeth and Walter lived in London; it would not have been hard for them to make an occasional trip to France. In one of these visits, they could have purchased the mourning outfit.

Gertrude Burtis also could have purchased the mourning outfit. In 1947, Gertrude vacationed to Paris, France (Passenger List). Although this item is from the 1890s, she could have discovered this treasure in an antique store or vintage shop. However, my belief is that Elisabeth Harling purchased this item in the 1890s, which means it migrated to the United States with her when she and her husband came to Utah.

Because this mourning cummerbund was not sewn together until the 1890s, it could not have been worn for a funeral during the Civil War era. Instead it could have been worn to mourn family and friends who died in childbirth, from diseases, etc. Since the cummerbund has a waist size that is eight inches longer than the bodice, the purchaser of the outfit could have stored it away for years until it was necessary to wear it. By that time, the outfit would have been too small. The bodice is a much more intricate piece of clothing, therefore the price of adjusting it would have been a large sum. However, the cummerbund is a much smaller item and would not cost nearly as much to enlarge; it could probably even be done by hand at home.

In 1922, Orville and Gertrude’s infant son died. It is unknown whether he died in childbirth or months later. Regardless, the Burtis family would need to mourn the loss of their second-born son. This could be an instance where the cummerbund would have been taken out of storage and worn.

No actual fact proves when, where, or why the cummerbund would have been worn. All of these previously stated ideas are just postulations. Regardless of the facts, this item was considered important enough to be saved and later donated to the Kansas State University Historic Costume and Textile Museum. Luckily for me, this cummerbund was in the museum’s inventory; it allowed me to delve into the fascinating history of mourning culture. 

1889 Mourning Ad. Digital image. Art of Mourning. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2014.

Bingham-Gutierrez, Kari. “Bodice Tag.” 2014. JPEG file.

Burtis Butler, Karen. Living On The Dewey Ranch: A Young Girl's Perspective. 2006. VF. Konza Prairie, History of: Manhattan, Kansas.

Four Generations: Seasons Greetings. N.d. Photograph. Morse Department of Special Collections, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas.

Kansas State University. Royal Purple. Student Publications, Inc.: 1916.

“New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957.” Ancestry.com. Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2010. Web.

"Orville Burtis." American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame & Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.

“Size Chart.” Out There Clothing. Np., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.

"Silk Crepe De Chine Fabric Information." Silk Crepe De Chine Fabric Information. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.

"Silk Taffeta Fabric Information." NY Fashion Center Fabrics. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.

United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls.

“U.S., World War I Selective System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-18, Record of Orville Brown Burtis; City: Fredonia; County: Wilson; State: Kansas.” Ancestry.com. Ancestroy.com Operations Inc., 2005. Web.

Zernike, Kate. "Sizing Up America: Signs of Expansion From Head to Toe." The New York Times. The New York Times, 29 Feb. 2004. Web. 17 Dec. 2014.