History in Crochet

[ReniC]

Ida McKinley became First Lady in 1897 when her husband William succeeded to the White House for his single presidential term. The two were wed in 1871 when the President-to-be had held the position of Stark County, Ohio, prosecutor. Their marriage was brought to an abrupt and tragic end in 1901 when President McKinley was assassinated. Before that, though, Mrs. McKinley endured her own struggles.

The First Lady was unlucky enough to suffer from poor health during her time in the White House. She was often confined to a bed, so she had time on her hands, and she eventually found a way to fill it: crocheting. That’s hardly an extraordinary habit. But what is extraordinary is the fact that she crocheted as many as 4,000 pairs of slippers while living in the White House.

Author Unknown-

[Lacycrochet]

Wow, what a great bit of history to learn.  Thanks for sharing this Reni.

[Granny Square]

Interesting, that is a LOT of slippers. 

Queen Victoria was also a crocheter and gave items away to some of her subjects.  And as I typed that, I had a little suspicion of another thing sort of in common, which I just verified - William McKinley and the Queen both died in 1901.  (Ida lived on until 1907)

Queen Victoria's scarves for Boer War heroes.

[ReniC]

1 hour ago, Granny Square said:

Interesting, that is a LOT of slippers. 

Queen Victoria was also a crocheter and gave items away to some of her subjects.  And as I typed that, I had a little suspicion of another thing sort of in common, which I just verified - William McKinley and the Queen both died in 1901.  (Ida lived on until 1907)

Queen Victoria's scarves for Boer War heroes.

Well, that is interesting. I had previously read about the scarves by Queen V but did not know they were a Granny Stitch type. Fun trivia for sure.

Edited February 25, 2023 by ReniC