Thanks very much to Karin, Dave and Aidan for their really interesting and
researched replies! I'd forgotten everything about the existence of what we
would have called a dressing table set, even though I remember sewing such a
set at primary school. I'll pass the information on to my friend.
Many thanks
Rhian
-----Original Message-----
From: Karin
Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2012 7:51 PM
To: powys(a)rootsweb.com
Subject: Re: [POWYS] Wedding presents
Hello Rhian,
I admit that a knowledge of German in this case helped; people think of
toilets now as strictly porcelain conveniences but in other languages it
refers to the actual toilette. I checked on google
(
http://www.wordnik.com/words/toilet-cover) and found the following:
quote
n. A cover for a toilet-table, formerly often of rich stuffs, embroidery,
etc., in later times more commonly of washable material decorated with
ribbons, etc., which can be detached.
unquote
There are further examples on the web page; I think this fits with your list
Regards
Karin
-----Original Message-----
From: powys-bounces(a)rootsweb.com [mailto:powys-bounces@rootsweb.com] On
Behalf Of Rhian Williams
Sent: May-27-12 2:24 PM
To: WLS-Powys
Subject: [POWYS] Wedding presents
This isn’t a Powys question and only borderline family history really, but I
thought it might be interesting and maybe someone could help me. I hope it
will be Ok with John.
My friend was looking at a list of the wedding presents her grandparents had
received in rural Merionethshire in 1906 kept in the family with their
marriage certificate and a poem written by a local poet. Although a Welsh
speaking couple, the list is written in English as taught at school, and is
full of the usual small things – crockery, cutlery, linen of various kinds,
fire implements and the odd 10/- (10 shilling) note, which would have been
quite a sum in that period.
Two people, or two families, had given something we couldn’t quite identify.
We knew what a table cloth and a table cover were (this latter we thought
was a chenille cloth with a fringe for putting on the dining table when not
in use or to protect the surface under the cloth, often dark green or
maroon) but what would a toilet cover be? They were given two of them. Their
actual toilet (WC) would have been down the bottom of the garden and may not
have had a lid at all, so I doubt that it would have been a cloth or knitted
cover for the toilet lid. Anyway wasn’t that a fashion that started about
the 1950s? It definitely wouldn’t be what Wikipedia calls a toilet cover
today – a paper toilet seat cover! We speculated whether the word toilet
might refer to an older usage, washing ourselves in days before bathrooms.
So might it be a ewer and basin? Or maybe the cloth runner that went on top
of the chest of drawers in the bedroom on which the basin and ewer stood?
Any other suggestions or knowledge?
Thanks for any contribution
Rhian
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