Pomquet Railroad Station. L-R: Simon Alfred Vincent, Jane Vincent, Effie Cross, Eddie Doiron and Lizzer, early 1900s. Courtesy of PomquetHéritage. Restoration: Betty Cameron.
In conversation with May (Doiron) Bouchard, June 23, 2014.
Going into Antigonish by train for the day meant dressing up. People would catch the early train in the morning and then come back in the afternoon.
Eddie Doiron was known as the Beau Brummel of Pomquet as he would always dress up.
Women would pull their hair into their hats and then put hat pins with a big pearl on the end, straight through, so their hats would not blow away.
In conversation with Anne Marie Doiron (her mother is a Vincent), June 23, 2014:
My grandfather, Simon Alfred Vincent, played the fiddle and liked to dance. (May Bouchard interjects here, “No one dances anymore. We need to dance.”)
I had to look up “Beau Brummell.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beau_Brummell
May Bouchard had the era right, but Beau Brummell, despite the name was an English dandy, not a French dancy:
George Bryan “Beau” Brummell (7 June 1778 – 30 March 1840) was an iconic figure in Regency England, the arbiter of men’s fashion, and a friend of the Prince Regent, the future King George IV. He established the mode of dress for men that rejected overly ornate fashions for one of understated, but perfectly fitted and tailored bespoke garments. This look was based on dark coats, full-length trousers rather than knee breeches and stockings, and above all immaculate shirt linen and an elaborately knotted cravat.
Beau Brummell is credited with introducing, and establishing as fashion, the modern men’s suit, worn with a necktie. He claimed he took five hours a day to dress, and recommended that boots be polished with champagne. His style of dress is often referred to as dandyism.