Emma Hendel wore her white satin
corset with ribbon and lace trim on October 22, 1885, exactly one hundred and
twenty-seven years, to the day, before I wrote this object exercise. On that
day, Emma married Isaac Young Spang in front of at least seven hundred guests
at Trinity Lutheran Church in Reading, Pennsylvania.[1]
One of the local newspapers, the Reading
Eagle, described the wedding as “the most brilliant matrimonial event of
the season.”[2]
The article described the entire event, from the rare and beautiful plants
surrounding the alter and the pulpit, to the crowd of guests craning their
necks to catch the first glimpse of the beautiful bride and her bridal party.
The organist,
Professor Berg, played Sodermann’s “Swedish Wedding March,” as two flower girls
began the ceremony, walking down the aisle in white tulle dresses with white
satin sleeves. Six ushers, including two lawyers and one doctor, followed the
flower girls. The bridesmaids walked one at a time; the first, Miss Sue Musser,
wore a yellow satin Charles Worth gown adorned with diamonds and a gold
necklace. The next bridesmaid wore a dress of cream-colored satin trimmed with
pearls and lace. Following her came another bridesmaid in a pink brocade dress
with diamonds, and the final bridesmaid wore a blue satin gown and diamond
jewelry. Finally, the bride, accompanied by her brother Henry B. Hendel,
entered the church. The article described, “The bride, who is a perfect blonde,
wore a magnificent costume of white corded silk, with flounced front of Duchess
lace, sparkling diamonds, long bridal veil, and bouquet of white narcissus.”[3]
Emma wore a wedding gown as impressive as the beautiful corset she sported
beneath. The corset gave Emma the desired figure of a woman of her age and
status, and reflected the glamour and ornament of the entire event. Because of
the extravagance of the event, it is likely that the corset was designed
specifically for her wedding and that Emma never wore the corset again after that
day.
Following the
magnificent ceremony, Emma and her new husband Isaac Spang proceeded down the
aisle while Professor Berg played Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March.” The couple and
their guests made their way to the wedding reception, held at the house of
Emma’s brother, Henry Hendel. The mansion was located at 133 N. Fourth Street
in Reading, Pennsylvania. The new couple lived most of their married lives just
a few houses down, at 100 N. Fourth Street.[4]
Though Henry’s entire home was open to guests, every room overflowed with
beautifully costumed people and African American servants waiting on them.[5]
A vast assortment
of refreshments filled the dining room, including coffee, macaroons, ice cream,
sandwiches, and over three hundred pounds of oranges, pears, bananas, and
grapes. The bridal cake weighed twenty pounds and was decorated with a vase
full of artificial flowers. The couple served at least three other cakes, which
included one adorned with a sixteen-inch high anchor, one decorated with a
wedding bell, and another representing two hands clasped together. In an
upstairs room, the couple displayed their wedding gifts. These gifts included a
solid tea set made of hammered silver, a set of hand painted China, a red and gold
China chamber set, and an Egyptian clock surmounted with a gold bust of Abraham
Lincoln. At promptly ten o’clock, the newlyweds bid adieu to their guests and
made their way to the train station. There, they boarded a train to Harrisburg
where they spent their first night as a married couple, and then continued west
towards Colorado.
Emma, born in
March of 1865, was just twenty years old on her wedding day. The description of
the Hendel-Spang wedding is like something out of a fairytale. But the life of Emma
Hendel prior to her wedding was not as lavish as this description leads one to
assume. Emma’s father, Levi Hendel, was born in 1809 in Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania. In 1813, when Levi was just four years old, he was orphaned and indentured
to a neighboring farmer.[6]
When Levi completed his term of servitude in 1823, he apprenticed with a hatter,
and soon became an expert hat maker. He married in 1832 and had six children
who lived to adulthood.[7]
With two of his sons, Levi founded the hat company Levi Hendel & Sons in
1860. Around this time, his first wife passed away and he remarried Susanna
Will in 1862.[8]
Emma Hendel was the only child of Levi Hendel and Susanna Will who lived passed
infancy, and was born just three years before her father passed away. Emma
spent her childhood living with her mother and aunt in the countryside.[9]
The Hendel family
hat company changed its name slightly several times throughout the latter half
of the nineteenth century. It is likely that the company did not become extremely
profitable until the mid-1870s. Once the hat company became successful, Emma’s
half brothers became members of the boards of directors at several local banks,
and their fortunes continued to grow. It is likely that one or several of her
brothers financed their sister’s magnificent wedding, and helped her and her
new husband financially in the first years of their marriage.
When I discovered
the lengthy, detailed newspaper article about the Hendel-Spang wedding, I could
not contain my excitement. I imagined the butterflies that must have floated in
Emma’s stomach as she stepped into her chemise and then stood still as a
servant laced her wedding corset tightly. In my mind, I could see Emma in her
white silk and lace gown, with her long veil cascading over her blonde hair,
surrounded by bridesmaids in yellow, cream, pink, and blue satin. I wondered
who had arranged the details of the ceremony and reception, and if Emma had
chosen the dresses her bridesmaids wore, the diamond rings she gave them, or
the music that played as she walked up the aisle. I imagined the elegant
mansion she must have lived in, the canopy bed she surely slept in, and the
number of servants her family surely employed.
And then my mind
stopped and adjusted its picture as I discovered the history of her family. Her
father Levi had been an indentured servant, worked hard his entire life to open
a business, and helped his sons make their own incredible fortunes. Emma’s
mother had been widowed after just five years of marriage, raised Emma with the
help of her own sister, and never again married. I wondered how lavish Emma’s
early life was, if at all. I wondered how her relationships with her brothers had
developed as she grew older. I considered the beautiful corset that she wore
hidden beneath her striking wedding gown, for her and Isaac’s eyes only. The
primary sources I discovered when researching the life of Emma Hendel Spang
certainly left an impression on me. The discovery of her early life allowed me
to change my perception of this special corset; it was not a guaranteed part of
her life. The corset embodies the American Dream; it is evidence of the
self-made men that her father and brothers were, and the acceptance into a
society she now officially belonged to.
 |
| The interior of Trinity Lutheran Church, as it appears today. On the day of Emma's wedding, the church was overflowing with ornate decorations and magnificently dressed guests. |
[1]
All information describing the wedding and reception of Emma Hendel and Isaac
Spang that follows is cited from Reading
Eagle, “The Spang-Hendel Wedding,” 23 October 1885.
[2]
Ibid.
[3]
Ibid.
[4]
1920 United States Federal Census Record.
[5]
Reading Eagle.
[6]
Morton Montgomery, Historical and
Biographical Annals of Berks County Pennsylvania (Beers Publishing Company:
Chicago, 1909), 648.
[7]
Ibid.
[8]
Ibid.
[9]
1870 United States Federal Census Record.
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