Even though I grew up in Southern California, I never gave a thought to wearing a sunbonnet.
In those days, we frolicked in the sunshine and watched our hair sun-bleach and our skin turn brown. Some of us got freckles but no one would be caught dead in a sunbonnet.
It was different long ago.
My first introduction to the concept was from Mrs. Ingalls in the Little House books and her continual admonition, “Laura, wear your sunbonnet.”
Why? Was she worried about ultraviolet light?
Of course not. Mrs. Ingalls was concerned about her daughter’s complexion. A sunbonnet was designed to protect her skin.
Sunbonnets needed for beauty.
Women have been wearing hats and bonnets for hundreds of years to protect their skin. A pale white visage was considered a fashion ideal.
Some women went so far as to take small doses of deadly arsenic in an effort to keep their faces pale.
Today, a calico sunbonnet is a throwback to our pioneer past. Women working on the farm, hiking across the prairie, threshing the crops, and spending so much time out of doors are almost always depicted as wearing a sunbonnet.
That’s how you know the era.
What does a sunbonnet represent?
I chose the title for my novella, The Sunbonnet Bride, for several reasons: to identify the time period, to focus the story on a young woman, to suggest outdoor work, friendliness, and homespun practicality.
I put all those characteristics into my heroine Sally.
But I also wanted to write a story about a young businesswoman in a man’s world and at that time, women tended to work alongside their husbands or as teachers or seamstresses.
Sally is a seamstress. The sunbonnet is her signature product in 1875 Nebraska.
Early in the story, her younger sister Lena marvels at the clever sunbonnet Sally constructed for her. Sally’s bonnet makes use of the same reeds that Ewan, Kate, and Malcolm turned into reed pipes in The Yuletide Bride.
Sally cuts the reed when it’s young. She soaks it in water to keep the thin reeds pliable until she can form them into the brim of her prize sunbonnets.
A tornado?
I’m sure it’s been done before, but I wanted her to create a product that would withstand the instigating drama of the story: a tornado.
After Lena’s sunbonnet comes through the tornado in one piece, the traumatized teenager picks up a needle at her sister’s work and embroiders a reminder.
Using gray silks, Lena whips her fingers round and round to create a small tornado on the side of her sunbonnet.
Sort of like a team logo.
Sally loves what her sister has done and the two set to work to help redeem the horror of that damaging tornado for the women whose lives were changed.
In The Sunbonnet Bride, the sunbonnets fashioned by Sally and ornamented by Lena become not just a screen from the sun, but a reminder of resiliency in the face of severe challenges.
A far healthier statement, fashion or otherwise, for a young woman with dreams and hopes for her future.
Tweetables
Sunbonnets for fashion or health? Click to Tweet
A surprising use for reeds in 1875 Nebraska. Click to Tweet
Tornados and sunbonnets? What’s a girl to do? Click to Tweet
I can remember laying out in the sun to tan. I was given a sunbonnet by a 90 year old woman I was taking care of. I don’t wear it often but I do wear it occasionally.
Ma Ingalls would occasionally be proud of you! 🙂