Look K

Description:

This white cotton boned corset was manufactured by the Warner Brothers Corset Company, which was co-founded by brothers Dr. Lucien Warner and Dr. Ira De Ver Warner in 1874. Both were prominent doctors who decided to abandon their medical practices in an effort to develop a more healthful, flexible corset. Before leaving his medical practice, Dr. Lucien Warner had traveled the United States lecturing about the negative effects of the corset, but his lectures had little impact because corset-wearing women had no alternative to the corsets available on the market. He left his medical practice, returned to his home in New York, and partnered with his brother to design a corset that provided the desired shaping, but had enough flexibility to allow for movement and to reduce injuries from compression. The Warner Brothers Corset Company went on to buy the patent for the brassiere in 1913.

Attribution:

Warner Brothers Corset Company

Date:

ca. 1905

Collection ID:

CCTC #1139

Notes:

Gift of Mrs. John B. Smelzer