18th Century Housewifes

Last updated: Jan 7, 2024

The housewife, or “hussif,” is a bit like an 18th century sewing kit (since many of them still contain pins, needles, and other sewing-related accoutrements). See also pocketbooks and wall pockets for related items.

But what has it got in its pocketses?

Descriptions in the Proceedings of the Old Bailey indicate that the pockets of 18th century housewifes contained coins and other small items of value. For example:

• “We searched her, and found 7 Guineas, 5 s. and 6 d. and a Gold Ring in a Housewife in her Pocket.” (Dec. 6, 1732, trial of Jane Murphey alias Macloughlane)
• “After that I found five shillings in silver in a housewife, put under her arm pit.” (Sept. 15, 1756, trial of Sarah Morgan)
• “she shewed me a housewife, in which there were two guineas and two half guineas” (Apr. 17, 1765, trial of Eleanor Johnson)
• “The lace that was found in the housewife, in a coat pocket, was my property; the housewife is not.” (Dec. 11, 1765, trial of Catherine Wilks)
• “The other took her money out of a housewife” (Jan. 15, 1767, trial of Elizabeth Merchant and Anne White)
• “They took my housewife and took out of it a pair of gold ear-rings, value 4 s. and an half crown; there was nothing else of value in it.” (Feb. 22, 1781, trial of Jane Vincent, Eleanor M’Cabe, and Mary Lilly)
• “ANN BRADY was indicted for stealing, on the 26th of May, one linen work-bag, value 1 d. one half crown, one French half crown, and five shillings, the property of William Mather. The prisoner came to live servant with the prosecutor, on the 22d of May, from a register office; on the 26th the prisoner was seen at the prosecutor’s desk, and the money was afterwards found in the prisoner’s box, in a housewife of Mrs. Mather’s; Jane Evans saw the prisoner at the desk; the desk was open, which the prosecutor’s wife was quite sure she locked and put the key in her pocket.” (June 25, 1788, trial of Ann Brady)
• “They took a 10 l. note out of my housewife; I do not know the date, or number of the note.” (May 23, 1792, trial of William Randall, James Leman Baker, and Mary Randall)
• “She had something of a twist about her finger, and I asked her about it, and she said she was at play the night before, and had broke her ring, and she pulled her housewife out of her pocket to shew me a ring, and she could not find it; but she found a mourning ring, which she said was her grandmother’s.” (Apr. 30, 1794, trial of Mary Thorpe)
• “In the pocket of Sarah Crutchley was found the silver breast buckle in a pocket-book or housewife.” (Feb. 15, 1797, trial of Ann Crocker and Sarah Crutchley)

The Old Bailey sometimes provides information about the housewifes themselves:

• “a Silk Housewife” (June 2, 1731, trial of Charles Ogilby and Samuel Larwood)
• “Said she, I have been buying a housewife, do you understand such things? … then talk about the housewife; I said, I do not think it is worth so much. O madam, said she, it is all needle-work, and gave it another tura up again. When she had doubled it up to her liking, which took up two or three minutes to do it, she clap’d it into her paper. Well, said I, here take your housewife; to my thinking, it is not worth above half a crown.” (Oct. 16, 1765, trial of Mary Goodwin)
• “a linen housewife, value 6 d.” (May 30, 1781, trial of William Jackson)
• “one linen housewife, value 2 d.” (June 29, 1785, trial of William Seddon)
• “a velvet housewife, value 6 d.” ()Feb. 27, 1788, trial of James Haylock)
• “a cloth housewife, value 6 d." (Feb. 15, 1792, trial of Charles Wiltshire and James Gillthorpe)

What is a hussif?

While many museums categorize these items as “sewing rolls,” many living history enthusiasts refer to them as “hussifs.” While the word “hussif” rarely appears in 18th century documents (and never, to my knowledge, is it used to describe one of these objects), it is likely how many English-speaking people would have pronounced the word, even if it was not spelled out this way in writing.

A Dutch/English dictionary from 1735 explains to its readers that some words in English just aren’t pronounced like they’re written:

Doch ’t komt aan vreemdelingen geweldig miſſelyk voor, als zy hooren dat de uytſpraakt zo byſter veel van de ſpelling verſcheelt, dat ’er byna geen overeenkomſt is; gelyk als Henketſjer voor Handkerchief; Sursjon voor Chirurgeon; Fleem voor Phlegm; Piepel voor People; Vittels voor Victuals; Huſſif voor Housewife, en Sennyt voor Sevennight.

(In the 19th century and into the 20th century, the word “hussif” is more often used to describe this sort of sewing roll, and becomes so separated from the word “housewife” that etymological dictionaries suggest completely different origins for the word; Skeat, for example, insists that “HUSSIF, a case containing thread, needles, and other articles for sewing,” really comes from the Icelandic word húsi, meaning a case.)

So, there you go: you can call it an 18th century hussif if you’re speaking about it, but if you’re writing about it, spell it out as “housewife” instead.

• Sotheby’s Schorsch Collection Lot 755, England, late 17th century
• Bonhams Oxford Fine Sale, Jul 1 2015, Lot 623, an early 18th century needlework hussif; “Featuring four pockets of brightly coloured silks, each one with an embroidered motif, including an 'A' monogram, a depiction of Queen Anne, the Manx triskelion and a crown with flowering tendrils, above four layered inverted red wool felt hearts, all worked in silk and metal threads, backed with foliate embroidered pink silk”
• RISD 14.061, a needle case embroidery fragment, Rhode Island, 18th century; silk embroidery in cross stitch and rococo stitch on a plain-weave cotton ground
• V&A T.282-1984, a sewing case with the name 'Mary Fox' and 'Falmouth' and covered in cross-stitch embroidery in “a repeating design of overlapping fan-shaped motifs in pinks, greens, blues, purples, browns and yellows, all outlined in black,” c. 1700-1750; “The case opens to reveal two embroidered canvas pockets lined with pink silk. The case is bound with pink silk. The inside pockets show two panels of embroidery. One shows a design in Florentine stitches of diamond motifs in pinks, blues, golds, browns and black. The other, which is worked in eyelet stitch, has a repeating design of strawberries in pinks and green on a white ground.”
• OSV 64.7.27, c. 1760-1800; a pocketbook with four scalloped leaves of dark olive green wool with napped surface which hold pins and needles
• Bonham’s Sale 12101, Lot 554, “an 18th Century silk and silver wire floral embroidered pincushion, with blue velvet ground, with red felt needle roll”
• MFA 54.1346, a sewing case, America, late 18th century; “long and narrow in shape, designed to be rolled up and tied, outside embroidered with polychrome silks in rococo stitch, design of assorted small squares, inside a series of brocade pockets designed to contain sewing equipment, at bottom a needle book of five leaves of red wool with pinked edges and cut out design, edges bound with green silk tape, tie of same tape.”
• PMA 1998-162-27, a pattern of strawberries in rococo stitch on linen canvas, with engraved silver clasp, thread compartments, and wool baize flaps for holding needles, America, late 18th or early 19th century
• V&A T.285-1984, a needlecase made by a resident of the West Country in England in 1754; “Folding sewing case with six inside sections, five pockets (two are sewn down) and a red flannel compartment for needles. The latter lifts away to show a white silk panel embroidered in red silk with a coronet, the initials 'S.H.' and the date '1754'. The outside of the case is lined with yellow figure satin of the 1720s and is edged with yellow silk braid, with a 46 cm (18 inches) long fastening ribbon to wrap around the case when folded and closed. The inside pockets are made from English woven ribbons of the 1720s (the blue and two yellow samples) and 1730s (green and cream), and a 1720s French silk brocaded is silver thread. One ribbon (of yellow with red design) has been used on its side. The open pockets are lined on one side with plain green silk.”
• Lucy Watson, Mrs. Thornton by Arthur Devis, 1755
• Portrait of an elegant young lady, circle of Arthur Devis, c. 1755
• Winterthur 2011.0045/Skinner Auction 2538B, Lot 47, a sewing roll (huswif) embroidered in flame stitch and inscribed “LP 1763” – see LACMA M.79.29 for a pocketbook with similar embroidery, inscribed “EP 1763” and thought to belong to a close relative
• Skinner Auction 3417T, Lot 2099, “stitched in shades of yellow, green, and brown, with divided interior lined in pink linen”
• Skinner Auction 2230, Lot 292; “Embroidered Wool and Silk Needle Case, probably Philadelphia, 1764, elongated rectangle, wool yarns with Irish stitch worked in a flame design in shades of red, yellow, blue, and green, one end stitched "LM 1764," silk-bound edges and lining”
• Winterthur 2002.0027.001, an embroidered sewing roll (huswif) made by Serepta Reeves in America and dated 1772
• Winterthur 1978.0122, a sewing roll (huswif) embroidered by Jane Grier of Norristown, Pennsylvania c. 1775-1780
• Winterthur 1966.1363, an embroidered sewing roll (huswif) made in America c. 1775-1825
• Winterthur 1966.1362, an embroidered sewing roll (huswif) made in Pennsylvania and dated 1776
• PMA 1910-178, a sewing case in brocaded satin with mirrors, tinsel, and beading, America, c. 1780
• Winterthur 1960.0196, a sewing roll (huswif) made of block-printed cotton, England, c. 1780-1800
• Winterthur 1969.3106, a sewing roll (huswif) made of block-printed cotton with cross stitches, made in America c. 1780-1810
• OSV 26.85.48, c. 1780-1820; “Housewife or sewing case pieced from three different fabrics. Trimmed with light blue silk tape. Inside material is an 18th-century embroidered silk, the fragment of a larger design. Worked in shades of green, yellow, cream and pink with silver threads on ribbed cream silk. Two red wool leaves. Other fabrics are late-18th century block-printed cottons in shades of pink and red, brown one has green and gold also.”
• Colonial Williamsburg 1971-1460, a sewing roll in natural-colored linen embroidered in black silk, including cross stitch on the pockets (“Polley / Harvey / 1790”); “The fourth section consists of a needlebook which is made from a piece of linen which is inserted between the front and back fabric and secured along the top. The overall effect is such that the top flap, which is embroidered with two squares and a geometric motif, lifts to reveal a piece of fabric that could be used to store needles. The reverse contains four open-ended tubes” which might have been used to store skeins of thread.
• Sewing roll-up or “huswif,” France or England, c. 1790; “Extremely delicate hand embroidered patterns decorate the pockets of this sewing roll-up. A peacock, a dove, a swan and a woven basket of flowers are enclosed in a border of polychrome vines. The scalloped edgings are in silver thread.”
• Patchwork pocket and housewife made by Sabra Gallup, New England, late 18th century
• Winterthur 1969.3107, a sewing roll (huswif) made of block-printed cotton with wool and silk, made in America c. 1795-1820
• Conestoga Auction Feb 27 2021, Lot 26, a Pennsylvania needlework sewing roll-up with floral tree needlework ("M * L / 1796"); lots 4 and 34 in the same auction appear to be from the early 19th century
• Colonial Williamsburg 1958-181, sewing case by Magdalena Gros, Pennsylvania, 1798; “This is a rectangular thread and needle case consisting of silk embroidery threads on a linen ground with printed cottons, and a striped linen backing. It has five pockets for holding materials. The sewing case is embellished in silk embroidered motifs consisting of small, angular motifs similar to those found on Pennsylvania German needlework. The flap has a star design and date of '1798' in cross stitch on natural linen. The bottom pocket has the maker’s name, 'MAGDAL/ENA GRO/GROS' and a flowering tree motif flanked by birds (weather-vanes?) worked in silk cross stitch embroidery (a sampler type exercise).”
• MFA 49.1011, a sewing case or housewife, England (used in Boston, Massachusetts), late 18th or early 19th century; “Red leather folding needle case with silver, engraved, urn-shaped clasp; long, narrow interior leather pockets, green silk satin pockets trimmed with green ribbon, white wool needle flaps trimmed with silver gimp over mirror”
• Maria Niforos LA-144, quilted “huswife” with bobbin lace edging the opening-slits, possibly Swiss; back is plain linen with the initials 'TG' embroidered in bright red
• Bonhams Sewing Boxes, Sewing Tools and Related Items, 12 Dec 2006, Lot 1587, a fine 18th century cream silk and polychrome silk embroidered hussif; “The colours bright and fresh, the outer cover vividly worked with a variety of flowers and trailing leaves, the interior with five silk skein compartments numbered '4/2/12/8/6' and worked along the length with vivid flowers and trailing leafy branches, the rectangular end with four graduated red needle flannels over a stiff card end worked with a scissor sheath flanked by a bodkin sleeve, both outlined in green stitching, the second flannel with two very fine needles, ribbon tie”
• Colonial Williamsburg 1971-1419, a pincushion, needlecase, and thimble-case c. 1800, “made from scraps of silk gowns worn by Martha Washington while mistress of the White House”