Kilts in 19th century USA

[macwilkin]

I wish there were more pics of people in kilts that were more along the lines of a casual dress than trying to be the "peacock".

Something to keep in mind, though -- people in the 19th century dressed up to have their likeness taken -- unlike today, with the advent of digital photography (and for that matter, with the advent of portable cameras at the beginning of the 20th century), where we can take photos of "casual dress" in an everyday setting, people in the 19th century did not have their photos taken everyday, and many of them used photographs as a momento of a special occasion, such as Civil War soldiers going off to war.

Richard is quite correct; there were a number of Scottish organizations across the United States in the mid and late-19th century. Most were Caledonian and St. Andrew's Societies, although there were also a number of Burns Clubs -- the late historian Fernec Szasz notes that American Scots celebrated Burns's birthday more easily, given St. Andrew's Day (November 30th) being so close to American Thanksgiving.

There was also the Order of Scottish Clans, a 19th century fraternal order that had individual lodges that took the names of Scottish Clans and wore their tartans. The the late-19th century was a era of many fraternal groups, including a number of ethnic ones such as the OSC. Membership was popular among males as a form of entertainment and as a way to display your membership in a particular community. The OSC eventually disappeared after the Second World War, when new forms of entertainment, such as television, caused the demise of a number of fraternal groups.

T.