A journal kept by two children in 1908 refers to a day spent making
paper masks and dressing up as two characters -- "the Spaniard" and
"the old-fashioned girl" -- according to something (a play? a
children's story? a guidebook?) that the children probably misspell as
"the St. Nachol's."   I have tried this spelling and also "St.
Nicholas" but gotten nowhere in Google. Any idea what they may have
been getting their inspiration from in the summer of 1908?

Hello Mccook~

What fun that you have found an old journal; it must be fascinating.
I'm sure there are a number of puzzlements in it; thank you for
letting me help you solve this one :)

"St. Nicholas," as it turns out, was a popular American children's
magazine that began in 1873 and was published through 1939.

The magazine was mostly fiction, and was considered a quality source
for it. "St. Nicholas" carried the work of some well known writers; in
fact, the editor of the magazine, Mary Mapes Dodge, wrote the 1865
classic "Hans Brinker: The Silver Skates." Frances Hogdsen Burnett's
"Little Lord Fauntleroy" was first published in "St. Nicholas" in
1885. (She is better known today as the author of "The Little
Princess.") Other authors published in "St. Nicholas" include Mark
Twain, Louisa May Alcott, Robert Louis Stevenson, Bret Harte, Rudyard
Kipling, and L. Frank Baum. ("St. Nicholas Magazine,"
http://histclo.hispeed.com/art/illus/pub/p-snm.html )

The magazine also published the illustrations of many great artists,
including Maxfield Parrish and Howard Pyle. Here are two "St.
Nicholas" covers that might interest you, from the Ellis Parker Butler
website: http://www.ellisparkerbutler.info/epb/coverart.asp?p=St.+Nicholas+Magazine

In addition, here are some Maxfield Parrish illustrations in a bound
version of "St. Nicholas": http://www.the-forum.com/art/parrish5.htm

As an expert on antique clothing, I believe it's more than likely the
journal reference you mention actually refers to the children playing
"fancy dress," which was a popular past time in the 19th and early
20th century. "Fancy dress" was akin to masquerading, and could be in
the form of balls for adults, or parties for children--or even "make
believe costumes" for kids to put on when they were playing. I think
it's most likely "St. Nicholas" mentioned what some good fancy dress
costumes might be, and the children who wrote the journal took their
advice. The titles "The Spaniard" and (especially) "the old fashioned
girl" sound exactly like titles magazines of the period gave to fancy
dress costumes they described and/or illustrated.

It's also possible, I suppose, that "St. Nicholas" had a story that
contained the characters of a Spaniard and an old-fashioned-looking
girl, and the children were mimicking them.

I am 99% certain, however, that the children are referring to fancy
dress costumes. The only way to be 100% certain is to look over old
issues of "St. Nicholas;" unfortunately, I was unable to view any
issues for the year 1908.

As an aside, you might find this website interesting, as it includes
the contents for a number of older "St. Nicholas" magazines:
http://users.ev1.net/~homeville/fictionmag/b100.htm#A1201


Kriswrite


Keywords Used:
"St. Nicholas magazine"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22St.+Nicholas+magazine%22&btnG=Google+Search

"St. Nicholas magazine" 1908
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22St.+Nicholas+magazine%22+1908&btnG=Google+Search

Superb! Ace investigation. Thanks so much.