OCTOBER 25 ISSUE ANSWERS: In 1827 Hannah Montague created the idea of the detachable collar in order to fulfill her husband’s wishes to have a clean shirt every day. It was a much simpler and cheaper task to change a collar than to prepare a clean shirt. Eventually the spread of these time and labor saving collars could be ordered from a general or department store. They often came in decorative boxes with little built in, pop up compartments on top that held studs to secure the collar in place. The boxes were made of a kind of stiff cardboard, wood or leather. These boxes were convenient for keeping the collars clean. The collars were made of linen or cotton and soaked in a wheat paste/glue solution then dried. Then they were ironed. Some of them were three inches tall and made to sit high on the neck. The collars were so very popular with the working class that these workers came to be called “White collar workers.” By the 1930’s washing clothing was easier, shirts were less expensive and often mass produced. Thus, the sad disappearance of the once very popular, practical and decorative collar box. In the photo, beside the box is one of the styles of shirts that a detachable collar would have been adhered to. Please come in to the Bancroft/Stranahan Museum to feel and try on this accessory. Joan Emily Beringer, Romeo Historical Society staff