discriminated against them and their religious beliefs, Eastern European
Jews were forced to live as outcasts in their home countries. Facing lives
of poverty, starvation, and violence, two million Jews lef t their homelands
in search of better lives (Schrier 1994).
Like many immigrant families, Eastern European Jewish families of-
ten sent husbands and sons to America first to establish themselves and
get jobs before the women and children in the famil y made the voyage.
There was often a gap of one to three years before families were reunited,
and the men usuall y had adapted to the vastly different American lifestyle
within that gap. Americanized men and women were often ashamed of
their family members’ old-fashioned appearance when they came to
America. They did not want their family to look like ‘‘greenhorns,’’ and
they purchased new American clothing for their arrival.
No Wigs. In their homelands, Eastern
European Jewish women wore tradi-
tional dress, which included an uncor-
seted dress, an apron, and a headscarf.
Married Jewish women were expected
to cut their hair short and wear a sheitl,
a wig made of obviously artificial hair.
They did this in accordance with the
Jewish custom that required married
women to keep their hair covered at all
times. It was an act of modesty. When
they did not wear the wig, they wore a
headscarf to fulfill the custom.
On reaching American shores, most
married women were encouraged to give
up the custom and traditional dress by
their relatives or country people. This
was often a contentious decision for
older women, who felt they were sinning
and betraying their conviction to their
religion. They were usually encouraged
by their families to give up their old-
fashioned dress that made them look
older than they were.
Americanized relatives found sheitls
particularly embarrassing, because the
custom was very noticeable and unique
to their ethnic group. They found that
looking and acting ‘‘American’’ helped
them achieve success, and they were not
tolerant of outward appearances that
differentiated them. Not all women
could be persuaded, and many older
women especiall y, and grandmothers,
continued to wear traditional dress and
sheitls.
Typicall y, younger women who were
not strict observers of orthodox Judaism
quickly adopted fashionable American
dress. They usually worked in the gar-
ment industry, and being around the
latest fashions naturally piqued their in-
terest in wearing up-to-date garments.
They embraced tightly corseted waists,
shirtwaists with monobosoms, the full,
thick pompadour hairstyle, and enor-
mous, lavishly decorated hats.
The 1900s
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