possibly noteworthy wrote:

The rise of the handkerchief was not simply a function of shifting social mores. It was also a part of the "civilizing process" through which the haves became readily distinguishable from the have-nots.

Like much contemporary social criticism, Cooper's story lamented women's extraordinary expenditures for "fancy articles," the ribbons, trimmings, and "gew-gaws" so prized as emblems of nineteenth-century fashion sense. Such wasteful spending on luxuries, the tale suggested, was an indication that American women were losing that crucial frugality central to their identity as mothers and housewives. "What young man," a concerned father asks, "will dare to choose a wife from among young ladies who expend so much money on their pocket handkerchiefs?"

Oh, to long for the anxieties of times past.

what 1842
when starvation even in the west was a real possibility, not to mention small pox, cholera, typoid etc even more crude dentistry, slavery if you were an american black, no antibiotics, don't be a woman or gay
debt would likely lead u to jail
if u think the criminal justice system now is crude then ...

bear in mind no divorce so marrying a woman who couldn't manage a household budget could lead to poverty and prison for debt

need i go on
there is a lot of subtext to what seems like a frivolous anxiety

the anxieties of times past... depended even more than now on class, gender, wealth, health

different just different