R&G No.297

United States

Produced from 1898-1901. A white colored jean corset with coutil bone casings made by R & G (Roth & Goldschmidt) in South Norwalk, Connecticut.
This era of corsets saw transitional styles between the Victorian hourglass corset and the straight fronted corset of the Edwardian era. Corsets from this turn of the century time period often have straight or slightly curved busks foreshadowing the S bend style yet still retain an hourglass shape.
This corset is stamped as being model no. 297. At the turn of the century, R & G produced a line of similar styled corsets in models no. 197- 497. No. 297 was described in the Canadian Eaton’s 1901 catalog as “Heavy jean with coutil strip, short over hip, lace trimmed, white, drab and black, sizes 18 to 30 $1.00″.
The corset is not lined and is bone with watchspring. A cotton twill tape with R&G no. 297 is placed on the inside waist.
Measurements: Bust/underbust 27 1/2″, Waist 20″, Hips 29″, Busk length 12”.