Images(5)

Dress, Wedding

Object number2014.112.1

Date1866

OriginCoburg, Bavaria

MediumFabric/Thread

Credit LineGift of Roberta Egelston

DescriptionWedding dress. Light blue fabric embroidered with pink/orange floral designs. Empire waist. Floor length. Puffed short-sleeved with twisted thread embellishments on top and underside of sleeves. Fabric "flower" embellishment at center of chest with pleats above and below. Fabric trim around bottom.Dimensions27.75 x 53 in. (70.5 x 134.6 cm)
Historical NotesPart of a collection of clothing from the donor Roberta Egelston's great-great-grandparents. This wedding dress was worn by Eva Barbara Dietz on August 26, 1866, when she married Martin Schuster in Coburg, Bavaria. Martin was the brewer and baker to Prince Ernest of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. He had been shipping beer he brewed to South America and lost a lot of money because he did not have other items coming back on the ships, because of this he decided to start again in America. The couple had four children, all born in Germany. In 1880, Martin came to America on the ship Mosel; he came to Pittsburgh and settled in Lawrenceville; the family thinks he had friends in the area. The next year his wife followed with her eldest and youngest daughter on the ship Elbe, their only son had died as a child. Their middle daughter Marie stayed behind to care for a relative and came in 1886/1887. Martin is listed as a laborer in the 1885 Pittsburgh Directory. In 1888, they bought property at 907-913 McCandless Avenue, but by the 1890 Directory they are listed at 5130 Butler Street where they owned a saloon and lived above it. Barbara cooked for the patrons. In 1894, Martin died suddenly of heart failure, he is buried in Allegheny Cemetery. Barbara remarried in 1903 and died in 1910, she is also buried in Allegheny Cemetery.

Previous owner Eva Barbara Dietz (died 1910)

Related person Martin Schuster (died 1894)

Subjects