Studio Tableau of Martha Washington&amp;#8217;s Tea Party, ca. 1890
Americans have long been fascinated by the country&amp;#8217;s colonial past. The historical foundations of the nation held a particular appeal in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when many Americans viewed the rapid influx of immigrants from eastern and southern Europe as a threat to the American way of life.&nbsp;
Even in Wisconsin, where direct ties to Plymouth Rock and the Founding Fathers are tenuous, colonial revival sentiments inspired historic preservation efforts and influenced popular taste. In the 1890s in the Mississippi River town of Alma, photographer Gerhard Gessel portrayed his wife and her friends in his studio enacting &amp;#8220;Martha Washington&amp;#8217;s Tea Party,&amp;#8221;&nbsp;dressed to the hilt in 18th century-style fashions.
via: Wisconsin Historical Images WHi-25934, Wisconsin Historical Society
read more: Mary Miley Theobald, &amp;#8220;The Colonial Revival: The Past That Never Dies,&amp;#8221; Colonial Williamsburg Journal, Summer 2002