Polka Dots: From Whence the Name?

Katherine Hepburn

Polka dots are assumed to have an association with the Polka dance, which became a European rage in the mid 19th century.

The Polka from 1844 sheet music.

The music is 2/4 time.

Although there is some dissension among Eastern European folklorists, most writing on origins of the dance indicate the name comes from the Czech word půlka for half, referring to the half-steps or hops dancers take.

An 1881 humorous essay from the Columbus, Ohio Capital

"From whence comes the polka-dot...?"

Gloria Swanson

But no one can tell us how polka became the name for a dotted pattern other than the generalization that Polka-mania inspired terms for fashion like Polka Skirts. Women dancing the Polka sometimes wore specific dress inspired by folk costumes.

1850s by Franz Antoine

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/269226

The conventional wisdom on the internet is that the earliest printed reference for Polka Dot is said to be an 1857 caption in Godey's Lady's Book, a “Scarf of muslin, for light summer wear, surrounded by a scalloped edge, embroidered in rows of round polka dots.”

I have not been able to find the actual reference. The closest thing might be this July, 1857 plate showing children's clothing in July, but that is a bonnet not a scarf.

Never mind, the internet is wrong. 1857 is not the earliest printed reference. A fifteen-minute search through Newspapers.com reveals several earlier advertisements.

In September, 1850 the ladies of Charleston, South

Carolina could find "New Styles Polka Dot Muslin De Lains"

at Ketchum & Taylor.

Perhaps something like this wool/cotton combination purple

dot in a later log cabin block.

Delaine was a printed, mixed-wool fabric.

Over a year earlier one could buy similar fabric in silk in New Orleans.

This ad from April 21, 1849 advertises

"Changeable Polka Spot Silks"

and "Very Rich Polka-spot Foulard Silks"

Unknown couple, 1861-1865

A foulard print meant a specific type of design repeat,

a simple figure dropped half way as it progressed across the surface,

creating a diagonal pattern.

Polka spots & polka dots.

Polka spots also found in an 1849 reference when the Richmond, Virginia's Southern & Western Literary Messenger's fictional Edgar was looking to improve his wardrobe. The tailor dressed him in a "Cravat, Polka spot— vest, white ground, sprinkled with gnats. Edgar looked handsome in his new suit."

Alice B Haven's fiction in Godey's in 1859:
Mrs. Archer ...said: “Will you show me something for a child's dress medium colors for fall wear, a polka spot, or very small chintz figure on a plain ground."