blouses--a kind of hunter's frock, made at first of brown holland, belted
at the waist, these being gradually developed into garments of gay-colored
chintz, sometimes, it was said, an economical transformation of their
sisters' skirts or petticoats. All the young men of this party but Dana
wore these gay garments, and bore on their heads little round and
visorless caps with tassels."

"I was but twice at Brook Farm," Higginson continues, "once driving over
there to a fancy ball at 'the Community,' as it was usually called, where
my cousin Barbara Channing was to appear in a pretty Creole dress made of
madras handkerchiefs. She was enthusiastic about Brook Farm, where she
went often, being a friend of Mrs. Ripley.... Again, I once went for her
in summer and stayed for an hour, watching the various interesting
figures, including George William Curtis, who was walking about in
shirtsleeves, with his boots over his trousers, yet was escorting a young
maiden with that elegant grace which never left him. It was a curious fact
that he, who was afterwards so eminent, was then held wholly secondary in
interest to his handsome brother Burrill, whose Raphaelesque face won all
hearts, and who afterwards disappeared from view in England. But if I did
not see much of Brook Farm on the spot, I met its members frequently at
the series of exciting meetings for Social Reform in Boston."

Other reminiscences of Brook-Farmers tell of the Curtis brothers and their
active part in the amusements of the place. They were leaders among the
young people, and they had those gifts of social guidance which placed
them at the head of whatever entertainment was being organized. Their
grace of manner and beauty of face and figure also won consideration for
them, so that they were accepted into every circle and found friends on
every hand. It seems that Burrill was at this time regarded as the
handsomer, but in time George gained the chief place in this regard. Their