There are many styles of collars from A to Z, and quite frankly not too many of us actually think of them. Collars are just … there. Fewer still know the history of collars, which date back thousands of years, but the collars related to shirts and blouses today, were not regularly worn until about 100 years ago. It was before that, detachable collars were the preferred choice from about 1830 to the 1920s, and there were old-timer holdouts that wore them into the 1930s. In the Montgomery Historical Society’s Addison-Gandy House lies a collar box, a container that housed the detachable collars of John B. Addison (1857-1905) and his wife, Martha Bowe Davis Addison, a daughter of Sarah and Judge N. H. Davis. The house was built in 1892, and on a vanity dressing table in the couples bedroom is an elaborate collar box showing a soldier on a horse in full gallop, and it contains numerous starched collars for both John and Martha.
The collar box itself is an expensive piece, and would have been a treasure in the Addison household 120-134 years ago. John wrote his name on the collar, which indicates that it was likely laundered regularly, being sent out to a local washer-woman to be cleaned and starched. Besides the starched collars, also available were celluloid, paper, and soft collars, and they were used mostly with a collarless half-packet (which buttons half-way down the shirt) and then the coat-shirt, which is the same as a modern button down shirt with a collar.
The collars had button holes, two in the front, and one in the back, that corresponded to the button holes in the shirt, and were attached with swivel head studs. For the non-starched version a tie would be worn over the collar, and to prevent riding-up in the back would have used a tie-retainer or clip. If a starch collar was used, the tie would have to be loaded into the collar, then attached to the shirt, before tying the tie.
In addition to the collars, detachable cuffs were used for both men and women. There were two types, a barrel cuff and a kissing cuff (more aligned with modern cuffs used with a cuff link). Cuffs would be worn over the shirt, since a jacket would be worn over the devices. A metal cuff-holder would be used to attach the barrel cuff to the shirt, and a bachelor button would be used in the place of a cuff link. The kissing cuff used the cuff link through both the shirt and cuff without the use of a cuff holder. It’s unknown if Mr Addision owned a shirt front, or a fancy fake shirt, that was aesthetically pleasing to the eye that did not wrinkle and could be easily laundered and starched. The shirt front would be attached to the top trouser button, and the shirt collar stud. 
Living in the Victorian and Edwardian times, for the upper middle class and above was a bit of a hassle in regards to getting dressed for men and women, but life was not as fast as it is nowadays. They had the time to dress. Other options would have been a sleeveguard (a sort of garter belt for the arm) if the sleeves were too long for your arms, and a waistcoat would be used before the actual jacket is placed. So with all the layers, especially in the summer, being in the outfit of the day could have been unbearable, especially in Montgomery, Texas. And you have to think that conditioned air wouldn’t have been available in Texas until the movie houses installed air conditioners to get viewers in seats starting in the 1920s.
Martha Adams Gandy, Nathaniel Davis’ great-granddaughter, would inherit the house from her mother Lu Delle, and the dwelling would be donated to the Montgomery History Society in 1997. The collar box is but one of the items in the Addison-Gandy House, which holds many historical items that define Montgomery, and the citizens of over 120 years ago that defined the town.