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Brollywacker — Catfights of the Past 15
#catfight #new_jersey #american #girlfight #two_girls_fighting
Published: 2020-04-10 13:55:24 +0000 UTC; Views: 8376; Favourites: 31; Downloads: 0
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It seems that Mamie Herbett and Mabel Brown, "two lovely daughters of two prominent Pleasantville, NJ, families", both had eyes for George Woodward. They, along with the assistance of other "lively girls", arranged "to settle their differences according to pugilistic rules" in an "old barn on the edge of the village" ... at "three o'clock one Sunday morning". Originally to be a pugilistic fight, the two girls "had it out in grand style" and "nearly scratched each other's eyes out". Although "neither one won the prize" ... "when they got through with each other ... both were considerably damaged". While their intention may have been to adhere to Marquess of Queensberry rules, it's clear Mamie and Mabel ended-up in a catfight, which I'm sure the other young ladies of the village enjoyed immensely (only ladies were invited to watch).The cut is from the American tabloid, the "National Police Gazette" of September 27, 1890. However, it's been used to illustrate many different newspaper stories of the late nineteenth century.
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Comments: 9
I bet nobody recorded the fight with their phones...
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It wasn't usual, but some ladies did (like the women prize fighters of America and England in the nineteenth-century). Most girls and women settled their differences in less structured ways, by doing what comes naturally -- catfighting. That's what Mamie and Mabel did when it became obvious that they weren't adept at fist-fighting.
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From the written account in the "National Police Gazette" it sounds as though Mamie and Mabel's contretemps was a real "rip-snorter"! I'll bet their catfight was the talk of the village for ages and turned those young ladies who were in attendance into celebrities of-a-sort, since they and the two protagonists were the only sources of information concerning this rough-and-tumble tussle.
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It appears that the women of Pleasantlville have less than pleasant methods of sorting out their differences. Love the ladies' flying swishing skirts and flappimg ribbons! The lady on left's striped stockings are a cute detail. 
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But the young ladies of the village who were fortunate enough to be invited by Mamie and Mabel to watch their pugnastic display were apparently thrilled at the prospect and enjoyed every minute of it.
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Indeed! It appears that the Old Barn was the hottest ticket in town on that day for the lively ladies of Pleasantville. I'm sure that the spectacle inspired some of them to some tussling of their own in sorting out their own quarrels.
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