Figure 1.--Here we see one of Mr. Pennpacker's families at the Harrisburg train station. Thre are several serious costuming mistakes. Very few American boys wore knickers in the 1890s. Knee pants were th standard type of boys' trousers. Also white and light-colored as well as stripd long stockings were also not common. Although not iuniversals, black was the dominant color for long stockings. The striped sailor suit like the one the younger boys is wearing were not very common. stockings

Nice little movie about an eccentric businessman with two families. He is far away from our image of a sucessful businessman, but a free thinker. In addition to his eccentric views on a wide range of issues, he is also rather fopish. He commonly wears knickers. The film is set in staid 1890s Pennsylvania. Mr. Horace Pennypacker (Clifton Webb) certainly is remarkable. He manufactures sausage. He has two company offices in two different cities with families in each. There are a combined total of 17 children. With an office and home in Harrisburg and an office and home in Philadelphia, Mr. Pennyparketr manags n astonishing feat of time mangemnt juggling. The families are far enough apart that that he has successfully managed kept them separate and happy. It works perfectly well for 20 years. Than an emergency arises which brings Me. Penny packer;s carfeully ordered woeld crashing down. Daughter Kate in Philadelphia suddenly announces announces a surprise engagement. Horace hurries from Harrisburg to Philadelphia to deal with Kate. At the same time not knowing he is coming, Horace III heads for Harrisburg to warn him father about about a legal summons for promoting horor of horors, Darwinism. To the innoicent Horace III's surprise when he arrives in Harrisburg, he find a whole other family. His father's secret dual life is revealed. And Kate's wedding suddenly becomes problematic because her young man is the vicar's son. With so many children we have outfits for both genders and various ages. The New York Times describes them as a 'vast horde of highly costumed youngsters'. Some of the costuming is correct, but there are errors.

Created: 9:49 PM 1/15/2018
Last updated: 9:49 PM 1/15/2018