this period, advertisements in the same publications promoted the sale of corsets with enthusiasm.In the United Kingdom, publications in which the controversy raged included The Times, The Lancet, Queen, The Scotsman, Ladies Treasury, The Englishwomen's Domestic Magazine, and All the Year Round. In the United States, the Chicago Tribune commented that English journalists discussed both sides of the controversy "with very great fervor and very little common sense," though it published its own contributions. Other American newspapers and periodicals also participated, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, the Hartford Daily Courant, the North American Review, and The Saint Paul Daily Globe. Other parts of the English-speaking world joined from time to time, reprinting articles from England and America, as well as contributing their own. Even provincial newspapers such as the Amador Ledger of California, the Hobart Town Courier, the Otago Witness, and the Timaru Herald of New Zealand had their say. The line between wearing corsets in general and tight lacing in particular was never drawn precisely. Many detractors denounced both, obviating the distinction, while many advocates endorsed both. Additionally, many women who wore corsets denied that they tight-laced, adding confusion to the controversy. The West Coast Times wrote that "consequences of tight lacing are universally admitted," yet ladies' denial persisted. They preferred to claim that their small waist was "a gift of Nature" and that they wear a corset for "comfortable, if not necessary support." Corsets and fashion The dominant aesthetic of the mid-nineteenth century called for full skirts. Prior to the common wearing of the crinoline, several petticoats were worn in order to provide this fullness. A corset, used to constrict the waist and create slenderness, also accentuated a full skirt through comparison. The Saint Paul Daily Globe wrote of corsetry: There were countless denunciations. Fashions that required a tiny waist were deemed oppressive. One such appeared in the Chicago Tribune Yet some women professed to enjoy the practice. A letter to the Boston Globe reads A reader wrote to The Toronto Daily Mail insisting that only those who had experienced tight lacing could understand its pleasures The editor of the "Women's Chats" section of the West Australian advocated "tight lacing in moderation" A corsetiere described how women might attain the desired waist size Medical criticism Many doctors railed against the practice of tight lacing as decidedly harmful. Some women responded to their