claims, saying that tight lacing was actually beneficial as well as enjoyable, but most women didn't agree and found tight lacing impractical since they had to work, others cited their own negative experiences with the practice. The following exchange, which took place during ten days in 1869 in the pages of The Times of London, gives a flavor of the discourse that volleyed back and forth for decades. The exchange was initiated by a note in the British medical journal, The Lancet, which was reprinted in The Times of London. A reader signing herself "Not a Girl of the Period" wrote a letter to The Times in reply A reader, signing herself "Anti-Slavery" countered The Lancet felt compelled to reply as well, expanding on its medical arguments Other readers wrote to extol the virtues of tight lacing The distinguished anatomist William Henry Flower in 1881 published a book demonstrating by text and illustrations the deformities caused to female anatomy by corsets. This did not prevent his wife and four daughters from wearing them. Mothers and daughters Women were expected to wear corsets, and introducing daughters to the practice was considered part of a mother’s duty. Just how and when might depend on the mother, the daughter, the place, and the time. However, some things were much the same everywhere. Three examples, one from the American frontier of 1880, another from London in 1907, and a third from 1883 are variations on the theme. Laura Ingalls Wilder was an American author who wrote a series of children's books based on her childhood in a pioneer family. Little Town on the Prairie is set in 1880 in South Dakota in an area recently settled. Despite being on the frontier, the women (and, in particular, the girls) were expected to behave according to the norms of the times. Its 1941 publication date takes it out of the "discussion" period, but as it was written as a children's book for girls, its account is unlikely to be spurious or a fantasy, so it serves as a reliable testament of some of the more curious practices such as sleeping in corsets. The family had four daughters, Mary, Laura, Carrie, and Grace, the youngest. Mary, the eldest, tries on a dress that is found not to fit until her corset is laced more tightly, leading to the following exchange: Readers wrote to The Gentlewoman describing personal