Iowa’s “First Couple” donned the costumes of two historic Iowa figures for their appearance at this weekend’s “Famous Iowans” party at the State Historical Building.Governor Tom Vilsack came dressed as Senator James Harlan, a Mount Pleasant Republican who was appointed to the U-S Senate in Abraham Lincoln’s day. Harlan’s daughter ended up marrying Lincoln’s son, Robert. Christie Vilsack came dressed as Amelia Bloomer, the woman who popularized a new mode of dress for women. Mrs. Vilsack wore a vintage costume Saturday night, a shorter skirt worn over full-legged pants called bloomers, of course. Bloomer, who moved from New York to Council Bluffs later in life, printed a newspaper, which pressed for getting women the right to vote. A group of Des Moines-based reporters went to the party as “The Iowa Caucuses” — with a person dressed as “I.M. Forrsayle” — a 2004 candidate for president.
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