In the 19th century men and women wore gloves when they were outdoors. If a person could afford it, they had a wardrobe of gloves. There were gloves for visiting, shopping, attending events and all different occasions. Gloves were made of a variety of materials; kid leather was popular for gloves. It is smooth, soft and supple. Kid gloves were very tight fitting, so a glove stretcher was used to assist in putting on gloves. The narrow end was inserted into the glove finger and the handles were squeezed together, thus gently stretching the leather. When dirty gloves were washed the leather became wrinkled and stiff, so stretches were used to maintain the overall shape of the kid glove. Although this glove stretcher is made of bone, they were also made of wood, silver or ivory.