THE MASONIC COLLECTION - Mens White Cotton Gloves - Masonic Freemasons, White Gloves for Meetings, Band & Costume

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Because the gloves were difficult to manufacture, they were luxury items and in many portraits of the 16th century, only the truly wealthy are seen wearing or holding them. The industrial revolution made possible their production in large scale, thus making them more affordable whilst the social and cultural revolution of the 1960s, relegated them to mere winter accessories or gardening protection. Today the gloves are employed for the more refined purpose of maintaining hygiene and preserving aseptic conditions and to be worn in the most accurate tasks, such as those performed by a surgeon on the human body.

Put on these gloves; their whiteness is the symbol of purity, and of the innocence of a mason’s manners. This other pair is for the use of the ladies; you will present them to her who holds the first place in your heart… If the entrance into this respectable temple is not accessible to them, it is that we dread their beauty and the force of their charms.The use of gloves in Freemasonry originates from our ancestors, the Operatives, who wore them for protection. In Speculative Freemasonry they were introduced to also hide the coarse hand of a craftsman from the delicate palm of an aristocrat or merchant. The principle was to symbolically “level” the lodge, with none of its Brethren appearing to be superior or inferior to the others, and thus bring about love and harmony. But it remains an unrealistic concept as, to paraphrase George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, “ Freemasons are all equal Brothers, but some Brothers are more equal than others.” The fact is that hierarchy is impossible to conceal when wearing Masonic attire and performing ritual in the Temple.

The Schaw Statutes of 1599 direct that, at his Initiation, the Fellowcraft shall provide a banquet and “ten shillings’ worth of gloves” to the lodge’s chest. This became known as “ glove money” and was a custom in the early Scottish Lodges. On rare occasions, three pairs of white gloves were given at Initiation: one for the Apprentice to wear, one as a memento, and the third for his lady, in “compensation” for the time he wouldspend away from her to attend Masonic meetings. This was the case of the ritual performed by the Rectified Scottish Rite of 1773.Catherine de ‘Medici, an Italian-born monarch of France, made these fragrant gloves renowned at the Court in the 16th century. She was even accused of poisoning one of her greatest enemies, a Huguenot named Jeanne d’Albret, with a pair of gloves she had gifted him. Centuries later, the French author Alexandre Dumas, spun the story of this poisoning Queen into a historical novel called “ La Reine Margot.”

There is a time-immemorial tradition, both in Masonry and outside it, of the wearing and giving of gloves” Bernard E. Jones Blue Craft colour with square and compass symbol are beautifullyembroidered on the wrist of each glove. To express unity, nothing is more fitting than a single line, the ends of which come together to cancel each other By Oswald Wirth

In closing, the white gloves represent purity and Masonic honour in Freemasonry. But they also serve to seriously remind a Brother never to wet his hands in iniquity and, instead, keep a rigid moral compass throughout his life! In the middle ages, the so-called “sweet gloves”, were gloves saturated with the perfumes of herbs and spices and they served to hide the nasty odour of the skin browned with…dung. They were in use across the Continent by both men and women.

If we go to a temple, we dress to honor the place’s sanctity and similarly when the Freemasons enter their spiritual place, the Masonic Temple, they wear an apron, gloves, and other formal attire. A sore note, however, is to see that Brethren aren’t always mindful not to brandish their profane and valuable belongings in the Temple. It is indeed common to notice Freemasons of every degree and office flaunting in that holy place, their expensive watches, jewellery, multi-colored dazzling medals, all sizes and forms of lapel pins, and other vanity paraphilia. Pretentiousness is not considered in Freemasonry and ostentation is offensive towards both the Most High and the destitute Brethren who may have fallen to the lowest rung of the wheel in life. Since 1730, Freemasons have included in their ritual a tale that relates the gloves to the discovery of the death of Hiram Abiff. After the three Fellowcrafts had found the dead body of their Master and reported the sad news to King Solomon, they were instructed by the latter to wear white gloves at the funeral. It was to show that they were not those who had perpetrated the murder and in the act stained their clothes with blood.

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Through age, gloves became too a symbol of duty, so that those who wore them in front of their Master showed they were ready and willing to serve him to the best of their ability. This is the case of a Butler or valet in an affluent household.