Sheet music for The Bloomer Polka; & The Bloomer Schottische dedicated to Mrs. COL. Bloomer and printed by the London Musical Bouquet Office.

The music is illustrated with women dancing in a range of short skirted costumes which reveal their bloomers. A central oval image, captioned 'Mrs.Amelia Bloomer', shows a woman in a front fastening dress which finishes at the knee to reveal the pair of wide bloomers she wears beneath. Her hair is dressed in ringlets and she wears a wide brimmed hat and carries a fringed parasol in her left hand.

Amelia Jenks Bloomer (1818 – 1894) was an American women's rights and temperance advocate. Even though she did not create the women's clothing reform style known as 'bloomers', her name became associated with it because of her early and strong advocacy. These 'bloomers' were long, loose underwear which narrowed to a cuff at the ankle. They rose to popularity in the 1850s as part of the Victorian Dress Reform movement but were widely ridiculed in the press. They did not become widely accepted until the late nineteenth century when activities such as cycling created a demand for 'Athletic bloomers' (also known as 'rationals' and 'knickerbockers')

The 'schottische' is a circle dance that was introduced to Scotland from the continent. Based on the German Polka, (from which it obtained its German Name) it was introduced to Scotland around 1849. It was not initially very popular but later developed into the Highland Schottische (a combination of the common schottische and the old reel) which had immediate success in Victorian ballrooms (as part of the Bohemian "folk-dance" craze) and has been popular as a ceilidh dance ever since.