So My
plan is to knock roughly two of these out a week until the ADD kicks in. One
full of abstract weirdness, information and ramblings on gear and the other
more of a how to that can help new folks build a kit in a quick inexpensive
way. One of the things I really Liked about Jim Mullin’s blog was that he was
able to put out a lot of documented ” how to “info for folks. so I’m going to steal that idea (thanx Jim)
and combine it with some advice Alan Krause gave me years ago was that if you
can learn to sew a shirt and trousers you can pretty much make anything that
you’d wear in this hobbie. So here goes..
Let me
tell you about my kit in 1995. For real I had my senior pictures taken wearing
my cool as hell native kit. This was red glass bead necklace, Daniel day lewis
hair (eagle feather tied to my man bun) muslin shirt with antler buttons,
mystery pattern leather leggings, brass arm bands and gorget, dixie mountain
rifle and smoke and fire mocs. This kit was awesome. And yes it is now the “powder
blue tuxedo” picture I see when I go to my parents’ house. A slap in the face
that my choices in the 1990’s might have been a little off. For real I read
scouwa and came up with that?
Can we all agree the
90’s are over? I bring this up not because I miss the music of Candlebox (I was
more into the Misfits) but more to point out, well the 90’s are over. Research
hasn’t stopped but it seems a lot of historic sites/ people’s minds/ viewpoints
have. It’s not a popular thing to say but it is a general fact the “Longhunter”
uniform of the 1990’s has become just that a uniform. For many folks the
leather flapless leggings, unhemmed shirt under a brown waistcoat under a split
front unhemmed shirt is a great catchall outfit from the 1750’s thru 1812. It’s
what THEY WORE! Add to this a number of smaller details that have also become
sutler mainstays (pennanular brooches, Chinese scissors, the leather tabbed
garters, cotton sashes of woodsy colors, etc etc)
The
problem is…It’s not what they wore, it’s not what they used. It’s a snapshot in
time of the up to date research that folks had, the cultural idea we had of the
past and the stuff sutlers rushed to make/order from Pakistan to fill a niche
market. Look at the artwork from any frontier site from the 1950’s it’ll look
dated but it’s what they thought the past looked like. Laugh all you want the
1990’s uniform is the same thing. A dated concept. A concept based on up to
date research but then the research marched onward. Not a judgement, not a
slam, just a fact.
So why
bring this up? Start an internet wide flame war that will lock up pages with
brown vs color debate again. Talk about my poor choices in 1990’s fashion?
Alienate folks and build followers to march towards a great and grand utopia of
juried events that keep out all those who disagree with me and don’t worship at
the altar of Kochan wool, hand sewing and Cthulu? No, like I said before I’ve
done events with guys in Cheetos orange chrome tanned leather I’ve learned
tricks for starting a fire faster with a flint and steel and had a blast and
done events with guys who looked like they stepped out of a Morier painting and
couldn’t change a flint and been bored crazy.
I’m just about getting folks out and doing stuff in their gear. BUT I’m
also not going to sit here and pretend that we don’t lie to the public with our
kits as easily as we can with our mouths. We can also lie to ourselves if we
don’t reexamine just what we “know”. If you can improve your impression why
don’t you? Unless you like listening to “Better then Ezra” then by all means
rock on with the 90’s.
Ok now
that your angered or intrigued lets start building on a new “uniform” kit for
the backcountry folks. I’ve already mention the fact trousers are a common item
being worn on the frontier. Lets start building toward a common “uniform” that
does show up across a wide area of the backcountry and beyond…A jacket and
Hunting shirt.
Buried
in Doddridge’s description of a backcountry man’s clothes a few things have been glossed over in the
rush to look old timey. His specific comment on undergarments is:
“The
shirt and jacket were of the common fashion”
That’s a pretty vague description. But it’s also showing
that these garments unlike the oddball hunting shirt were pretty standard for
the time. Jackets were a common working class garment across the whole of
Europe in the 18th century.
So why wouldn’t common working class people moving into the backcountry
keep wearing them?
My
favorite hunter John Jameson purchases a typical Doddridge kit at Illinois in
the 1760’s:
John Jameson April 21 1767
1 breechclout 9/ 1 pr leggings 9/
To james Killy for three dollars for a jacket
To George hunter for an indian belt .7.6
To a hunting frock 1.2.6
People are also purchasing Other types of jackets from BWM
as well:
Alexander Ferguson
June 4 1768
1 knife 5’ 1 frock 12”10
1 comb 2” 1 Handkf 5”
June 5th 1 pr trousers 15”
This
same time you see the taylors at Fort Pitt making jackets:
William Oswell Sept 1767
Jacket Lined with flannel 20”
Other jackets made:
Making Jacket Lapeled /10
Making single breasted jacket 7/10
Making a coat with holes in the sleeves and flaps 22/10
( not sure whats up with that one)
In October of 1770 A man runs away in Augusta county Virginia
that sounds like he would fit right at home in Doddridge’s world:
RUN away from the subscriber living in Augusta, near Stanton, a
convict servant man named JOHN CEATON, an Englishman, about 5 feet 5 inches
high; had on when he went away, a white hunting shirt with striped wristbands,
a light coloured lappelled jacket lines with white blanketing, two coarse
shirts, and a pair of trowsers, a pair of black worsted stockings, a spotted silk
handkerchief, old shoes and brass buckles, a red-coloured wig and has crooked
toes. Whoever takes up and secures said servant so that I may have him again,
shall have FORTY SHILLINGS reward, besides what the law allows, and reasonable
charges paid if brought home. ADAM REABURN.
During Dumore’s war Col. Flemming reports of a jacket found
by some of his men:
“some of our men
found..an old fine shirt which they judged misght cost 2/ stirling pr YD and an
old cloth jacket, sky blew couler”
Ok this
leads me off into a rabbit hole. I’ve also found a reference to a man being
killed in Dunmore’s war wearing a red coat. The guys brother specifically says
“don’t wear that or you’ll die” now to some peoples mindset the sky blew jacket
on a dead guy and the red coat on another dead guy is proof that if you wore
these things…you’d get” Kilt fer sure” not proof that people on the frontier
wore sleeved colored garments. Never mind both of these men were killed by guys
wearing red vermillion paint and white trade shirts. One was on a battlefield
and one was living in an active war zone…people wearing all kinds of colors
were shot. Wool, linen, nettles are not
bullet proof. End of rant
When Cresswell is taking stock of just what clothes he has
left after his grand adventure he mentions:
“I am Now reduced to three ragged shirts, two pair linen breeches in
the same condition, a hunting shirt and jacket with one pair stockings”
He also
has a pair of native made leggings , mocs,a mink tobacco pouch killer
headdress.. so I think he came out ahead. Crybaby.
John Joseph Henry has a pretty good narrative on his march
to Quebec as a rifleman in with Arnold's
men and he comments on his clothes:
“My wardrobe was scanty and light. It consisted of a roundabout
jacket of woolen, a pair of half worn buckskin breeches, two pair of woolen
stockings, a hat with a feather, a hunting shirt, leggings a pair of mockasins
a pair of tolerably good shoes which had been closely hoarded.”
To my
eye this sounds like the standard kit that keeps popping up in Virginia,
Pennsylvania and southward from the 1760’s onward. Add in leggings, trousers or a clout etc and
you have a large variation of just what you could wear and still be 100%
documentable for the backcountry. It's also a solid kit for events over a wide geographic area.
I've said it many times people did not simply toss their ideas of fashion, culture, etc off when they hit Carlisle, Staunton, Fort Pitt etc. They kept them and adapted them to their new surroundings. Doddridge says "of the common fashion" do I really need to say more? Will this Kit look dated 10-20 years down the road? maybe and honestly I hope so. I hope we learn more details and push more to get it right. Isnt that why we do this.
Before I close I'm going to nip one argument in the bud before it starts to germinate. No if you are portraying a "Indian spy" type person trousers etc are not going to be your first choice of gear to look like a native. However remember that is a specific portrayal and the King of the Indian spies Daniel Boone had to send folks back to his cabin to get his leggings etc. before he went to rescue his daughter. He probably didn't want to get his sky blew jacket dirty.
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| Kit based off long hunter purchases and period sources |
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| Jacket of the common fashion....plus nice to wear hunting in the fall |
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