Review of "Imported Confederate Uniforms of Peter Tait & Co."

[WpnsMan]

I recently received my much anticipated copy of Fred Adolphus’s new book titled, “Imported Confederate Uniforms of Peter Tait & Co., Limerick, Ireland.”

While this brief review from a neophyte Tait aficionado will surely not do this work the justice it deserves; I would in short, Highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the history of or, in reproducing an authentic Tait style jacket.

Mr. Adolphus has skillfully consolidated the historical and material works previously published on the subject by Arliskas, Jensen and Waite together, intertwined with his own independent research into a clear, concise and easily read format. Furthermore, it delves into the cloudy subject where others have feared to tread in regards to extant trousers attributed to Tait & Co. Additionally it covers the subject of Tait’s Alabama contract uniform kits from his research of documented original garments augmenting the sparse information previously published regarding this facet of Tait contracted uniforms.

The photography in this book is simply outstanding and makes this book a must have in its own right. To date this book contains many previously unpublished photos of the surviving variations of Tait jackets. The close ups showing construction details are truly worth a thousand words to anyone hoping to reproduce an accurate facsimile of an original. The inclusion of tables explaining the British uniform sizing and marking system will be indispensible to those wanting to accurately mark a reproduction Tait jacket.

I would consider this the most comprehensive treatise on the subject to date as well as being “The” catalog of extant originals.

Bravo Mr. Adolphus,

[PetePaolillo]

Re: Review of "Imported Confederate Uniforms of Peter Tait & Co."

Bryan,
I have recently been communicating with Mr. Adolphus after aquyiring a Peter Tait jacket that he made awhile back. It is based on one described in this book. I ordered the book earlier this morning. I am glad to read such a glowing review. I too look forward to the material. Thanks for posting this.

[WpnsMan]

Re: Review of "Imported Confederate Uniforms of Peter Tait & Co."

Pete,

I'm sure you will be more than pleased with this book. I have been accumulating every picture of Tait jackets I could find over the last few years from Internet searches, the MOC catalog and EOG trying to glean construction details with limited success. This book is truly a treasure trove of detailed pictures of construction techniques unique to Tait contract jackets.

[PaulJ]

Re: Review of "Imported Confederate Uniforms of Peter Tait & Co."

I would like to add an accolade to Fred's book - I found it an easy read that I will refer back to again and again. It contains, among many others, pictures of the Taylor jacket that I had become slightly obsessed with (!) and that until relatively recently I had thought may have been destroyed forever in Hurricane Katrina in 2005, even with little photographic record of it's existence. Rest assured, it is safe and well, and is one of the jackets that Fred personally photographed. The book also has a number of useful reference tables at the back relating to button types, sizes and size stamps. Fred's book also reinforces that what we commonly call Tait uniforms should really be called Tait-type uniforms as they were most likely not all made by Tait, but also by Hebbert & Co and perhaps others - from an agreed CS approved pattern/ sample. This was also raised in the Waite book (2005) and also note that Chas Childs has referred to them on his website as "Tait-style" not Tait, for a number of years. On examing the (superb photographs) of the extant originals the reader is struck by the number of variations of these jackets that were produced in such a short time-span. To me this has always indicated multiple origins but specualtion on it's own is not enough! The variations include the well known trim variations (and no trim), but also pocket types (some had horizontal inset pockets, 'RD style' - the Blakemore non-trimmed jacket even has two), various buttons (different sizes, markings and even some with fixed shanks) and again in the Blakemore case a jacket was made with brown thread, not off-white. It's enough to make you think there was further sub-contracting going on - we'll never know.... (Then there is the Alabama contract jacket - delivered as pre-cut but not ready-made with 5 button front!). Fred re-iterates that there is no evidence at all that a Cavalry Tait-type jacket ever existed from records or button finds - though I cannot help but wonder if a pattern with artilley piping/ welting was made, but without surviving examples we cannot know for sure....
On the subject of applying this to authentic re-enacting (as Bryan mentions), I did ask Fred something that has always been of interest to me - getting the colour right. In an e-mail Fred points out that the apparent colour variations in the book are down to the lighting conditions the jackets were photographed under. He said that there is essentially no difference in the colour of the cloth and that due to the quality of the dyes used there is little fading - the colour of the cloth is still vibrant. To quote Fred - "All differences in color are attributable to lighting conditions involved with the individual photos".
Fred pointed out that most of the photographs of the Tait type jackets in the book were taken under indoor light (tungsten/ fluorescent) and give an impression of being grayer than they really are. I asked if there was a photo/ photo set that was taken in diffused daylight to give an accurate impression of the colour - he pointed out that the full-trim artillery jacket of the Les Jensen collection was taken in indirect daylight and demonstrates a more true colour - it is clearly more blue. To quote Fred:-
"I believe that sunlight brings out the blue tone in the color of the cloth. When Les, Tom and I set up his original jacket in his hotel room, I set the jacket in front of the large, bay-style window. The sunlight was not glaring directly on the jacket, but there was plenty of indirect sunlight coming throught the hallway, what I call "balanced light".
This jacket can be seen on page 12 (picture 1) onwards - there are 21 pictures of this jacket in Fred's book! Enjoy! For those wanting a good copy I have posted some pictures of a copy that Chas Childs of County Cloth made of this exact jacket - I think it is a truly remarkable copy, even down to the colour - (though it is an earlier cloth used by Mr Childs - the jacket was made prior to 2006 and the later K1 kersey is not quite as blue I think). There are some difficulties in copying these jackets in that there are no perfect copies of the buttons used. The nearest are Ben Tart's English script "I" buttons - but they are only applicable to the welted/ piped or plain type jackets. A method of circumventing this for maximum accuracy is to add State buttons as seen on the Harrison jacket. I wonder if this omission will ever be rectified - especially in the current economic climate - a real pity. In all I cannot recommend this book enough - and I wait eagerly for news of the publication of Craig Barry and David Burt's book "Supplier to the Confederacy - Peter Tait & Co, Limerick" due out sometime in February I believe. It's a happy time for Tait enthusiasts!

[PaulJ]

Re: Review of "Imported Confederate Uniforms of Peter Tait & Co."

On the subject of authentic copies I will post pictures of a copy that Chas Childs made for me of the Taylor jacket in 2007 (ignore the NCO rank). It is made with the later K1 kersey which is not quite as blue - nevertheless I think you'll agree it is also a truly remarkable copy.

[Craig L Barry]

Re: Review of "Imported Confederate Uniforms of Peter Tait & Co."

I greatly enjoyed Fred Adolphus' Imported Confederate Uniforms of Peter Tait & Co., Limerick, Ireland, too. Our "Tait"
monograph, the second book in the "Supplier to the Confederacy" series, will be out shortly. Final proofreading is going on
now with the publisher (Bright Pen, UK). There is not much overlap with what we did, in fact there are only a couple areas where
these two books cover any of the same ground. The overlap is (of course) on analysis of the same few suriving uniforms, and we reach
some slightly different conclusions. This is as it should be and whets the appetite for scholarly debate. Fred's "Tait" book is well worth
owning especially for the full color images which show terrific detail.

Overall, it is very well researched and extensively cited. In my opinion we need more books like this one. Because Fred did such a
fine job, it will most likely spur interest in this previously under-researched area of Confederate material culture. Would it surprise
you to learn that some of the surviving specimens attributed to Peter Tait & Co may have been produced by other manufacturers?

[roundshot]

Re: Review of "Imported Confederate Uniforms of Peter Tait & Co."

Great publication and highly recommended! The illustrated examples also bring into question the general use of Infantry buttons on red-trimmed artillery jackets since the two coats that exhibit this combination either the button(s) or trim were added later, in one case post-war. Years ago Charlie Childs carried a mid-sized lined "I" button that was a ringer for the original Tait infantry jackets but these are scarce indeed. The Mobile jacket examples shown in Fred's book are excellent.