Help IDing photo

[rebyank]

Pards,
I picked up this tintype in upstate NY. I only paid 1.99 for it, but I swear that the kid on the left side(or is that right?:) is wearing a CS shell jacket. I can't tell if it looks like a RD or a Military school uniform. And would be in any way shape or form a cs or other military uniform?
Any thoughts are welcome.

wonderful two-tone whiskers though!

sidedrummer@lycos.com

[dave81276]

Re: Help IDing photo

Looks too long for a shell jacket to me. It's probably just a boy's sack coat.

-Dave Eggleston

[markj]

Re: Help IDing photo

Hi,

The boy appears to wearing a typical style of civilian sack coat. Wear of quasi-military garb by civilians (especially children) was pretty common; as still happens today, the military and civilian spheres borrowed from each other when it came to attire.

Interestingly, my understanding is that some Northern firms did, in fact, make "Confederate jackets" for the purpose of clothing Southern POWs interned at various locations (for some reason I'm thinking of Elmira, New York in particular although I might be wrong). I believe the source for this information was in a "Military Collector & Historian" article although, being at work, I can't give you a precise citation right now.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[Matthew.Rector]

Re: Help IDing photo

Interestingly, my understanding is that some Northern firms did, in fact, make "Confederate jackets" for the purpose of clothing Southern POWs interned at various locations (for some reason I'm thinking of Elmira, New York in particular although I might be wrong). I believe the source for this information was in a "Military Collector & Historian" article although, being at work, I can't give you a precise citation right now.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

I believe the book Portals to Hell: Military Prisons of the Civil War , by Lonnie R. Speer (1997, Stackpole Books) might mention this practice. I'm not 100% certain however.

In relation to the question at hand. I agree with the above two posts. It looks like a citizen's sack coat to me. It is difficult to tell from the scan, but it almost looks like the top button of his jacket is different from the rest. Also the spacing seems to be different from the other buttons. This extra button might have been added at top to give the appearance of a military jacket. Nice image.

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: Help IDing photo

That is a boys civilian sackcoat, and it is probably closer in cut and construction to a US fatigue blouse (But not very).