Jean Wool

[hpotter]

I've been reading some threads on dyed jean wool and wanted to find out if natural color jean wool or vegetable dyed jean wool was more popular in the southern ranks. I'm thinking about going through Ben Tart for some material for an enlisted frock. Any ideas?

[Charles Heath]

Re: Jean Wool

"Popular" and "jeancloth" might not be best used in the same sentence.

[hpotter]

Re: Jean Wool

ok, more widely used or available may sound better

[lawson]

Re: Jean Wool

Veg. dyed is the best way to go. (and the fade on most is killer and at times suprising!) Talk to Ben about how different jeans will fade out. He is very informative. Tarts stuff is first rate for sure. It is a single thread weave, so the weave is much tighter and uniform.
Take a look at Echoes of Glory(confederate) as that book had lots of frocks, and you can base your choice of fabric off the make and theatre you are portraying. Enjoy making the frock bro.

[Jimmayo]

Re: Jean Wool

First you may want to research the use of other fabrics. Jean was not the only fabric used for making CS uniforms and seems not to have been the most common in Southern ranks. Here would be a good place to start.

http://www.kabar44.com/researchClothing.htm

[Richmond Depot]

Re: Jean Wool

http://kabar44.com/researchFabrics.htm#ca Try this link.

Just found some messed up links that I didn't know were on the web page.

Oh, by the way, I will be updating with more info. on Satinette at some point hopefully before the new year.

Best,

[WestTN_reb]

Re: Jean Wool

I agree with Mr. Hanes. I have access to several newspaper articles and you begin to see Cassimere listed during the early months of the war. I've also noticed that jean is more often than not labeled "Kentucky jean". I might be mistaken, but I believe that stuff is undyed.

The one thing I've seen that I haven't heard an explanation of is an item listed as "Hickory Shirt". Maybe Mr. Hanes or some of the other fabric experts can answer me that one.

[Hank Trent]

Re: Jean Wool

The one thing I've seen that I haven't heard an explanation of is an item listed as "Hickory Shirt". Maybe Mr. Hanes or some of the other fabric experts can answer me that one.

There was a good thread on that. I tried the search engine, but apparently it was lost in the crash. Short answer, hickory was a striped fabric, usually blue and white, very durable. Picture what we think of as a typical olde timey railroad worker wearing, with the striped hat and overalls. Not pillow ticking, but in that general family. The fabric experts will be along soon I hope to give better citations, or if no one else has anything real handy, I can try to look some up.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Jean Wool

I agree with Mr. Hanes. I have access to several newspaper articles and you begin to see Cassimere listed during the early months of the war. I've also noticed that jean is more often than not labeled "Kentucky jean". I might be mistaken, but I believe that stuff is undyed.

I checked _Historic Accounts_ and both the VA ledger (1859-1861) and the IN ledger (1852-1854) for jeans and here is the breakdown for jeans. Since cassimere was mentioned in your post, I also did a search for cassimere.

In the VA ledger, there were 436 sales of yardages of jeans: 107 bleached, 95 brown (unbleached) [the bleached and unbleached were probably cotton jeans], 99 colored (unspecifed fabric content but probably woolen). 23 Kentucky (no color specified), 7 Virginia jeans (no color specified), 16 Rhode Island jeans (no color specified), 3 striped jeans, 6 woolen jeans, 4 corset jeans (this was a cotton jean), 1 twilled jeans (probably cotton), 3 plantation jeans, 7 white jeans, and 17 pairs of jeans drawers ( I expect that these were made from cotton jeans).

In the IN ledger the store owner purchased for resale mixed green jeans, 10 yardages of KY jeans (yardages ran from 33 to 48 yards in each piece), pieces of gold and blue KY jeans, jeans in buff, brown mixed, gray mixed, green mixed, striped jeans, Rhode Island jeans, Eagle jeans, and colored jeans. He also purchased Kentucky jeans pants.

In the VA ledger there were only 35 sales for cassimere yardages listed in the same time period, with 9 cassimere coats and 5 pairs of cassimere pants sold. In the IN ledger, the store purchased, for resale, 17 pieces of cassimere. He also purchased cassimere gloves, and a number of pairs of fancy cassimere pants.

[Annette Bethke]

Re: Jean Wool

In Brokenburn: The Journal of Kate Stone, 1861-1868, she talks about purchasing jean cloth, several hundred yards, to make the male slaves' clothes. She then mentions several years later of not being about to find it anymore. I have not gotten far enough into the book to see if she mentions using it for men going to war.

[Richmond Depot]

Re: Jean Wool

Virginia,

Thanks for the additional information. Could you tell us a little more about the sources that you have quoted from ? Is this from a web site or book ? Also, would you happen to know the geographic region ?

Store inventory accounts are always interesting. I found some accounts from Store keeper Thomas Partridge in the VHS which dealt with Hanover County Va. but dated back to the 1750's or so. But was interesting for me to actually see what my own ancestors were purchasing. Rum seemed to be the primary purchase.......

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Jean Wool

Virginia,

Thanks for the additional information. Could you tell us a little more about the sources that you have quoted from ? Is this from a web site or book ? Also, would you happen to know the geographic region ?

Store inventory accounts are always interesting. I found some accounts from Store keeper Thomas Partridge in the VHS which dealt with Hanover County Va. but dated back to the 1750's or so. But was interesting for me to actually see what my own ancestors were purchasing. Rum seemed to be the primary purchase.......

_Historic Accounts_ are two ledgers that I have transcribed and published. They are on a CD-Rom in a searchable database accompanied by a book that includes a detailed manual, various appendices and an extensive glossary of terms found in the ledgers. Background information on the VA ledger is included in the book. There is also a database of census information of the customers so that one can find out much about the lives and background of the purchasers.

_Historic Accounts_ is available on our website in the Books, modern section. If you have any questions, you may contact me privately.

The VA ledger comes from Halifax Co. VA, which is in south central Virginia, just on the North Carolina line. The store was in the northern part of the county. The database contains almost 20,000 lines of data and most lines contains more than one item.

The IN ledger is a wholesale ledger from Independence, IN but little is know about the actual store.

I'm in the process of transcribing additional ledgers from ME, NY and have transcribed ledgers or household account books from NH, NC, VA, and several other states. In time, I hope to add more transcriptions to the CD-ROM.

I agree that ledgers are indeed fascinating and do provide additional insight to life in the 19th century but are only one research tool that can be used. Ledgers by themselves show an incomplete picture and do have their drawbacks.

[Carolann Schmitt]

Re: Jean Wool

The one thing I've seen that I haven't heard an explanation of is an item listed as "Hickory Shirt". Maybe Mr. Hanes or some of the other fabric experts can answer me that one.

From my post during the previous discussion of hickory cloth:

The 1900 edition of Cole's Encyclopedia of Dry Goods defines hickory shirting as "a variety of heavily starched and calendered osnaburg, the pattern of which is confined to small checks and narrow stripes of but two colors, generally blue and white or brown and white. So called from the alleged hickory-like toughness or superior wearing qualities of the shirting. Prior to 1885 the "hickory" shirt was universally worn by out-door laborers and particularly by farmers and farm-hands, but at present its popularity is limited to certain sections of the West and Southwest.”

Both the sixth and seventh editions of Fairchild's Dictionary of Textiles describe hickory cloth as a "strong, durable, striped, twilled cotton shirting and trousering. Colored and white yarns in the warp and white yarns in the filling produce the typically blue-and-white or brown-and-white warp stripes. Uses: work clothes. Similar to cottonade."

I found numerous primary sources that referred to hickory shirts. (Type it into the search engine on The Making of America sites and you'll get dozens of hits.) The only exception to the blue-and-white or brown-and-white stripe or check pattern is one published in 1877 that refers to a green-and-white check shirt. A number of secondary sources documenting men’s clothing worn in the West and Southwest during the mid- and late-nineteenth century also refer to blue or brown checked or striped shirts. To date I’ve only found one extant garment that is identified as a “hickory shirt”. It is in a museum in Bisbee, AZ. The fabric is consistent with the definition listed in Cole's, and is similar to the blue-and-white striped fabric used on the traditional railroader’s cap. Although well-worn, it still retains some of the characteristics of a highly starched and calendered fabric.

[onemoreb]

Re: Jean Wool

I reference to the Hickory Cloth shirts. They are definitely durable and there are plenty of references to cite the fact they were issued to MO troops in the First brigade (CS). We aquired our material from the "Big Smith" overall factory, locally, some years ago and they have seen hard campaigning since 1992. They are still in great shape and pretty stiff. I can understand why they were a well issued item. Just a personal observation.

[GreencoatCross]

Re: Jean Wool

While at the Wisconsin Veteran's Museum this past weekend, I observed a Federal bullseye canteen covered with a black wool/cotton blend fabric. The cloth itself was very finely finished wool on both sides with a natural cotton warp filling. I've never seen anything like this before and haven't run across a description of cloth like this in any period accounts or advertisements. Can anyone elaborate?

Brian White
Wambaugh, White, & Co.

https://www.wwandcompany.com