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I had no idea where to put this, so...
I had the opportunity to look at a fairly large print of the 1884 GAR dedication of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial in Wheeling, WV. (If any of you are about to attend the West Virginia Day festivities, it's in the basement, toward the north end of the big wall-mounted prints.) I didn't have my camera to get a snapshot of it. The ceremonies looked to be led by a line of men in dark single-breasted frock coats with shoulder straps, swords and plumed light-colored hats that looked like marching band shakos. I seem to recall those being associated with the Masons rather than the Knights of Columbus. The men were in line and at attention, apparently caught in mid-ceremony.
More interestingly, there was a small stage with a dozen or so gentlemen on it in matching five-button dark sack coats with what looked like brass buttons. Some of them, but not all, were wearing GAR medals or ribbons, as were some of the non-uniformed civilian crowd. Every coat among the men on the stage was open *except for the top button*, which in every case was fastened. Among the large civilian audience--mostly men in their forties, so most likely veterans--I did not see a single top button fastened. Everyone was watching the line of frock-coated men. There was no explanation of how the ceremony was conducted, only the note that it was the GAR.
I had the opportunity to look at a fairly large print of the 1884 GAR dedication of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial in Wheeling, WV. (If any of you are about to attend the West Virginia Day festivities, it's in the basement, toward the north end of the big wall-mounted prints.) I didn't have my camera to get a snapshot of it. The ceremonies looked to be led by a line of men in dark single-breasted frock coats with shoulder straps, swords and plumed light-colored hats that looked like marching band shakos. I seem to recall those being associated with the Masons rather than the Knights of Columbus. The men were in line and at attention, apparently caught in mid-ceremony.
More interestingly, there was a small stage with a dozen or so gentlemen on it in matching five-button dark sack coats with what looked like brass buttons. Some of them, but not all, were wearing GAR medals or ribbons, as were some of the non-uniformed civilian crowd. Every coat among the men on the stage was open *except for the top button*, which in every case was fastened. Among the large civilian audience--mostly men in their forties, so most likely veterans--I did not see a single top button fastened. Everyone was watching the line of frock-coated men. There was no explanation of how the ceremony was conducted, only the note that it was the GAR.