Hunting Jacket

[106th PVI]

Friends,
I am curious as to what an 1860's hunting jacket would have looked like. When my g-g-grandpa showed up to take command of the 13th US Inf'y he was wearing a civillian hunting jacket with his eagle straps sew on it. He was also wearing a pair of cordoroy trowsers and a straw hat. A strange outfit for one who had attended Westpoint...

[Mississippian]

Re: Hunting Jacket

Who was your Grandpa? And when did he report to command the 13th? Depending on the time and place, I think I could give you a good answer.

Will MacDonald

[106th PVI]

Re: Hunting Jacket

Will,
He was none other than WT Sherman. He took command on May.13,1861. If memory serves me correctly Brig. Gen'l JNO Buford was fond of wearing the same outfit as well. Sans straw hat.

Thanks,

[508preach]

Re: Hunting Jacket

Contact the Sherman House in Lancaster, Ohio. They might have some information or a photograph or they may even have the actual jacket.

[PVT.BEN MILLER]

Re: Hunting Jacket

It mite be something like a rev. war rifle-man's frock, they wore them up to the mid 19th cent. Or it could be as simple as a long shirt he wore huntin' (may be coverd with blood from butchering) witch do ya think it would be I've got both(exact replicas)

[106th PVI]

Re: Hunting Jacket

Thanks to some help I know what the jacket looked like and what it was called... It is a "Norfolk" jacket.

[106th PVI]

Was "Hunting Jacket"

Friends,
I have been informed that the coat I asked about, under "Hunting Jacket", is called a Norfolk Jacket. Now my question is... what fabric were they made from?

Thank You...

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Was "Hunting Jacket"

Hallo!

IIRC, the "Norfolk Jacket" was a post Civil War fashion popularized by the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) (??), the box pleats easing binding when the arms were raised when shooting.

I hate to make a universal statement, but NUG, all of the Period and later images of men hunting I have seen have them in their sack coats or dress coats.

On the other hand, while front box pleats of the Norfolk Jacket type would be easier to see, I cannot recall any images where the backs can be seen to confirm or reject that they are wearing Norfolks.

Oh... typically woolens or "tweed."

Curt

[Michael Comer]

Re: Hunting Jacket

Or it could be as simple as a long shirt he wore huntin' (may be coverd with blood from butchering)...

Somehow I just can't see any officer taking command of a unit dressed like this.

[David Fox]

Re: Hunting Jacket

Google "Currier & Ives hunting scenes" and "Arthur F. Tait". You'll find numerous 1850s-'70s renderings of hunters wearing mostly what appear on a quick survey to be species of sack coats, some not at all unlike the canvas hunting coat I wore in the 1950s pursuing the wily wabbit and ringheck. In England jackets not unlike these, often with a matching cloth belt closed by buttons or an open frame buckle, were known as "Norfolk jackets" and are yet available (search eBay "Norfolk jacket"). Arthur Tait was one of the chief artists who rendered these pictures, a sportsman who knew his stuff.
There was also a private-purchase comfortable paramilitary blouse with a pleated front and soft, falling collar. This item was sometimes worn tucked into trousers, sometimes not. I believe Breckenridge's example is preserved in the Kentucky Military Museum(?) and one is illustrated in figure 154, volume II, of Todd's American Military Equipage, 1851-1872. I mention this because it appears to be a military adaption of one form of hunting jacket and because you mention John Buford: he is depicted wearing one of these on his bronze statue at Gettysburg.

[ElizabethClark]

Re: Was "Hunting Jacket"

Dean, did you have an image of the jacket you were wondering about? Like Mr Schmidt, I'm familiar with a Norfolk jacket as a later century garment, but there are variations appropriate to mid-century. If you have a datable image, that would help pinpoint the style you're wanting to copy.

In general, it's going to hold to menswear standards, so look at fabrics that would be typical (new or used/second-hand) for your economic class and climate.

[ElizabethClark]

Re: Hunting Jacket

I've merged these two threads, as they are on the same topic of citizen menswear for hunting and outdoor sports.

[Clsinclair]

Re: Hunting Jacket

Friends,
I am curious as to what an 1860's hunting jacket would have looked like. When my g-g-grandpa showed up to take command of the 13th US Inf'y he was wearing a civillian hunting jacket with his eagle straps sew on it. He was also wearing a pair of cordoroy trowsers and a straw hat. A strange outfit for one who had attended Westpoint...

Go to: (page 12)

http://books.google.com/books?id=hIdIAFGMCgEC&pg=PA4&lpg=PA4&dq=1861+milita+in+charleston&source=bl&ots=j1CSyqKI2P&sig=bTh8ovEoH1jA5qLUazdZRR_9dfA&hl=en&ei=dwg9SsvOPNuwtgfO_PEF&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1

[106th PVI]

Re: Hunting Jacket

No, I do not have an image. Just the desceription found in my ancestor's memoirs of his outfit upon taking command of the 13th US Inf'y in May of 1861.... hunting jacket with his shoulder straps sewn on , black cordoroy trowsers and straw hat. Uncle Billy always was a tad eccentric I think.:tounge_sm