linen fabrics

[sallyryan]

Greetings-
A question regarding work/wash dress fabrics for a lower/middle class Irish impression. I know that most references for acceptable fabrics are 100% cotton, small prints or plaids. Does anyone know of the use of linen as a dress fabric? I can't help but think that given the recent Famine immigration, there might have been more linen textiles worn in urban areas than elsewhere.. I know cotton was king, but not necessarily in Ireland. Any thoughts? I am portraying a civiian woman with the 69th NYSV - (the Irish Brigade). Thanks.

Slainte,
Sally Miller

[ElizabethClark]

Re: linen fabrics

I've not found good references for lots of linen outerclothing for women (at least, not to top cheap cotton), though I have found linen undergarment references.

I think one thing to look at is the dating of the Industrial Revolution: mills in Lowell and the surrounding areas of New England had been in heavy production for 30 years by the time the War rolled around, as had huge and multiple mills in the UK.

The potato blight focused mostly during 1846-1850, with accompanying famine and plague ships--those folks would be in the country for just over a decade, and thus very likely had replaced any clothing they actually brought with them, with American goods--and that very often meant cheap cottons and wools, for their utility and economy. For those that came in through the plague ports in Canada, if they survived quarantine, getting new, cheap clothing would be paramount: most of their belongings were burnt to prevent the spread of disease on the mainland. (I read an excellent book about two years ago on the coffin ships... I'll see if I can locate the information.)

Here's an interesting site on the famine years:

http://www.people.virginia.edu/~eas5e/Irish/Famine.html

Also, here:

http://www.nationalarchives.ie/famine.html

I don't have firm numbers on cotton textile imports versus linen imports in Ireland... I did find one note at the national archives site above, regarding a Linen Guild formed at a maternity hospital to ensure the mothers there had clean linens (which could be linen, or could be cotton), and the note had no dating.

The first shipments of cotton from the US to England were in 1784 (celebrated as a centenniel with the 1884 Expo in New Orleans), at which point England began to look at the US as a source for cotton, as well as India, to feed the Industrial Revolution--which had been kicked into high gear with the introduction of the spinning jenny in 1764, Arkwright's spinning frame in 1769, and Eli Whitney's cotton gin in 1793. I know I have to work hard to remember that the Industrial Revolution started in the late 1700s--that by the time the War years roll around, it had been going "full steam ahead" for nearly a century!

One note I have on Ulster is that linen came to the forefront in textile production in the late 1800s, rather than the earlier years. Another has Belfast switching to linen production in the mills, as a result of the Southern blockade during the war--but that they had been producing primarily cotton before that, along the lines of the industry in Liverpool and Manchester. The blockade, and lack of cheap exported cotton, also helped seal the coffin on the "spriggin" trades: fine whitework done by hand by pieceworkers in the UK (mostly, Scotland).

I've been doing some research on used clothing in the US, and I've not come across anything noting linen as a standout item--most often, actually, the textiles mentioned specifically are wools, and sometimes cotton, and sometimes silk. There's a really good book called "Immigrant Life in New York"--I have the author in my files, got the book on ILL, and it talks a great deal about immigration and life in the 50s and 60s and beyond.

So, I guess my take on it is this: you'd be more likely to wear a woolen dress as a working class Irish immigrant from New York city, than a linen one... though you might have a linen chemise. As the bulk of immigration from Ireland had slowed, and any famine immigrants had been "in town" long enough to need new (American) clothing, there would be little variation between an Irish immigrant's clothing and that of any other working class person in a city.

I haven't studied much on the 69th--did they have attached females? From a practicality stance, if you'll be doing any washing, be sure to wear a well-fitted corset, and a woolen dress and apron... MUCH safer. :)