Appropriate Times to Wear Jean Cloth

[27thNCdrummer]

Pards,
I have an event coming up that is a very early war militia event (April, 1861). I'll be wearing civilian clothing so I was wondering, would it be correct to have an upper-middle class young man wearing a jean cloth vest and trousers? Also, which would be more correct to be wearing, a sack coat, or an over shirt as early war militia?
Thanks,

[Hardtack Herring]

Re: Appropriate Times to Wear Jean Cloth

Upper middle class folk would not wear slave cloth...... I would rule out the jean cloth unless you decide to be a poor dirt farmer.

[Iceman]

Re: Appropriate Times to Wear Jean Cloth

It depends. If you have no company uniform and are stepping out in your own clothing, then I agree with Paul. However, this is not to say that militia and early volunteers did not wear jean. In Louisiana and Mississippi there were some pre-war militia companies that decided to adopt new uniforms that were tough and would hold up to campaigning, rather than their fancy, fine woolen uniforms that they would parade around town in.

But, besides jean, another fabric source that is not used enough in this hobby is that of linsey-woolsey. I've come across many pre and early war companies described as wearing linsey, which is a clear distinction between this and jean cloth, of which the civilians of the day knew the difference. As late as early '64 there were uniforms being made in Columbus, Mississippi made from both "jean" and "linsey". A few Louisiana companies wore linsey-woolsey uniforms, and these were sons of wealthy planters.

Nic Clark

[Duff]

Re: Appropriate Times to Wear Jean Cloth

If you were an upper-middle class citizen and could afford to wear confortable clothing, why would you want to wear itchy, unconfortable jean?

[Cogden3]

Re: Appropriate Times to Wear Jean Cloth

I agree with Duff and Hardtack!!

Chuck Ogden

[Stonewall_Greyfox]

Pards,
I have an event coming up that is a very early war militia event (April, 1861). I'll be wearing civilian clothing so I was wondering, would it be correct to have an upper-middle class young man wearing a jean cloth vest and trousers? Also, which would be more correct to be wearing, a sack coat, or an over shirt as early war militia?
Thanks,

Upper Middle Class: Alot would depend on how one defines this cast in society. Are you in a rural setting, or something more urban...does your family own land, are you the son of a merchant (if so, define type of shop; dry-goods, second-hand, millinery...etc.), a farmer, a businessman, a banker...etc. This will all give a better picture of what your socio-economic background is...each of us may define the different lots in society in a variety of ways...

Early-War Militia: You will need to define the unit being portrayed. Was this unit a pre-existing Militia company...if so, what information do you have on their uniforms? Is this a generic representation of Militia companies...if so, define what was popular in the region, location being portrayed. With all the variety of Militia uniforms throughout the North and South, it's really not a fair question to limit the choice to only an overshirt and sack coat.

Jean Cloth: I don't know where everyone gets the opinion that ALL jeans cloth was reserved solely for the use of the low-class and slave population...jean cloth came in a variety of grades, and while never as finished as nice woolen cloth...jean cloth and it's sister cloths (cassimere and satinette) were praised for their durability and costs effectiveness...and can be seen in applications where the "look" and durability of the cloth was actually a plus and not a negative. In research for the VMI, pre-war...we actually have records of the Supt. F.H. Smith requesting Cassimere (in addition to Woolen cloth) for the Fatigue Uniforms, for both it's "look" and durability...this is a military school, but ~80% of the student body was made up of the top families throughout the South (including the Cabell, Breckenridge, Letcher, & Wise families among many others**). While this is a military application, I am sure other members of the forum, will have better references for the use of these cloths for the civilian population...speculative on my part, I highly doubt that thousands of yards of jeans cloth were specifically produced in effort to clothe the enslaved population...again, think grades of fabric, some rougher, some finer, some heavier/lighter, some using cotton or hemp or linen in combination to the wool etc...

**Note: These are very predominant families in Virginia ca. mid-nineteenth century, the sons of VA Governors, US ambassadors, major businessmen...

Sack Coat vs. Overshirt: Seeing as you are from NC...are you asking about the Early-War NC Military Sack coat or a Civilian Sack Coat? Overshirts were popular outer-wear, and many Militia companies certainly used these as uniforms early on in the war (Example the 11th VA Regt.)...however again, this is something that needs to be defined to a specific company or more regional practice in order to give a better answer.

If you will provide more clarification, I am sure many on the forum can better answer your questions...

Paul B.

[Hardtack Herring]

All jean cloth was not reserved for slaves.....That would be crazy to think that. I agree with everything that has been said on this thread thus far.

I also want to say that my opinion is jean is way overdone on the Civilian side of re-enacting and I question if it is overdone on the CS Military side as well.

Jean Cloth was a very durable cloth. It could be made in different weights and made a very good cloth for anyone who was working hard.

Typically when I think of middle class and upper class people I do not think of white farmers and laborers who would be the ones that I think would have worn jeans.

I just do not think that many middle class and certainly no upper class citizen would wear ( Excuse the Language here) Nigger Cloth. I have come across that term to describe jean many times in my readings.

Of course this forum is based on facts and not what people remember from the best of their knowledge from reading. That is why I decided to post some reference to slaves and their clothing.

Rather than dig through my personal library for a quick answer I decided to do an internet search on slave clothing. I came up with several references in a short period of time and I will post some of the info I found here. One thing I found in addition to the cloth were ex slaves talking about brass tipped brogans. I do not remember having read this before.

Also I would like to say that my findings today are pretty consistent with what I have read in the past. It seems that on most large plantations the clothing for slaves were made there.


Clayton Holbert and ex slaves….

“We raised corn, barley, and cotton, and produced all of our living on
the plantation. There was no such thing as going to town to buy things.
All of our clothing was homespun, our socks were knitted, and
everything. We had our looms, and made our own suits, we also had reels,
and we carved, spun, and knitted. We always wore yarn socks for winter,
which we made. It didn't get cold, in the winter in Tennessee, just a
little frost was all. We fixed all of our cotton and wool ourselves."


From a 1937 interview of ex slave James V. Deane

"As for clothes, we all wore home-made clothes, the material woven on the looms in the clothes house. In the winter we had woolen clothes and in summer our clothes were made from cast-off clothes and Kentucky jeans. Our shoes were brogans with brass tips. On Sunday we fed the stock, after which we did what we wanted.”

Charlie Richardson, Warrensburg, Mo.

“Big boys and g’own folks wore jeans and domestic shirts. Us little kids wore just a gown. In the wintertime we wore the same only with brogans with brass toes.”

Ex Slave Andrew Goodman states in an interview when he was 97 years old.

“They made us plenty of good clothes. In the summer we wore long shirts, split up the side, made of lowerings-the same as cotton sacks was made out of. In the winter we had good jeans and knitted sweaters and knitted socks”


Bill Simms, Osceola, Mo.

“We never knowed what boughten clothes were. We made our own clothes: had spinning wheels and raised and combed our own cotton, clipped the wool from our sheep’s backs, combed it, and spun [them] into cotton and wool clothes. I learned to make shoes when I was just a boy and I made shoes for the whole family.”

Louis Daves an Arkansas Slave

“In the summer time all the clothes we wore was a long rough jeans shirt. The cloth was made on the place, and it wasn't smooth like cloth of today. Everybody went barefooted. When the cold weather came, we wore pants and warm woolen underclothes. The grown folks always had shoes. Sometimes the children didn't have none. My pa was the shoemaker and I speck he couldn't make them fast enough. Shoes was kinda tedious to make, cause the soles had to be put on with wooden pegs, and that took a long time.”

[Emmanuel Dabney]

Re: Appropriate Times to Wear Jean Cloth

Frequently in the past we have discussed the use of cassimere and satinette in men's clothing that was acceptable for white men to wear. However, this idea of those who were wealthy and those who weren't dates back to the 18th century when the Consumer Revolution began.

I don't have the time right now (in class and should be paying attention) but I highly recommend in the interim that people find The Origins of the Southern Middle Class 1800-1861 by Jonathan Daniel Wells.

More on this later...

[Jefferson Guards]

Re: Appropriate Times to Wear Jean Cloth

I think that the following book might also shed some light on the questions concerning appropriate fabric for the middle classes:

Michael Zakim. Ready-Made Democracy: A History of Men's Dress in the American Republic, 1760–1860. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 2003

[CSchneider]

Re: Appropriate Times to Wear Jean Cloth

Well, are you a rather politically active well-to-do person? Is it 1861? If so, sport that jeancloth!

I think we tend to forget that for a time, homespun cloth was used as an important political statement for Southern elite, both male and female, as it exhibited a sense of self sufficiency and independence and harkened back to similar movements during both the Revolution and later sectional crises. In June 1861, a Staunton, Va. newspaper wrote:

"Economy is a commendable virtue at any time, but it now becomes a patriotic duty. . . . The gentlemen should give up fine broad-cloth suits and be content with cheaper ones that would wear equally as long and be quite comfortable. The ladies should be willing to forego the pleasure of appearing in costly silks, and high-priced bonnets. The fashion should now be to wear cheap and durable apparel. . . . We hope to see unpretending calico dresses, which have been banished from the towns, again introduced. Who will set the example? What lady will lead this laudable enterprise? The ladies of Staunton have as good a right to “set the fashions” as the less worthy ladies of Paris have.--Patriotism now demands it."

The MOC has a great collection of artifacts from this "homespun movement." Andrew Jackson Grayson's suit is a good example. A wealthy Virginian, Grayson planned to organize a company of soldiers, but would only do so after acquiring a homespun suit to do it in. Indeed, it is a matching suit of indigo dyed jeans, the cloth woven by his slaves.

Look for Vicki Betts' article: “‘They Call It Patriotism:’ Homespun as Politics in the South, 1860-1861.” I believe it can be found online now. It offers a good overview of the subject.

One thing to note, however, is that when looking at several original examples of homespun garments related to Southern elite, I noticed that while the cloth may have been cheap, little expense was spared in having the garments tailored. If you plan on incorporating jeans into your muster impression, don't look like a dirt farmer, look like someone of your class who is proud to be so conspicuously wearing homespun.

-Craig Schneider

[Emmanuel Dabney]

Re: Appropriate Times to Wear Jean Cloth

In thinking about the southern middle class outside of the role of agriculture there were a host of occupations available and in The Origins of the Southern Middle Class there is an appendix of these occupations which include:

Agents, bankers, commission agents, dealers, physicians, manufacturers, merchants, and some twenty-five other occupations.

Who were some of these people?

John Rowlett of Petersburg, Virginia was one of the city's leading commission merchants. He was worth $30,000 in real estate and $40,000 in personal estate in 1860. Rowlett owned eight female slaves ranging from 50 to 8 years of age and four male slaves aged 30 years of age to 22 years of age.

Dr. T. S. Beckwith of Petersburg, Virginia owned nine slaves, one 24 year old male and the rest females ranging from 30 to 1 years of age.

Edwin Manigault, a civil engineer in Charleston, S.C. owned a 47 year old female and probably what was her eleven year old daughter.

This is not to say every middle class southerner owned slaves. H.A. Rauhman, a German master painter in Baton Rouge worth $1200 in real estate and $2000 in personal estate, for example seems to have had no slaves from the brief census search I ran on him. However, the southern middle class subscribed to a society which condoned and upheld the racial superiority of whites and upheld (and eventually fought to defend legislatures and a nationa) which validated slavery as right. Commission merchants, like Rowlett, most of whom not only owned slaves but sold the products of large scale planters whose slaves planted, tended, harvested, and prepared crops for market.

What does this mean in terms of their material possessions, including clothes? These people do not want to be considered a part of the laboring class. They propped up their material world with goods that would reflect their wealth. This was reflected in the dress, comportment, employment, and social activities of the middle class regardless of whether they lived in the North or South.

In terms of "homespun":

Certainly there was a movement early in the war for patriotic homespun but let us not confuse "jean cloth" with "homespun." I'm not going to reinvent the wheel of Vicki Betts' research but you may find a list of definitions useful regarding fabric in general at: http://www.uttyler.edu/vbetts/homespun_def.htm.

The Lena Dancy dress that Vicki researched heavily is cotton. You can find more about that dress at: http://www.uttyler.edu/vbetts/dancy_dress.htm.

The Museum of the Confederacy has a pair of trousers which appear in their exhibit catalog for A Woman's War that are a wool and cow-hair blend (it may be cotton and cow hair, I don't have the book with me right now).

[Ian McWherter]

Re: Appropriate Times to Wear Jean Cloth

My problem with living historians wearing jean cloth for their civilian impressions (which is overdone) isn't that (manufactured or "homespun") jeans, satinettes or cassimeres weren't worn commonly in contemporary mid-19th century society, its that modern reproduction jeans, satinettes and cassimeres do not generally compare with the quality of those original cloths worn by civilians.

If someone does decide, for whatever reason, to choose jeans, cassimeres or satinettes for their civilian impression they'd be wise to pick out a fine quality of those reproduction cloths.

[CSchneider]

Re: Appropriate Times to Wear Jean Cloth

Regarding the quality of "homespun" (and certainly jeans, cassimeres ,etc., fall within the realm of homemade and factory-manufactured cloth commonly referred to as homespun, which also includes many other types of cloth as well) jeans seen in original non-military garments, it is quite often far different from that seen in most reproduction goods. The cloth in the Grayson suit is quite fine and (not making any general judgements about reproduction cloth manufacturers) akin to the dense weave and texture of the finest jean made by Mickey Black. I'll see if I can post a few pictures of the hundreds of pieces of homespun in the MOC's Homespun Collection. The wool/cotton mix stuff in there pretty much runs the gamut from extremely fine to about the quality of most of today's reproduction jeans and cassimeres. The cottons are also certainly much different from the common stuff used today.

-Craig Schneider

[BaconBob]

Satinette Question

Would satinette cloth have been a middle class fabric? Its texture seems to be more luxurian than jean cloth, but it is not of a similar quality as a fine wool or linen is. I am curious as to satinette's ranking in the family of cloth. Was it toward the middle range of quality? It seems that I never see it offered for sale either as regularly as jean, linens and woolens are. Is there a reason for ths? Thank you.

Robert Taylor

[Material Culture]

Re: Satinette Question

Sattinette may or may not rank above slave cloth with regard to politics as can be seen in the following

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?p=99828&highlight=nigger+cloth#post99828

Sam Hayle
Cassimere Mess