![The Mohican Board! [Bumppo's Redux!]](images/wwwboard.gif "The Mohican Board! [Bumppo's Redux!]") |
|
| Author |
 Topic  |
|
Obediah
Mohicanland Statesman
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
August 16 2006
Status: offline
Donating Member |
 Posted - October 11 2007 : 6:08:37 PM
|
| Whoever saw a red "sentry booth?" Them Frenchies are smarter than ye give'em credit for! |
report to moderator  |
|
|
Steve S
Pathfinder
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
February 05 2005
Status: offline
|
Posted - October 11 2007 : 11:39:30 PM
|
BST for 2 weeks...then GMT...Am 100 miles north of London.
Steve |
| report to moderator |
|
|
Kirachi
Colonial Settler
United Kingdom
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
October 04 2007
Status: offline
|
Posted - October 12 2007 : 05:25:26 AM
|
Hey Steve S, you are from the UK?
Me too.
I just catch up through the day with everyone else lol
Hope you enjoy the board |
| report to moderator |
|
|
Light of the Moon
Mohicanland Statesman
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
December 18 2004
Status: offline
|
Posted - October 12 2007 : 12:10:07 PM
|
| Yeah! Welcome to Mohican Land, Steve! Look forward to seeing more posts. |
I live in my own little world - but that's okay, they know me here! |
| report to moderator |
|
|
Steve S
Pathfinder
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
February 05 2005
Status: offline
|
Posted - October 12 2007 : 2:37:32 PM
|
Thanks for the welcome...will catch up at various times,as my weird shifts let me!!
Steve |
| report to moderator |
|
|
lonewolf
Colonial Settler
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
February 12 2004
Status: offline
|
Posted - October 18 2007 : 9:16:24 PM
|
Hi guys,
Speaking of women's clothing, most white frontier women in western Pennsylvania wore only shifts in the summer while working in the farm fields. I don't believe that I have read that they wore any underwear. They did wear "rags" made from worn out clothing during "that time of month"!
They normally went barefoot in the warm weather, and wore Indian moccasins in cold weather. They saved their only "good" dress and their only pair of leather shoes for "occasions"! These both very were expensive items that could rarely be gotten on the frontiers at the time. When their female relatives from Philadephia, Boston, or other eastern cities visited their frontier women kin, the eastern "prim and proper" relatives were appalled at the sight of their frontier "sisters"! They said that these white women "dressed as savages"! However, it was much more comfortable than being bundled up in the layered dresses of the day, when working farm fields in the heat of summer. City women were so bundled-up in the styles of the day, that smelling salts were carried so that they could be revived when they passed-out in the heat of summer.
Captive white women, such as my Shawnee 4x great grandmother, Elizabeth Gray, a red-haired, blue-eyed Scot captured in western Maryland in 1755, were dressed in Indian clothing, and their white clothing was burned, since my Shawnee people and other Indians feared the diseases transmitted from the clothing that whites wore, since more often than not, the clothing was filthy, as were the captives' bodies. Whites rarely bathed during that time period!
Indians bathed almost daily, even in winter! BRRRRRRRR!
Their clothing being burned, the white captives were stripped completely bare and taken to a stream by Indian women, where they were given a proper bath, including washing the head lice from their hair!
When Indians burned down cabins of white settles, it was for retaliation for squatting on Indian land, as well as to stop the spread of European introduced diseases that Indians had little to no immunity from.
Indian women only wore a breechcoth in front and back in summer, their breasts being bare. One of our famous Shawnee chiefs, Nonhelema, a female warrior, fought wearing only breechcloths. She fought with my 4x great grandfather, Willenawah aka "Great Eagle" at the Battle of Bushy Run in 1763. |
Ken Lonewolf |
| report to moderator |
|
|
Kirachi
Colonial Settler
United Kingdom
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
October 04 2007
Status: offline
|
Posted - October 19 2007 : 07:59:58 AM
|
Interesting stuff lonewolf.
I admit being a women, after hearing no underwear was used I did go and look up what was used at "that time of the month" and found that most of the time nothing was used! Not even rags! I was quite shocked to say the least that must not have been very uncomfortable.
Apprantly the skirts were thought to be more than ample coverge and disguise...yuck
And it really does say a lot for the white settles having to be washed because of lice and disease, the natives way of life seems much more civilised to me.
It must be fascinating to trace your heritage back to such intresting people lonewolf. |
| report to moderator |
|
|
RedFraggle
Mohicanite
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
October 13 2006
Status: offline
|
Posted - October 19 2007 : 08:24:04 AM
|
quote:
Originally posted by Kirachi
Interesting stuff lonewolf.
And it really does say a lot for the white settles having to be washed because of lice and disease, the natives way of life seems much more civilised to me.
Not too long ago I was reading an article on the history of personal cleanliness in America, and it was rather eye-opening. One woman, who kept a daily journal, recorded the only TWO times she ever immersed herself in a tub of water. The first time, as a young woman, she was afraid to do so; the second time, nineteen years later, she expressed apprehension because she wasn't so young as she was when she first took the plunge!
Ultimately, the woman took only two baths in her whole, quite long lifetime. What my family used to call "spit baths" were the standard way of bathing, and I think it was considered sufficient clean-up . . . even for a whole lifetime.
Ick. Makes me want to go take a shower.  |
| report to moderator |
|
|
Wilderness Woman
Watcher of the Wood
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
November 27 2002
Status: offline
Donating Member |
Posted - October 19 2007 : 08:36:40 AM
|
OK. I gotta jump in here.
Number 1 --
quote:
By Lonewolf
... most white frontier women in western Pennsylvania wore only shifts in the summer while working in the farm fields. I don't believe that I have read that they wore any underwear.
You don't understand. The shift was part of their underwear. It was the item of clothing that was worn right next to their skin. Nothing underneath.
Regarding the women working in the fields in only their shifts, I would like to know your original source documentation for that statement. And I would like to say that if this was truly done, it was extremely rare, rather than a common practice. Even female slaves in the hot, steamy South wore a petticoat and shortgown (like our modern day blouse) while working in the fields. And if this was done, it would have only been done when no men were present -- perhaps if a group of women were working together. They certainly would have kept their outer clothing close by to put on quickly. This would be equivalent to a modern farm woman working out in her garden in just her bra and panties. Have any done it? Probably. But it is not a common practice. Documentation, please!
Number 2 --
quote:
By Kirachi
I did go and look up what was used at "that time of the month" and found that most of the time nothing was used! Not even rags!
I'll bet you found that statement on the "Museum of Menstruation" website, didn't you? I think the true answer to this is that we simply don't know for certain. I have seen references to rags worn rather like a breechclout. I am sure there were certain cultures, as the German peasant women this website claims, who used nothing. I am also sure that there were many women who chose not to just bleed into their clothing. Can you even imagine it?
Sorry, guys! 
|
"It is more deeply stirring to my blood than any imaginings could possibly have been." |
| report to moderator |
|
|
Fitzhugh Williams
Mohicanland Statesman
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
July 17 2005
Status: offline
|
Posted - October 19 2007 : 09:02:39 AM
|
quote:
Originally posted by Obediah
Whoever saw a red "sentry booth?" Them Frenchies are smarter than ye give'em credit for!
Around here most are green, like a Ranger's uniform. |
"Les deux pieds contre la muraille et la tete sous le robinet" |
| report to moderator |
|
|
Kirachi
Colonial Settler
United Kingdom
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
October 04 2007
Status: offline
|
Posted - October 19 2007 : 09:17:01 AM
|
quote:
Number 2 --
quote:
[i]By Kirachi
I did go and look up what was used at "that time of the month" and found that most of the time nothing was used! Not even rags!
I'll bet you found that statement on the "Museum of Menstruation" website, didn't you? I think the true answer to this is that we simply don't know for certain. I have seen references to rags worn rather like a breechclout. I am sure there were certain cultures, as the German peasant women this website claims, who used nothing. I am also sure that there were many women who chose not to just bleed into their clothing. Can you even imagine it?
Sorry, guys!
Yes, it was indeed that site. It did say that there is so little ref to that part of a woman's life that a lot is just guess work...I suppose it would be more likely if you were poor but to be honest, I cannot see wealthly women or women of good breeding/standing doing that, it would ruin their clothes, be awfully uncomfortable and surely embarrassing for the lady and anyone else present who happened to "notice"
I was really shocked to read it though lol I'm glad you agree that they MUST have used something, it just seems silly not to. |
| report to moderator |
|
|
RedFraggle
Mohicanite
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
October 13 2006
Status: offline
|
Posted - October 19 2007 : 09:52:48 AM
|
quote:
Originally posted by Kirachi
Yes, it was indeed that site. It did say that there is so little ref to that part of a woman's life that a lot is just guess work...I suppose it would be more likely if you were poor but to be honest, I cannot see wealthly women or women of good breeding/standing doing that, it would ruin their clothes, be awfully uncomfortable and surely embarrassing for the lady and anyone else present who happened to "notice"
I was really shocked to read it though lol I'm glad you agree that they MUST have used something, it just seems silly not to.
I think there is a lot of guesswork about this aspect of women's lives, but probably people in those days just accepted it as a fact of life---like body odor or head lice. Embarrassment about it is most likely a modern, post-Victorian development.
I do remember reading somewhere that a particlar women's clothier in the early 1800's strongly advocated the use of black shifts and petticoats rather than white, to prevent women's underclothes from being soiled during that time of the month. So maybe some women, at least, really did just bleed into their clothes, gross though it may seem to us! |
| report to moderator |
|
|
Kirachi
Colonial Settler
United Kingdom
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
October 04 2007
Status: offline
|
Posted - October 19 2007 : 11:28:33 AM
|
Yes, that's true Red but I have to say if it wasn't an embarrsing aspect of their lives why is there so little info on it?
And it would have been very uncomfortable to just bleed into your clothes, maybe it was more personal choice but I'm pretty sure most used something just for the comfort and mobility aspect. |
| report to moderator |
|
|
Kyfrontiersman
Colonial Militia
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
November 18 2004
Status: offline
|
Posted - October 21 2007 : 12:38:13 PM
|
Wilderness Woman wrote, "Regarding the women working in the fields in only their shifts, I would like to know your original source documentation for that statement." Actually there is much documentation for this in the Middle Ground which is the Kentucky frontier. The reason for this was that in 1776 the Indian troubles got so bad that trade goods stopped coming into the frontier. It did not take long before clothes and shoes wore out, and game got scarce as well. People wore as little as possible when working their own land so as to not wear out any good clothes they might be able to wear on the Sabbath or to a social function such as a wedding or dance. By the year of the 'Bloody Sevens', 1777 the best clothes a woman had might be a pair of split out leather hard soled shoes, or mocs, but probably barefoot, along with a petticoat and a worn out bed jacket. Some women even went to wearing their husbands old clothes. Read the old journals by those who could write, or even the old pious Rev. Woodmason's writings. He hated the frontier folks because of their 'filth and slovenly ways', yet these same folks saved his life several times, Lord knows why? (LOL). He chastized women for going barefoot, bareheaded, and barelegged in the summer time, by calling them un-Godly. A man's underclothes was his hunting shirt, drawn up between his legs if he wanted to wear knee britches, but usually he wore a breechclout if scouting or hunting. Mocassins wore out quickly as well, so from Spring to early Winter, most folks were barefoot. Hope this helps a bit.
Mike |
http://rumpingproductions.org/
"Kentucke, situated on the fertile banks of the great Ohio, rising
from obscurity to shine with splendor, equal to any other of the
stars of the American hemisphere." ...... John Filson |
| report to moderator |
|
|
Wilderness Woman
Watcher of the Wood
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
November 27 2002
Status: offline
Donating Member |
Posted - October 21 2007 : 1:09:30 PM
|
| Ah-Hah! Now that makes more sense. There was, you see, a reason for it, in that particular case. And, as you have pointed out, Mike, in the Rev. Woodmason's writings, this was not commonly done just to be done, nor was it acceptable in polite (pious ~ grin ~) society. It was, however, necessary for these women, in this case, to work in clothing that was less than presentable. Perhaps this was the reason the women Lonewolf cited in Western PA did the same. Again... not common, but it happened. |
"It is more deeply stirring to my blood than any imaginings could possibly have been." |
| report to moderator |
|
|
Fitzhugh Williams
Mohicanland Statesman
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
July 17 2005
Status: offline
|
Posted - October 21 2007 : 2:57:06 PM
|
A word about Woodmason. He was writing about South Carolina in the late 1760's and in an area which was not on the frontier. It was vastly different from the middle ground, and the people, while poor, were not the same as those on the frontier. The frontier at that time was about 100 miles to the west of them and made up of Scotch Irish from PA who had a little more money and built some nice homes which still stand today. And at that time the settlers were starting to push into the overmountain areas which were further west still. Woodmason had first tried to get a commission distributing stamps when the Stamp Act came out, and was lucky to come away from that one with his skin intact. His next plan was to become the hub of an Anglican revival of the backcountry and convert the Presbyterians and Anabaptists back to the Anglican religion. His writings were designed to convince church authorities that he needed more money, and that he should have helpers. In other words, he had an agenda for eveything he wrote. He painted the backcountry, which was really the middle of the colony of South Carolina, in the worst possible light. So I would be very careful about using Woodmason as a reference for anything to do with the frontier. It was a very different place.
Home at Spartanburg SC dating to 1765 and well to the west of the area that Rev. Woodmason frequented. |
"Les deux pieds contre la muraille et la tete sous le robinet" |
| report to moderator |
|
|
Bookworm
Colonial Militia
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
February 10 2004
Status: offline
Donating Member |
Posted - October 21 2007 : 3:19:52 PM
|
Thanks for that very interesting information, Kyfrontiersman! Being so focused on the Northeast as we seem to be here, we probably don't know as much about the Middle Ground as we should. It's good to have our horizons broadened.
I wonder if ethnic background might have played a part as well. I believe that many if not most of the settlers in your neck of the woods would have been Scots-Irish. In "Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America," David Hackett Fischer describes how the Quakers of Philadelphia were shocked by the appearance of these new immigrants. "The young women startled Quaker Philadelphia by the sensuous appearance of their full bodices, tight waists, bare legs and skirts as scandalously short as an English undershift." Indeed, Fischer goes on to quote Rev. Woodmason: "The young women . . . draw their shift as tight as possible round their Breasts, and slender waists (for they are generally very finely shaped) [not that he looked closely, you understand!], and draw their Petticoat close to their Hips to show the fineness of their limbs . . . indeed nakedness is not censurable or indecent here. . . . In a few years I hope to bring about a reformation." Once he was done looking, no doubt.
|
Bookworm
"I've gotten so fascinated with the eighteenth century, I'm going to stay there." -- David McCullough
"Nothing to it, brother." -- Barack Obama |
| report to moderator |
|
|
Wilderness Woman
Watcher of the Wood
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
November 27 2002
Status: offline
Donating Member |
Posted - October 21 2007 : 4:07:16 PM
|
 Ah, BW... you have made me laugh right out loud, as well! I appreciate that additional quote, and also your additional information on the Good, if Somewhat Lecherous, Rev. Woodmason, Fitz. Too funny.
So, I guess we are back to square one with this issue of women working in the fields in only their shifts. Did they, or didn't they? And if so, where were they? These are questions that may never be fully answered, but I still feel that if is was done, it was not very common and confined to particular areas for particular reasons. |
"It is more deeply stirring to my blood than any imaginings could possibly have been." |
| report to moderator |
|
|
Kyfrontiersman
Colonial Militia
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
November 18 2004
Status: offline
|
Posted - October 22 2007 : 03:21:04 AM
|
Well let's try this then for the Western Frontier Clothing:
General View of the People (Men) on the Frontier:
The settlers were dirty, ragged, often barefooted, bare legged and hatless. Clothing worn on the frontier must have the look of having been worn for work and travel. Since replacement clothing was scarce and few people could bring changes of clothing, most clothes would have had the look of being worn on a trek of more than three hundred miles across the mountains. If an item was lost it could not be easily replaced so people did without or improvised with sometimes bizarre results. There may be fashion but there would not be uniformity, there was great expression of individuality. The norms of dress in the frontier stations were shocking to the Eastern visitor, but this tells us something about both groups of people.
*****
Sources
“....a row or two of Smoky cabins, among dirty Women and men with greasy hunting shirts.” (from the Account of Life and Travels by William Hickman, Faragher, 131)
“....dirty, lousey, ragged and half starved.” (Shanes interview with Josiah Collins in the Draper collection. Faragher, 131)
“A man who came out with two changes of clothes in the spring was walking around in rags by the fall, and many people returned to the settlements simply because of their humiliation at their state of undress. Others adopted buckskins, but there was always a premium placed on textiles....”(from William Clinkenbeard interview with JDS DM 11CC55, Faragher, 152)
A eyewitness described the southern riflemen as “....Not overburdened with fat, but tall, raw-boned and sinewy.” (from Drury Mathis, Loyalist Captured at King’s Mountain, 1780, LaCrosse, 71)
“The dress of the inhabitants is also correspondent to the furniture of their houses: being clothed in the lightest manner possible, and every one in the manner which pleases him best, there is not in these new countries that strange propensity to ridicule everyone who deviates from the forms which a more established society may have prescribed to itself;” (Bailey, 170)
“My people tho allmost Quight Naked has had (I thank God) but few Complaints among them.” (Letter from Nathaniel Hart to his wife Sally December 30, 1779)
In 1761, Elisha Walden's party decided to split and make an additional Base
camp some miles away from the Blackwater station camp. They camped on a
creek, which received the name "Greasy Rock Creek." Because: "....the hunters killed a great many bear, and their garments were very much besmeared with grease; at the place where they went to the creek to drink, there is a small rock descending into the water, upon which they were used to lie down and drink; the rock, like the garments, became greasy, and hence forth the creek took the name of Greasy Rock creek." (Haywood, 35)
"...had not two pairs of breeches among them. The rest wear breechclouts, leggins, and hunting shirts, which have never been washed only by the rain since they were made." (Cresswell, 84)
"To show that Col. Daniel Boone was a man of mirth, I will relate that it
was a custom when he was courting to bring a deer, and Dress it before his
lady love; and by doing so he got blood and grease on his hunting shirt.
While putting it away, he courted Miss Rebecca Bryan. Soon Dinner was
ready, and Boone drank milk out of a wooden Bowl, while the girls stood
behind and laughed at the untidy appearance of his hunting shirt. He said
in a half comical way: "You, like my hunting shirt- have missed many a good
washing." This sally at the girls untidiness, perhaps more witty than true,
had its desired effect, and the young hunter was no longer joked about his
hunting shirt."(Draper 6 S 17)
“We found a poor distressed, 1/2 naked, 1/2 starved, people ... the people were dirty, filthy, and half starved when I came through." (Josiah Collins in Lester 195)
"...dirty, lousey, ragged and half starved." (Faragher, 131, quoting |
http://rumpingproductions.org/
"Kentucke, situated on the fertile banks of the great Ohio, rising
from obscurity to shine with splendor, equal to any other of the
stars of the American hemisphere." ...... John Filson |
| report to moderator |
|
|
Kyfrontiersman
Colonial Militia
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
November 18 2004
Status: offline
|
Posted - October 22 2007 : 03:30:07 AM
|
Views of the Back Country Woman
General View of the People (Women) on the Frontier:
(please keep in mind the dress from the Carolina Frontier to the Kentucky Frontier was not much different, if any, and that the dress of men is far better documented than that of women, probably because there were so many more men on the frontier at that time.)
Women settlers were probably dressed in nought but a shift and petticoat, bare legged, bare footed, hatless, no shawl or neck cloth and no short gown when working in their homes, around their farms or in a station that they called home. Their hair was often gathered into a braid and wrapped, Indian style, doubled back and wrapped, as did some working men, loose or in the bun as was the Eastern fashion. Winter brought the addition of moccasins or shoe packs, a short gown and a coat.
Given the opportunity to dress up, they added shoes or moccasins, stockings, a short gown, shawl, apron, cap and bonnet. Wealthier women may have conformed to Eastern standards but there is no mention of it. In some circumstances, women have been reported wearing men’s clothing or parts of men’s clothing or even items of Indian clothing. The fabrics would have been linen and linsey woolsey and possibly some fustian, with the occasional substitution of a leather item for a fabric one because of extreme shortages. There has been no mention of hemp, cotton or silk in conjunction with women’s clothing on the frontier although hemp has been mentioned as a common fabric for men. Colors appear to have been limited to local dyestuffs and indigo. Chemises seemed to have been bleached white linen or natural linen. Aprons were usually dark, and to date there are no examples of white aprons on frontier women, Gehret mentions once that a white apron might be worn to church (57).
In The American Frugal Housewife, Child attests that clothing was commonly dyed brown or Nankin, (a Yellow brown) "because it would not 'show soil as readily as white.'" (Quoted in "Beyond Walnut Brown", p. 34)
Sources
Headgear:
“How would the polite people of London stare, to see the Females (many quite pretty) come to Service in their Shifts and a short petticoat only, barefooted and Bare legged -- dress’d only in their Hair,...”(Woodmason, 31)
“The Women bareheaded, barelegged and barefoot with only a thin Shift and under Petticoat --”(Woodmason, 61)
“....Scotch servants dirty women bare footed, no caps, hair down....”(from Mrs. Edwin Gray, Ed. The Papers and Diaries of a York Family 1774-1839, qtd in Cunnington, 49-50)
Hair Styles:
“They took out their combs and let their hair flow over their Shoulders.” (from Elisabeth L. Cutshaw to LCD DM 21C24, 21C27, Faragher, 187)
“Rubbing themselves and their Hair with Bears Oil and tying it up behind in a Bunch like the Indians....”(Woodmason, 61)
Neck Wear:
“A small home-made handkerchief, in point of elegance, would illy supply the place of that profusion of ruffles with which the necks of our ladies are now ornamented.” (Doddridge, 93)
“Without Caps or Handkerchiefs--”(Woodmason, 32)
Body Clothing:
“The linsey petticoat and bedgown, which were the universal dress of our women in early times, would make a strange figure in our days.”(Doddridge, 93)
“How would the polite people of London stare, to see the Females (many quite pretty) come to Service in their Shifts and a short petticoat only, barefooted and Bare legged -- dress’d only in their Hair,”(Woodmason, 31)
“And all their Cloathing, a Shirt and Trousers Shift and [one word illegible] Petticoat.”(Woodmason, 33)
“The Women bareheaded, barelegged and barefoot with only a thin Shift and under Petticoat -- -- The Young Women have a most uncommon Practice, which I cannot break them off. They draw their Shifts as tight as possible to the Body, and pin it close, to shew the roundness of their Breasts, and slender Waists (for they are generally finely shaped) a |
http://rumpingproductions.org/
"Kentucke, situated on the fertile banks of the great Ohio, rising
from obscurity to shine with splendor, equal to any other of the
stars of the American hemisphere." ...... John Filson |
| report to moderator |
|
|
Wilderness Woman
Watcher of the Wood
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
November 27 2002
Status: offline
Donating Member |
Posted - October 22 2007 : 12:45:36 PM
|
Very interesting, Mike! Thanks so much for going to all of that trouble. I am reminded again of what poverty and need can do.
Now, if I could just get Lonewolf to post his sources regarding the women of Western Pennsylvania... |
"It is more deeply stirring to my blood than any imaginings could possibly have been." |
| report to moderator |
|
|
Light of the Moon
Mohicanland Statesman
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
December 18 2004
Status: offline
|
Posted - October 29 2007 : 10:25:25 AM
|
Very Interesting, indeed, Mike. Thanks for all of it! I love reading things like this! Puts things in perspective re: poverty and such. Makes you appreciate all the more everything our ancestors lived through to give us what we have today.
|
I live in my own little world - but that's okay, they know me here! |
| report to moderator |
|
|
Kyfrontiersman
Colonial Militia
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
November 18 2004
Status: offline
|
Posted - October 30 2007 : 11:18:22 PM
|
Thanks much Ladies, but I enjoy doing research. Every time I think I'm close, I find something else I need to change. I've always said that the study of history is very humbling.  |
http://rumpingproductions.org/
"Kentucke, situated on the fertile banks of the great Ohio, rising
from obscurity to shine with splendor, equal to any other of the
stars of the American hemisphere." ...... John Filson |
| report to moderator |
|
|
Kyfrontiersman
Colonial Militia
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
November 18 2004
Status: offline
|
Posted - December 02 2007 : 9:48:43 PM
|
Being a subject which brought up clothing or 'undewear' on the frontier, I wanted to keep this thread going. Here's some great information on colors used on the frontier:
Colors of the Frontier
In 1806, Elijah Bemiss wrote his treatise on dyeing, The Dyer’s Companion (reprinted by Dover Publications, NY, 1973). Although Bemiss was a professional clothier and his recipes geared toward other professionals in terms of quantity and available dyestuffs, they do give us a picture of the most popular colors of the period. Included in the book are:
36 recipes for a variety of browns
26 recipes for reds
22 recipes for greys
18 recipes for blue
14 recipes for blacks
13 recipes for greens and olives
6 recipes for yellow and buff
4 recipes for orange
3 recipes for “plumb” or purple
2 recipes for flesh
1 each for pink, violet,“forest cloth” and “Paris mud.”
This breaks down to 57 % of what we might call earth colors: browns, grays, blacks and greens; 41% which may have been somewhat brighter (although some of the reds, pinks, and blues are described as weak or muddy); and a minuscule amount unassigned, as the author is unsure what “forest cloth” and “Paris mud” might be. What were known as “drab” colors were very popular even among the fashionable in the first decade or so of the 19th century.
Colors of the Frontier-- a Neverending Story
This fascinating subject, along with its attending question on awareness of camouflage capabilities, has fostered a fair amount of response, just the sort of thing Yr. Editor is delighted to receive. Please, Dear Readers, keep up the good work.
Billy Heck of Speedwell, Tennessee, reminds Yr. Editor that John P. Hale made note of the dangers of wearing colors that stand out, in Trans-Allegheny Pioneers. When the Indians attacked Draper’s Meadows in 1782, they were pursued by a company of “fifteen or twenty men” and some of the militiamen who had gathered for a muster day nearby; this number included a Captain Maxwell. As the account continues, “the Indians ran close to Captain Maxwell and party, and firing on them, killed Captain Maxwell, who was conspicuous from wearing a white hunting shirt. He was the only one of the pursuers killed (Trans-Allegheny Pioneers, John P. Hale; originally published in 1886; current edition from Heritage Books, Inc., Bowie, MD, 1988; p. 125-127).
In her well-documented book, Seedtime on the Cum-berland, Harriette Simpson Arnow wrote that “hunting shirts were of many colors; white as worn by Cresap’s men was a favorite as were red and yellow” as quoted in Smythe’s Tour, I, 182. But she goes on to note “It is doubtful if many hunting shirts in bright colors were worn into the woods; these were most commonly worn by the gay blades at shooting matches and the soldier while traveling or on parade. Men in the woods avoided bright colors so as not to attract the attention of game or Indians.” (Seedtime on the Cumberland, Harriet Simpson Arnow; (U. of Nebraska Press, 1995; p. 151). This Arnow attributes, among other things, to Kercheval’s History of the Valley of Virginia. A footnote on page 114 of that book tells the story: Col., Chas Lewis, “who had arrayed himself in a gorgeous scarlet waistcoat, against the advice of his friends, thus rendering himself a conspicuous mark for the Indians, was mortally wounded early in the action; yet was able to walk back after receiving the wound, into his own tent, where he expired. He was met on his way by the commander-in-chief, his brother, Col. Andrew Lewis, who remarked . . .‘I expected something fatal would befall you. . ..’”
Arnow also notes that Daniel Boone was painted in “a rather plain hunting shirt of cloth, though he is described as having worn in the settlements of East Tennessee in 1774 a deerskin hunting shirt dyed black” by Reuben Gold Thwaites |
http://rumpingproductions.org/
"Kentucke, situated on the fertile banks of the great Ohio, rising
from obscurity to shine with splendor, equal to any other of the
stars of the American hemisphere." ...... John Filson |
| report to moderator |
|
|
Kyfrontiersman
Colonial Militia
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
November 18 2004
Status: offline
|
Posted - December 03 2007 : 12:22:10 AM
|
wonder what homicidal hobbits wore for underwear? 
Image Insert:
55.78 KB
Mike |
http://rumpingproductions.org/
"Kentucke, situated on the fertile banks of the great Ohio, rising
from obscurity to shine with splendor, equal to any other of the
stars of the American hemisphere." ...... John Filson |
| report to moderator |
|
|
Topic |
|
|
|
| The Mohican Board! [Bumppo's Redux!] |
© 1997-2025 - Mohican Press |
|
|
| Current Mohicanland page raised in 0.48 seconds |
 |
|
Underwear?
