Earl Lanning's Rifleman's frock

[bluenoser]

Laurie, Cotton is grown just down the road, a few rows are still standing from last year. For a later blacksmith Federal period impression, I would go with that as it was the basis of our economy. We shipped the bails to the UK and they sent finished cloth to Morehead City, NC. For my earlier 17th to 18th century thing, Hemp seems the way to go. It was grown locally for the naval stores industry and by the Tuscaroras. Any help there? Danny

Danny,
I think a person would have a pretty rough row to hoe if trying to dispute the availability of cotton in the federal period, which I understand to be about 1780 to 1820.  My comment was directed more toward the early to mid 1700s.  Even then as I recall, there are runaway ads that identify the wearing of cotton.  I don't know when block printed cotton from India was likely first imported into the colonies, but believe it was quite an early date.

Laurie

[Artificer]

Laurie,

Here's a good article on the early use of cotton block prints and use of cotton.  It mentions the European and English prohibitions on importing cotton from India over the years.  There is plenty of documentation about the English prohibition for most of the 18th century.  However, we usually forget the Dutch traded all over the colonies as well.  

http://www.gbacg.org/costume-resources/original/articles/printed_cottons.htm

Gus

[bluenoser]

Gus,
Thanks for the info.  I was not aware of this site.  Looks like a lot of interesting stuff and I am looking forward to browsing through it.

Thanks again
Laurie

[Greg Field]

I am south of the Dividing Line, But you are right. With about 120 million Indians here in pre contact America, we can be sure that they altered their environment. They used controled burnings, agriculture, tree selection, and the drove to extinction, plenty of animals. The Europeans introduced disease which traveled to California first and came back to kill frontier people years later.
 The fords and crossings were well cleared out, It all depended if you liked crawling around in the weeds.

Read the book "1491" if you want to see how much of your education is myth.

[dannybb55]

My Degree is right on track with the conclusions postulated in 1491, Guns Germs and Steel, various Richard Dawkins books, Darwin, John Lawson.
 How about you?

[Leatherbelly]

Whilst shooting my flinters, my fringed cuff kept catching on fire! Stylish or not,I got rid of it.

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

I think the fringed frocks with fringed capes and seams go right along with MShea's "foppish" hat. may have been high style in 1765+/- but I ain't wearing one!!

[Artificer]

Whilst shooting my flinters, my fringed cuff kept catching on fire! Stylish or not,I got rid of it.

I had forgotten it until you mentioned it, but that happened a few times to me as well.

Gus

[BlackleafHats]

I think the fringed frocks with fringed capes and seams go right along with MShea's "foppish" hat. may have been high style in 1765+/- but I ain't wearing one!!

Wow! My hat jumped threads... I have a frock from Cooperstown Trading Post (screaming deal). But I realize now that I've never shot in it. Hmm??

[Luke MacGillie]

So not being so well informed on who the movers and shakers are in the rifle building world, I spent a good hour trying to figure out if the Earl Lanning rifleshirt was a newfound shirt that could be added to the 4 surviving early hunting shirts

But to comment on this shirt, I dont know how it was dyed, but I would guess ritberries.  I dont like green huntingshirts unless they are done naturally, or at least replicate what a yellow overdyed with blue combo would look like.  But the cut and style are very good, a great replica of the "Classic" hunting shirt seen in both a surviving example at Washington's HQ's museum and multiple period images.

I prefer my hunting shirts of a natural color, caped, fringed and open before   And despite what Dan says, not all of us over on the other board are anti rifle!

[Artificer]

Green, even somewhat dark green was a very common color in the 18th century.  I'm thinking particularly of Continental Marine and Tory uniforms.  Those uniforms were primarily wool, so I'm not sure what dye was used.

Here's a link that shows what plants to use to get the color range one desires:

http://www.pioneerthinking.com/naturaldyes.html