The thread on bag buttons got me to pull out my copy of The Kentucky Rifle Hunting Pouch by Madison Grant and got me to thinking again about some construction details of the flap. So as not to steal the thread on bag buttons, I thought I would start a new thread.
I've noticed a trend on a good number of the new made bags shown on this forum that have the bag flap as a separate piece and sewed onto the back piece of the bag. The leather on the back of the bag on such bags seem to at least partially go over the bag and then another piece of leather is sewed on to make the full flap. While I checked the book for bag closures on the flaps, I noticed some of the original bags had flaps sewn on this way as well. I am wondering why this was done?
It would seem to me that having the back and flap made of one piece of leather would keep articles in the bag better and not allow rain in through stitches if the stitches weren't well sealed. Though I'm not sure it would matter, a one piece back and flap would be stronger than a stitched on flap. A solid piece of leather (at least to me) also looks better and would be easier to construct than all that added stitching.
I'm just speculating, but is the sole or main reason the bag and flap were made of two pieces was perhaps the piece of leather the maker had wouldn't allow him to make the back and flap out of one piece and he could use the leather to better advantage in laying out the pieces and by making the flap separately? Or is there some other advantage to a stitched on flap of which I'm unaware?
I remember back in the 70's and 80's that some flaps were separate and stitched onto to the bag so the leather would fall down naturally over the bag. The back bag piece of the bag was made taller than the sides and front and the flap was stitched flat to it. Such flaps lay flatter than the arch you see in the flaps of some bags where the back and flap was made of one piece of leather. These flat sewn flaps looked a bit neater, but I always thought the stitches would have to be sealed better.
Some of the bags in The Kentucky Rifle Hunting Pouch look like they might have been made this way. Plate 8 on page 21, and Plates 12 and 13 on pages 26 and 27 are some of the ones to which I refer. I can't tell exactly, though, as the photography is not that clear.
Plate 22 on page 39 looks like the flap was made a bit differently still. On that one, it looks like the back piece and flap are one piece, but they folded the flap over against itself at the top of the back piece sewed it against itself to get the flap to lay flatter. Again, I may be mistaken as the photography is not that clear. If that was the way it was constructed, the only reason I can see for doing it would be to get the flap to lay flatter.
Something else I've noted is the bags with the oversize beavertail flaps are usually dated in the 19th century. Was this because leather was more common or cheaper than the 18th century, so such a oversize flap would not have been seen as "a waste of expensive leather?"
Has anyone else noticed these details and can explain why these things were done? The reason I ask is because a solid piece of leather for the back of the bag and the flap can rather easily be bent/folded so the flap lays flat and I've always wondered about these things.
Gus
