"All Day" Vest

[Chihuahua]

Pards,
Attached is CDV of Pvt. Lewis H. Owens, Co. H, 3rd Iowa Cav.
Of note is the number of buttons on his vest. It would seem to take most of the day to complete the chore.
Owens was WIA on 7-28-62 at Moore's Mill, MO. (probably trying to get dressed!).
I'd love to make a shirt from that table cover.
Mark Warren
Hairy Nation

[RudyN]

I would hate to miss a button while buttoning that vest. That table cloth would make a nice shirt for sure!

[Swag]

Excellent find...are those service stripes on his sleeve?

[Crockett]

If he were a bright boy, like my own, he would leave all but a few top buttons un-buttoned and sliiiiiiiiide the garmet over his head. My boys do this with their Sunday best dress shirts. Lazy or inventive?

Joe Mode

[johnf1862]

I saw an image on eBay showing a very similar vest about a year ago... I thought I had saved a copy but I can't find it.

The subject was seated, with the bottom of the vest unbuttoned. By leaving the bottom unbuttoned, you could see that there were (presumably 6 or 9, the spacing spacing indicated 6) flat gutta-percha buttons, with the corresponding buttonholes on the inside of the left facing. The small non-functional ball buttons were sewn to the left front.

[Arch Campbell]

That is a service stripe. I imagine that this is one of those classic "muster out" shots from Louisville (or some other mustering out point,) summer 1865.

I imagine his pards had a variation on the old saw: "Why, he could button that vest up on a Sunday and be stuck in it all week."

[Chihuahua]

Arch,
Actually the backmark is a photograper in Keokuk. There's no evidence of a revenue stamp.
Owens re-upped on Feb 1, '64, and veteran furlough ran from Feb 12, '64 to March 12, '64. The 3rd Cav men were set loose in Keokuk and reported back there to continue their service.
My guess is Owens sat for his "likeness" during his vet furlough. His home was in Libertyville, which is Jefferson County. Either way, a tax stamp should have been placed on reverse of CDV, but none (and no trace of it) is present.
Owens was born in Virginia, but his surname suggests Irish ancestry.
Mark Warren
Hairy Nation

[vote4jakub]

I'm at work and don't have my references with me but off the top of my head I think the revenue stamp went into effect around Aug. or Sept. '64 to the same in '66! I've got a huge collection of CDV's, and a great book that discusses EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know about them, BUT I'm just working on my (often) flawed memory. I reckon early '64 shouldn't show signs of the old glue and/or cancellation that my stripped (by philatellists I presume) models do (if they were nicked early or carefully sometimes you need to angle it towards the light to see the "ghost"). NICE vest nonetheless, and great insight on a similar vest with the real buttons underneath the false ball-button front! I have a CDV of a marshal (military not Dillon) vest on a fellow from PA; wonder if it was attached the same?

Your Obedient Servant,
Scott "Dutchy" Leatherman
6th LA. Co'y G