Men's Civil War Era Wedding Ring

[Jeffrey Cohen]

Looking for info. on a men's wedding ring.
How wide, what type of gold, and does anyone make them?
Thanks
Jeffrey Cohen

[ScottCross]

Jeffrey,

I have a couple of examples that were dug from campsites. Both are plain BRASS bands that had been gold plated (most of the plating was missing). I saw a great one on exhibit in a private museum just north of Fredricksburg (I have forgotten the man's name who owns it). This ring was a flat gold band, about 1/4 " wide, with beading around the top and bottom edges. When I got married 5 years ago, I walked into a jewelry store and found a ring almost exactly the same. I bought it in a heart beat. However, there is some debate about how common it was for men to wear wedding bands during the 1860s.

[Clark Badgett]

Unless I am very mistaken, I remember a few years back some of the heavy hitters on the civilian side of the hobby had discovered that men didn't commonly wear wedding bands during the war ear. I know that of the many photos I've seen of married couples, I don't recall any men wearing rings where their wedding bands should have been. I have seen married men wearing other rings though.

[JerseySkilletLicker]

Many believe that the custom of men wearing wedding bands is relatively new, having started in earnest during the WWII days when men being seperated from their wives wore them as a token of romantic feelings and fidelity.
Before that time the general feeling is that women as a sort of "property" wore engagement; wedding and even motherhood bands as a sign that they "belonged" to someone.
While some men indeed wore a wedding band during the mid 19th century, I do not believe it was the norm.

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Wedding bands were worn by men in the 19th century, particularly by different ethnic groups. Germans were well known for wearing rings on the right hand from the 18th century on, Scandinavian wedding band tradition goes back well before 1000 AD.

There is also an account of U. S. Grant loosing his wedding ring while he was stationed in the north west of California, and becoming quite upset over the loss, ending in on of his bouts with the bottle. I will look up the exact quote and post it.

In the Time Life Civil War series Tenting Tonight there are photos on pgs 39 and 43 of married men wearing rings on there pinky fingers.

[Jimmayo]

Have dug a few wedding bands in Union sites. Here is a picture of two. If the picture doesn't post e-mail me and I will send it off forum. The typical wedding band must have been expensive if all gold. Most are plated and flaked off by the time they have been recovered. Most look like the larger ring shown and are pretty much like the plain bands worn today.

[hireddutchcutthroat]

I feel mens rings, not wedding rings per se, but mens rings in general are very PEC. If you want to wear a wedding band, you may want to look into the very period but way under represented pinky ring.

[ThehosGendar]

"Scouts and guides of the Army of the Potomac" (March 1864) is a great image that shows several men wearing rings.

http://www.3nj.org/scoutsandguides.jpg

1. John Irving is wearing either a very large ring, or two small rings on his right pinky:
http://www.3nj.org/1.jpg

2. Son of Lt. Robert Klein, 3d Indiana Cavalry (the officer seated in the middle) looks to be wearing a metallic ring on his pinky, and a black ring on his, well, ring finger. The possible pinky ring is quite thin, and may very well be a wrinkle. His hands are really weird. The kid looks to be about 15, but he's got the hands of a 40 year old. (Perhaps his father, being a cavalry officer, brought back the hand of a felled Confederate foe after particularly daring fight, and he's just showing it off)

Enough yapping, here's the picture:
http://www.3nj.org/2.jpg

3. Unknown, wearing a pinky ring.
http://www.3nj.org/3.jpg

While I know that wearing a ring on the pinky was a style at the time, what would differentiate a wedding ring from a ring of fashion? Lt. Kline's son is wearing a ring similar to those dug rings that Mr. Mayo has shown. Not to presume anything, but he's looks a bit young to be married.

[Rich Mason]

When back in Virginia for the 135th Gettysburg event, my wife and I bought a "dug" ring at one of the local antique shops. It was supposed to have been dug from Fredricksburg (no way of knowing for sure, since I wasn't the one that dug it).

It is just a plain flat band a little less then 1/4 inch wide, but it is made of copper. Doesn't look like it was ever plated, but hard to tell. Not even sure if it is a wedding ring, but the shape seems to give the impression that it might have been.

Don't know if this helps the discussion or not. Just thought it was interesting that it was copper and not brass or some other more common metal for rings.

Rich Mason

[KarinTimour]

Dear Rich:

During our period women sometimes wore copper bracelets which they thought would protect them from rheumatism. I'm wondering if the copper ring you got was the male equivalent -- especially needed given the amount of sleeping in less than optimal conditions that soldiers did.

Karin Timour
Atlantic Guard Soldiers' Aid Society
Email: Ktimour@aol.com

[Jeffrey Cohen]

Thanks for all the help! This certainly gives me a lot to study on.
Reards,
Jeffrey Cohen

[Tyler]

This doesn't really fit with the "where to find one or what they look like" idea, but for more info on which finger to wear a ring on, check out The Columbia Rifle Research Compendium's article "Ring finger? Schmingfinger!". Gives percentages of which finger soldiers wore rings on etc. And of course, nothing beats period images...
-Tyler Putman

[Tyler]

Ok, this is a bit off-topic, but a question for Mr. Gendar-
Where can I get the software you use to enlarge and sharpen the photos? It's really great!
-Tyler Putman

[Matthew.Rector]

Just throwing this on the thread only as an example.
In the Civilian Discussions folder, there is the thread, They weren't that different...by Northerngal. In it she references an 1865 lithograph, "The Sailor's Farewell". It depicts a sailor and his signficant other.
http://www.myrtle-avenue.com/nb/sailor.jpg

While looking at it I noticed that the sailor is wearing a ring on his left hand ring finger. I present this as just one example. Not at all saying it was the norm or not.

[Vuhginyuh]

See the image of John Yates Beall in the A-C Forum;
Civil War Photos
CDV's and other photos from Ebay and the like.

[paulcalloway]

Found a wonderful wedding band featured on an ebay auction - seller claims it was dug near Fairfax Station.
Described as:
"... about 21mm around and 10mm wide with some nice gold gilt and inside markings."

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=36035&item=2263536942&rd=1

[Jimmayo]

Here are a couple I dug in a Fed camp in Petersburg. I have some more but all are either small or normal size like in the pic. Only one had any gold color and it appeared to be plated which was flaking off in spots.

[KentuckyReb]

Man...I just realized something about Jim's last attachments. Look at those rings next to that dime. Pinky rings, indeed--or were people really that much smaller on average during the mid-19th Century? I'm certainly not Mini-Me, but I wouldn't make much money as a bouncer either, and there's no way I could get one of those on my pinky to begin with, let alone any other finger of my hand. Do you suppose there was a heretofore-undocumented toe ring fad sweeping the Federal army during the siege of Petersburg? :D

[hiplainsyank]

It's my understanding that people during the mid-19th century were smaller both in height and girth. I recall reading in one place that they average height of a soldier was 5'4".

No doubt poorer nutrition when young contributed. But some have speculated that the growth hormones added to most animals slaughtered for meat today have made people grow taller, as well as go into pubrty earlier. Teachers who taught in the 1950s remember plenty of teenage boys, even 16-17, who had not, or were barely, shaving.

[easttnfed]

All,

I have a good source for ordinary, plain brass rings. This guy has a ton of these rings in bags at his house and is willing to sell some of them if anyone is interested. He picked them up at a local antique store in Georgia for nothing and he himself is a antique collector that knows a lot about rings. He also has some that have been worked on with engravings on them. They are really nice rings. I got mine from him and it fits my pinky finger just right. Tell him the size that you need and he'll get it for you, all he has to do is reach into one of these bags and get it. If he does not have the size that you need, then he'll enlarge it what ever size needed. I'll try to post some originals that I have dug as well if I can get my scanner to work. He would be glad to send some pics of some examples if you want also.

His name is Shane Miles and
the email for him is:

Miles79NY@aol.com

[LindaTrent]

It's my understanding that people during the mid-19th century were smaller both in height and girth. I recall reading in one place that they average height of a soldier was 5'4".

There's an excellent thread over on the civilian forum on height and breadth,
http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5542&highlight=height

Linda Trent
lindatrent@zoomnet.net

[Curt-Heinrich Schmidt]

Hallo Kameraden und Kameradinnen!

Sorry, coming in late...

Just to briefly add to what has already been shared. I would add to ethnicity and nationality, the "Real Life" consideration that socio-economic class had upon the desire to wear and availability to wear gold rings.
Meaning, lower classes and working classes could not always afford the "luxury."

And, gold plated copper had been an expedient for centuries not only in jewelry but in other items like the "gold" statuary in churches (more of a "European" thing.. ) or such things as officers' gorgets.

In the Modern World, my wife and I wear solid gold copies of a silver "claddagh" ring excavated from a 1760 site on Lake Superior.

Connin O'Connell

[Hank Trent]

Man...I just realized something about Jim's last attachments. Look at those rings next to that dime. Pinky rings, indeed--or were people really that much smaller on average during the mid-19th Century? I'm certainly not Mini-Me, but I wouldn't make much money as a bouncer either, and there's no way I could get one of those on my pinky to begin with, let alone any other finger of my hand.

I don't usually wear any rings, but I found one around the house that just fit my wedding-ring finger, and laid it over a dime. It sits exactly on the dime, i.e. the dime won't go through it, but you can't see any of the dime sticking out beyond the edges either, which is about the size that the rings in the photos look like. For what it's worth, I'm 5'7" and 150 pounds.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net