How do I sew US on my issue blanket? by Jack Cox

[paulcalloway]

The following write-up was provided by Jack Cox for the AC FAQ project, circa 2001.

How do I sew US on my issue blanket?
by Jack Cox


"U"
4 1/2" Tall<O:p</O:p
4" Wide<O:p</O:p
Lines are about 1/2" apart.
Stitches are 3/8" to 1/2" long, with approximately the same distance between stitches.<O:p></O:p>
<O:p</O:p

"S"<O:p</O:p
4 1/2" Tall<O:p</O:p
3 1/2" Wide
Stitches - same as on the "U"
<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p
Distance between "U" and "S" - 1 1/2"<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p

Obviously, this is not the ONLY method. I will send the scanned letters to anyone who wants a copy.<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p

Additional note - 09/03/01: My stencil and stitching is very similar to the Royer blanket on page 214 of EOG - Union.<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p

Jack Cox
aka "Bullseye Jack"
Olathe Union Guard

[wsurugby10]

I couldn't find it anywhere through the search engine but I was wondering if not sewing the US on my issue blanket would be authentic? This may be a very stupid question but it seems to me that these could have fallen or been ripped out. I should probably just sew it on and be done with it but I thought I'd see what you thought.Thanks for your time

Dan Ketterman

[mrgrzeskowiak]

Anyone have this stencil?

[GoodNServiceableII]

I couldn't find it anywhere through the search engine but I was wondering if not sewing the US on my issue blanket would be authentic?

Dan,
I own a Thistle Hill Weavers blanket, purchased in the mid-Nineties. It did not come with a "US" on it. Recently, I attempted to have the "US" chain-stitched by the same vendor I purchased it from (not Thistle Hill). However, I was disappointed with the work (the stitches were loose, and the reverse side merely an illegible mess). I then decided to emailed the proprietor of Thistle Hill, interested to know whether the blanket was copied from an original that actually had a "US" on it, or not.

She informed me that the blanket I had purchased was based on several original examples she no longer owned, and added a caveat that not all extant examples conformed to the regulation 5 lbs, or possessed a "US" in the center. It does however have the end stripes, and looks very similar to the Royer blanket on page 214 of Union EOG.

Finally, the following seems to make a case for having non-"US"-marked blankets in the ranks. It was written by Capt. Hiram Appleman of Co. G, 8th Conn. Vols:

Camp Burnside, Annapolis, Md.
Nov. 29th, 1861

To Mrs. A. L. Whitman of Volunteer Aid Committee,

We have received a box containing blankets and sock, and other articles suited to camp life, which, we are informed by your letter, were the contributions of the patriotic citizens of Pawcatuck and vicinity, freely given, and to be equally distributed among the members of Company G...
...The blankets were most needed, as we were furnished by the government with but one, and that of poor quality.

Chris Darling