Want to Trade Original for Wearable Work Clothes

[KathyBradford]

Moderators,

Sorry this is in the wrong place. At your convenience, may you please move it to the Civilian forum?

A gentleman where we volunteer has an original civilian frock coat. It is black wool of a very fine weave, lined with burgundy printed wool and padded through the upper body. The stitches are 13-15 per inch, and as near as I can tell, it is entirely hand sewn, including long inside seams. The keyhole buttonholes are unusually shaped at the large end, and of the tiniest stitches I’ve seen. There are five visible fabrics - black wool, burgundy body lining, white linen? sleeve lining, brown polished cotton pocket lining, and brown wool cuff lining. It is edge sewn as opposed to being seamed with right sides together along the front and cuff edges. At one time, this was an exquisite garment.

Back during the Centennial, a costume rental shop amassed a large number of originals, and this was one of their pieces. There are badly stitched tears at the armholes, and the original collar is partially covered with bad velvet (easily removable.) The original collar and all its rows of stitching are visible on the underside. One original button remains on the left cuff, and the rest of the buttons are replacements covered in the same velvet. There are some moth holes in the lining near the bottom, and more mended tears. Three of his tickets to Centennial events are in the pocket
He would like to trade it for civilian working clothes. He portrays a black powder mill worker. I know nothing of its value, but I told him I would put this out there for anyone who might be interested in working a trade with him.

I will gladly send more photos. I’d love to see him start a trend of proper garments for everyone at the site.

dkbrad@hotmail.com

Thank you,

[Jefferson Guards]

Does this garment have a waist seam? From the photographs it appears that it does not. Additionally, the coat has three external pockets. From the lack of a waist seam and the presence of the lower external pockets I do not believe that this coat is actually a frock coat. It looks like it might be a Paletot.

For a powder mill worker impression I would advise the individual to procure the following garments. These are all extremely common among the working class in laboring situations:

White pleated front shirt
Cravat or neckcloth (two different garments with different purposes)
Wool flannel overshirt
Stout trousers (corduroy or denim would work well)
Waist belt
Boots
Mechanic's Cap or folded paper head covering

[KathyBradford]

Hi, Brian,

Thank you for the clarification; you are indeed correct. It has no waist seam, front or back, and it is flared out at the bottom.

Thank you, too for the suggestions for his cothing.

With appreciation,

[Matt Caldwell]

What kind of set is he looking for? the cost to make a reproduction kit could be quite more than this garment is worth. Just wondering.

[KathyBradford]

Matt,

Thanks for asking. He wants something he can wear to portray a black powder mill worker - workman's clothing. The list above looks similar to the photographs of workers from the time. Their clothes looked rough and dark. They appear to be wearing caps; shirts covered by sack coats, aprons, or vests; and trousers.

During the War, the duPont company provided approximately half of the black powder used by the Union army. The roll mills are still standing today. At that time, if a worker tried to enter the yards with any metal (buttons, nails in shoes, belt buckle, ring, etc.), he would be immediately fired. One spark could be deadly. There were over 200 explosions costing over 200 lives. Each mill building was built with three massive stone walls and one very weak one facing the Brandywine Creek in hopes of sending the force of the inevitable explosions away from the workers' community.
www.hagley.org

Neither he nor I has any idea of the value of the paletot. His hope is that someone will be able to preserve it, and he'd like to dress better than the blue jeans and chambray shirt outfit he now wears. His wife threw away another original he had "because it smelled bad".

All suggestions will be greatly appreciated.