with which to gird your loins
Jun 11, 2022 10:51:27 GMT -7
brokennock, Sicilianhunter, and 2 more like this
Post by spence on Jun 11, 2022 10:51:27 GMT -7
I've found nothing as confusing in the hobby as the names of fabrics. There generally seem to be no rhyme or reason behind them, with one exception, they are sometimes named for their place of origin. Those place names are then bastardized in common usage, and the connection lost. Just for general interest, here are two short lists of fabric types I have in my files, with some comments, not mine, about them.
All of this first bunch were listed on a trade ledger of a transaction recorded in Oct. 1758, somewhere in Southwest Virginia
(spelling variations included as seen in 18c.
documents)
Ozbg Osnabrig Ozenbrg Osnaburg: Coarse unbleached linen or hempen
cloth first made in Osnabruck, Germany. Commonly used for sacking and
bagging.
Ticklenburg: A coarse rough cloth made of hemp or linen. Like
osnaburg, which was less coarse, it was also named for the German town
where it was once made.
Bed ticken, Ticking: (coutil. Fr.) Linen twill. According to John
Holker's manuscript, this material was used for the aprons worn by
distillers, brewers, and waiters. Savory des Bruslons stated that army
tents were made of ticking and that it served to enclose feathers in
mattresses, bolsters, and pillows. Samples of blue and white, and tan
and white linen "coutil", are in a Williamsburg collection. (red and white ticking was apparently not available in the 18c.)
Shalloon: A cheap twilled worsted. One of the materials most
commonly imported into America, shalloons were used for the lining of
clothing. "A thin loosely woven twilled worsted stuff"
Serge: "A twilled cloth with worsted warp and woolen weft woven on a
four-treadle loom. Lighter and narrower than broadcloth and of better
quality than kersey. Middleweight cheap and hard wearing.
Bearskin: A coarse thick woolen cloth, with a shaggy nap manufactured
for...."overcoats, and very durable" (Caulfield & Saward) "bearskin,
dreadnaught, fearnaught" were American terms for such an overcoating
cloth.
Buckskin: (1) fine woolen cloth with a milled and dressed finish showing
a distinctive twill. (2) A Kerseymere cloth of very fine texture embroidered with silk by children. It is napped, fulled thoroughly and shorn, the face being finished very smooth.
Broadcloth: Made of carded wool in plain weave and fulled after weaving.
Woven on a wide loom and measured 54 to 63 inches in width.
Buckram: A stiff lining fabric, a coarse cloth made from hemp, or linen.
Also used to wrap bolts of fine fabrics to protect.
Holland: Linen cloth. Once specifying country of manufacture for a
wide variety of linen goods, later became the generic name for linen
cloth, often of fine quality.
Dowlafs, Dowlas: "A coarse linen, very commonly worn by the lower
classes" Shirts, sheets bolsters and pillows
Drill : A heavy linen cloth. (also any heavy cloth, hemp or wool)
Russia Drill:
Cambrick Cambric: A fine white linen cloth in plain weave.
Callamanco Calimanco: A worsted stuff, used for clothing and
occasionally furnishings.
Yorkshire Plains: Woolen fabric
Duffields, Duffel : Heavy napped woolen cloth. Also Shags, Trucking
cloth (barter cloth) Also wool "trade" blankets, most commonly white!
Stroudwater blankets
Stroud blankets: Thick wool blankets, usually
red, sometimes blue or black stripes near each end of the blanket. Strouds, duffels, and blankets were all traded for beaver skins to Indians
Stroud: A woolen cloth woven and dyed, especially red, on the River
Stroud in Gloucestershire. ("stroud" is red unless
another color is specified, such as "blue stroud")
Nankeen: A cotton cloth of plain weave originally sold at Nankin in
China and made from a yellow variety of cotton, "of the same yellow tinge
which preserves when spun and woven into cloth" At least by the mid 18c.
in the Manchester area it was made of ordinary cotton dyed yellow
(those clever Brits...)
Bed Blanketts: White wool blankets
Dutch Blanketts:
Ruggrs, Rugg, Rug: A coarse wool cloth with a shagged or friezed
finish used as garments by the poorer classes and bed coverings. A kind
of cloth, and not a floor covering. Commonly green.
OTHER REFERENCES TO "TRADE CLOTH" -
Half Thicks: Coarse woolen cloth. Defoe wrote of "Those [foreigners]
whose clothing was of coarse Duffields, Wadmill, Halfthicks, and in
general a kind of the coarsest Kersies, but a degree or two above
Blankets: or the meanest of our Dozens, and what we call Yorkshire
Cloths".
Worsted or Cruels: Worsted: Lightweight cloth made of long-staple
combed wool yarn. The name was derived from the village of Worsted near
Norwich, a center for worsted weaving. The smooth shiny fibers were
suitable for embroidery and indeed were synonymous with the word
"crewel" or crewel yarn.
Crewel: Loosely twisted, fine two-ply worsted yarn especially suited to
embroidery as it is easily pulled through cloth. "....likewise deal in
crewels, which are the ends of the warps of worsted or yarn cut out of
the loom..."
Swanskin: A fine woolen cloth of plain weave related to flannel and bay.
Canvas: 1. A coarse unbleached cloth of hemp, less frequently of flax,
very strong which serves as ship sails. 2. A coarse unbleached cloth of hemp, serves to cover a woman's stays, also to stiffen men's clothes, and to make some other of their wearing apparel.
Linsey-Woolsey : A coarse cloth made of linen warp and woolen weft. "A
coarse woolen manufacture first constructed in the parish of Linsey of
Suffolk" (Fairholt).
*****************
An example ad which demonstrates why I stay confused about textiles.
The Pennsylvania Gazette
March 5, 1772
PHILIP WILSON, has removed his store to Water street, between Chestnut street and the Crooked Billet Alley, adjoining Mr. Thomas Pryor, where he has for sale, viz. BOOK and Jacconet muslins; bordered muslin handkerchiefs; humhums; cambricks and clear lawns; Irish linens; dowlas; brown and white Irish and Russia sheetings; Russia drilling; curdled Russia towelling; huckabacks; Russia and clouting diaper; diaper and damask tablecloths; ozenbrigs; whitened hessens; cottons and calicoes; furniture chintzes; nankeens; bed ticks; bed bunts; thicksets and pillows, jeans and jeanets; figured dimmothy; Mozeens and Wiltons; saggathies and lastings; plush; collar velvets; camblets and camblettees; silk Prussian Mecklenburgs; tammies and durants; calimancoes; flannels and strouds; broad and forest cloths; halfthick; buckram and canvas; cotton, romal and check handkerchiefs; worsted and silk breeches pieces; thread and cotton hose; peelongs and modes; half yard and ell wide persians; taffeties and ribbons; ferrets and silk laces; silk and worsted knee garters; mohairs and buttons; sewing silk; coloured thread; coarse tapes; bed lace and gartering; mens gloves; fans and wax necklaces; chip hats; ivory and horns combs; pins and writing paper; snuff boxes; knives and razors; scissars and shoe buckles; gunpowder and shot; cinnamon; London snuff; wool and cotton cards; brass kettles; scythes; straw and hay knives; pipes, and 6 d. nails; and a very neat left handed fowling piece.
Spence
All of this first bunch were listed on a trade ledger of a transaction recorded in Oct. 1758, somewhere in Southwest Virginia
(spelling variations included as seen in 18c.
documents)
Ozbg Osnabrig Ozenbrg Osnaburg: Coarse unbleached linen or hempen
cloth first made in Osnabruck, Germany. Commonly used for sacking and
bagging.
Ticklenburg: A coarse rough cloth made of hemp or linen. Like
osnaburg, which was less coarse, it was also named for the German town
where it was once made.
Bed ticken, Ticking: (coutil. Fr.) Linen twill. According to John
Holker's manuscript, this material was used for the aprons worn by
distillers, brewers, and waiters. Savory des Bruslons stated that army
tents were made of ticking and that it served to enclose feathers in
mattresses, bolsters, and pillows. Samples of blue and white, and tan
and white linen "coutil", are in a Williamsburg collection. (red and white ticking was apparently not available in the 18c.)
Shalloon: A cheap twilled worsted. One of the materials most
commonly imported into America, shalloons were used for the lining of
clothing. "A thin loosely woven twilled worsted stuff"
Serge: "A twilled cloth with worsted warp and woolen weft woven on a
four-treadle loom. Lighter and narrower than broadcloth and of better
quality than kersey. Middleweight cheap and hard wearing.
Bearskin: A coarse thick woolen cloth, with a shaggy nap manufactured
for...."overcoats, and very durable" (Caulfield & Saward) "bearskin,
dreadnaught, fearnaught" were American terms for such an overcoating
cloth.
Buckskin: (1) fine woolen cloth with a milled and dressed finish showing
a distinctive twill. (2) A Kerseymere cloth of very fine texture embroidered with silk by children. It is napped, fulled thoroughly and shorn, the face being finished very smooth.
Broadcloth: Made of carded wool in plain weave and fulled after weaving.
Woven on a wide loom and measured 54 to 63 inches in width.
Buckram: A stiff lining fabric, a coarse cloth made from hemp, or linen.
Also used to wrap bolts of fine fabrics to protect.
Holland: Linen cloth. Once specifying country of manufacture for a
wide variety of linen goods, later became the generic name for linen
cloth, often of fine quality.
Dowlafs, Dowlas: "A coarse linen, very commonly worn by the lower
classes" Shirts, sheets bolsters and pillows
Drill : A heavy linen cloth. (also any heavy cloth, hemp or wool)
Russia Drill:
Cambrick Cambric: A fine white linen cloth in plain weave.
Callamanco Calimanco: A worsted stuff, used for clothing and
occasionally furnishings.
Yorkshire Plains: Woolen fabric
Duffields, Duffel : Heavy napped woolen cloth. Also Shags, Trucking
cloth (barter cloth) Also wool "trade" blankets, most commonly white!
Stroudwater blankets
Stroud blankets: Thick wool blankets, usually
red, sometimes blue or black stripes near each end of the blanket. Strouds, duffels, and blankets were all traded for beaver skins to Indians
Stroud: A woolen cloth woven and dyed, especially red, on the River
Stroud in Gloucestershire. ("stroud" is red unless
another color is specified, such as "blue stroud")
Nankeen: A cotton cloth of plain weave originally sold at Nankin in
China and made from a yellow variety of cotton, "of the same yellow tinge
which preserves when spun and woven into cloth" At least by the mid 18c.
in the Manchester area it was made of ordinary cotton dyed yellow
(those clever Brits...)
Bed Blanketts: White wool blankets
Dutch Blanketts:
Ruggrs, Rugg, Rug: A coarse wool cloth with a shagged or friezed
finish used as garments by the poorer classes and bed coverings. A kind
of cloth, and not a floor covering. Commonly green.
OTHER REFERENCES TO "TRADE CLOTH" -
Half Thicks: Coarse woolen cloth. Defoe wrote of "Those [foreigners]
whose clothing was of coarse Duffields, Wadmill, Halfthicks, and in
general a kind of the coarsest Kersies, but a degree or two above
Blankets: or the meanest of our Dozens, and what we call Yorkshire
Cloths".
Worsted or Cruels: Worsted: Lightweight cloth made of long-staple
combed wool yarn. The name was derived from the village of Worsted near
Norwich, a center for worsted weaving. The smooth shiny fibers were
suitable for embroidery and indeed were synonymous with the word
"crewel" or crewel yarn.
Crewel: Loosely twisted, fine two-ply worsted yarn especially suited to
embroidery as it is easily pulled through cloth. "....likewise deal in
crewels, which are the ends of the warps of worsted or yarn cut out of
the loom..."
Swanskin: A fine woolen cloth of plain weave related to flannel and bay.
Canvas: 1. A coarse unbleached cloth of hemp, less frequently of flax,
very strong which serves as ship sails. 2. A coarse unbleached cloth of hemp, serves to cover a woman's stays, also to stiffen men's clothes, and to make some other of their wearing apparel.
Linsey-Woolsey : A coarse cloth made of linen warp and woolen weft. "A
coarse woolen manufacture first constructed in the parish of Linsey of
Suffolk" (Fairholt).
*****************
An example ad which demonstrates why I stay confused about textiles.
The Pennsylvania Gazette
March 5, 1772
PHILIP WILSON, has removed his store to Water street, between Chestnut street and the Crooked Billet Alley, adjoining Mr. Thomas Pryor, where he has for sale, viz. BOOK and Jacconet muslins; bordered muslin handkerchiefs; humhums; cambricks and clear lawns; Irish linens; dowlas; brown and white Irish and Russia sheetings; Russia drilling; curdled Russia towelling; huckabacks; Russia and clouting diaper; diaper and damask tablecloths; ozenbrigs; whitened hessens; cottons and calicoes; furniture chintzes; nankeens; bed ticks; bed bunts; thicksets and pillows, jeans and jeanets; figured dimmothy; Mozeens and Wiltons; saggathies and lastings; plush; collar velvets; camblets and camblettees; silk Prussian Mecklenburgs; tammies and durants; calimancoes; flannels and strouds; broad and forest cloths; halfthick; buckram and canvas; cotton, romal and check handkerchiefs; worsted and silk breeches pieces; thread and cotton hose; peelongs and modes; half yard and ell wide persians; taffeties and ribbons; ferrets and silk laces; silk and worsted knee garters; mohairs and buttons; sewing silk; coloured thread; coarse tapes; bed lace and gartering; mens gloves; fans and wax necklaces; chip hats; ivory and horns combs; pins and writing paper; snuff boxes; knives and razors; scissars and shoe buckles; gunpowder and shot; cinnamon; London snuff; wool and cotton cards; brass kettles; scythes; straw and hay knives; pipes, and 6 d. nails; and a very neat left handed fowling piece.
Spence
