19th Century Hickory Shirts

[Mark]

I have been rereading Garrard, Way-To-Yah. He mentions his hickory shirts. I am familiar with the logging hickory shirts of today. Are we talking the same material pattern and style (sans zippers), or is this hickory shirt entirely different? Any reference to museum collection, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

Mark

[isaac]

It was probably a shirt following the normal pattern of the period but made of Hickory cloth which was a strong twill cotton with vertical stripes (usually blue and white). I would equate it to the modern cloth used in striped bib overalls.

IW

[isaac]

Miller does show a striped shirt or two, and these could be hickory shirts. Check this....

[beaudro]

Always wanted a shirt like in the painting of Antoine Clement, is Hickory cloth rare? I couldn't find it in Textiles in America.

[isaac]

May 29, 2013 10:21:12 GMT -7 beaudro said:

Always wanted a shirt like in the painting of Antoine Clement, is Hickory cloth rare? I couldn't find it in Textiles in America.

It is nineteenth century, that is why it isn't in FloMo's book. I seem to see it more and more common as the century progresses. Here is a interesting suit of what might be hickory cloth...

www.augusta-auction.com/component/auctions/?view=lot&id=1707&auction_file_id=13

Wm Booth Draper carries a cotton hemp blend that is of a similar weave and striping but not as thick. I like it and it resembles and 18th century "Holland" cloth. The shirt being worn in the image above looks like a thinner blue stripe. A few sutlers used to have fabric like this, but I have not seen it for sale in a long time. I am wearing a shirt of this stuff in this picture...

[beaudro]

Isaac Walters- The Great Hunter!
That's a good picture, I think I'll look at Booth Draper and hopefully find that same material.

Textiles in America is suppose to cover 1650 to 1870 , but I see it gets a little weak after the 18th, just my luck.

[isaac]

Not too great a hunter in that pic... it is more like The Great Farmer (was doing a set up on Creole farming here in WI).

If you search Wm Booth's site and go to their "Linen" and then their stripes and checks you will find...

[Mark]

Thanks for the infor Issac. This particular auction site was also referenced in a Civil War blog concerning hickory shirts. From the photos the cotton twill looks like some mattress ticking I have seen in cloth shops. The CW blog also referenced the colors were most commonly blue and white, but red and others did show up. Thanks again.

Mark

[Chuck Burrows]

Having once been a logger in the PNW - I can verify that today's hickory shirts are made from cotton pillow ticking, which is similar to the original hickory cloth of the 1800's but not exact.
Tough material - the only shirts that held up well to the gas & oil spills, mud, brush, etc. encountered while working as a logger.

[Mark]

Going to revive this a little. Chuck, what material available today would you use to make one of these shirts? Pillow ticking, mattress ticking or other?

Mark

[isaac]

Although this does not answer Mark's latest question, since he revived the topic....

I have been reading some archival HBC records from the 1820s and up. There are A LOT of striped cotton shirts mentioned. They seem to be a pretty common shirt for laborers in the HBC.

IW

[isaac]

You can find modern Hickory cloth via a google search under the terms "Denim Hickory Fabric" This is what modern hickory shirts and bib overalls are made of. Now the question is.... how close is this to historic hickory???

example... www.etsy.com/listing/118443921/america-vintege-fabric-heavy-100-cotton

[Pare]

That is some nice looking fabric. I've shopped on Etsy in the past. I think I posted a link to some heavy striped material on here awhile back, that was similar to that.

Pare-