Civilian Jacket and Other Pieces of Vintage Clothing
“TheTailor,” ca. 1570.
The unidentified tailor in Giovanni Battista Moroni’s famous portrait of c.
While the popular image of civilians in the late 18th century is that of dignified frock coats and elegant tricorn hats, these were the garments of the rich and relatively few because in the south, they are just too hot to wear.
Most of the male laboring population in the south wore a waist-length jacket with sleeves, similar to today’s jean jacket. Depending on the depth and breadth of one’s purse, they could have skirts, pockets, linings, fancy metal buttons, and all manner of contrasting trim.
Such a jacket was very economical, using only about 1.5 yards of fabric, and thus was very popular, so popular that the word “jacket” is derived from the French word for a peasant (“jacque”) because so many peasants wore them.
In contrast, Snowshill Manor, Gloucestershire, England, holds an interesting 1770-1789 high-status sleeved jacket, sumptuously embroidered.
1770-1780 jacket
Sleeved waistcoat 1349034 | National Trust Collections
Jackets with sleeves were popular in America, too. The Greenwich, Connecticut Historical Society holds a jacket with sleeves that belonged to Obediah Mead in 1779.
Obediah was killed in this jacket by tories in 1779.
In the south, servants were issued these jackets. Below is “The Old Plantation by painter
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Hidden in plain sight is the gourd player in the lower right-hand corner, who is clearly wearing a waist-length blue “jacket.” Comparing the lay of it on his chest to that of the banjo player, it’s probable that the man in blue on the right-hand edge and the man in red are also wearing “jackets.”
These appear to be almost identical to the sleeved jacket at Snowshill Manor, Gloucestershire.
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Let's look further at the “jacket.” The gourd player’s jacket has no collar, no skirts, nor pockets and appears to have six buttons or seven buttons on the single-breasted front.
When war came in 1775, many of the militia wore them. Hunting shirts, hunting frocks, and rifle frocks were worn over these jackets. Beginning in October of 1775, the Virginia Williamsburg Public Store issued hundreds of yards of wool cloth for jackets for its regiments to wear under their issued hunting shirts.
In October 1775, the Store was issuing each man about 2 yards of wool for a jacket. On September 14, 1776, the Williamsburg Public Store issued Capt. Hopson’s company of the 6th Virginia “11 Jackets and 4 Blue Coats.” Capt. Towles’ men received “7 Jacketts” at the same time.[1]
A month later, on October 2, the Williamsburg Public Store paid a John Burns of Aylett, King William County (near West Point, Va.), for delivering “123 coats and 107 Jackets.” In November 1776, the “4th Troop (Virginia Light Horse/Bland’s Horse[2])” received 5 jackets. On December 4, Burns delivered a further 115 jackets. [3]
Our Civilian Jacket with Sleeves is made of wool with a cotton lining and a 6 or 7-button front.