Images of Reviewed Items

Uniforms and Sundry Items

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Nick Sekela J.T. Martin Sack Coat	Sack Coat Project Sack Coat	Nick Sekela Contract Issue Shirt
Chris Sullivan Deering Trousers	Ray Hock Civilian Shirt	S.G. Marinos Braces
Dirty Billy Forage Cap	Cedar Creek Supply Depot Bootees	G.H. Bent Hardtack
Accouterments 1	Accouterments 2	Return to Product Reviews

Nick Sekela (Historic Clothiers) J.T. Martin Sack Coat

Image 1 shows the body lining, the sleeve lining, and the J.T. Martin maker's stamp.

Image 2 shows the collar, the button hole and the weave of the fabric. Unfortunately, the jacket's true color isn't apparent in this scan. There is some discussion over the nature of the buttonhole construction, as Mr. Sekela's lower grade Uniform Coat has button holes sewn with an early button hole machine, which emulates hand sewing. The following statement comes from the Historic Clothiers website: The buttonhole found on the left is from an original frock coat in our collection. The material for the frock is a blue/gray kersey. Obviously the hole is hand finished. You will receive this quality hole when purchasing our blouses, trousers, shirts and our top two grades of frock coats. This statement clearly indicates that the buttonholes in most of Mr. Sekela's products are hand sewn, as the button holes in his top grade frock coats are hand sewn. As you can see, the sewing on this buttonhole IS extraordinarily tight, which might lead to some of the confusion.

Image 3 gives a somewhat better idea of the jacket's color. The split on the cuff is considerably smaller than those on many "fuzzy purple" sutler jackets. The cloth itself is noticeably lighter than the navy uniforms seen at most events, and has an almost greenish cast to it. Despite the reservations some people apparently voice when confronted with the "light" blue of Sekela coats, the indigo dyeing process led to a dizzying range of colors, and the lighter blue green cast of this reproduction is far more correct than the purple-tinted, blue black coats commonly worn by reenactors.

Sack Coat Project Sack Coat

Image 1: Sack Coat Project sack coat. The collar is somewhat taller than that of the Sekela coat, and the stitching seems to meander from place to place. The button holes are neatly sewn, although not quite as tightly as those on the Sekela reproduction. This image comes fairly close to reproducing the coat's color, which is actually slightly lighter than that of the Sekela coat, which, as noted above, is one of the "lightest blue" jackets on the market (other coat from this project were darker). The thread is linen, dyed with logwood. The gray color will probably fade to brown after a couple of events.

Image 2: The cuff is more pronounced than that of the J.T. Martin reproduction. The fabric is considerably thinner than that of sutler's row reproductions, and share the diagonal "twill" seen on the Sekela coat.

Image 3: Interior of the coat, showing the tapered facing, squared hem, and brown jean cloth interior. Brandon Jolly based this reproduction on a hastily made early war sample, so the uneven, wandering stitching is intentionally designed to replicate hasty construction. This lining was one of seven used, and closely resembles that of the Sekela coat.

Nick Sekela Contract Issue Shirt

Image 1: Placket and collar of the contract variant shirt. This shirt was based on the issue shirt, which was made of an off white domet flannel. Millions were issued during the war. The contract shirts were often extensively machine sewn. Image 2: A close-up of the flannel material used in the shirt. The domet flannel of the issue shirts was reputedly quite unpleasant to wear. The material in the Sekela shirt seemed soft to the touch initially. My perception of the shirt changed considerably after I wore it for a weekend.

Image 3: Detail of the cuff, showing the reinforced stitching at the end of the split and a hand sewn button hole.

Chris Sullivan (Stony Brook) Deering Contract Issue Trousers

Image 1: These trousers came hemmed, with a 1" overlapping vent in the cuff.	Image 2: The inside of the cuff has an extra piece of kersey sewn inside, as well as a 1" square of drill cloth as a reinforcement. Both show some of the rather extensive hand sewing present throughout these trousers.
	Image 3: The fly and fly facing are lined with brown polished cotton, hand stitched to the wool. The pockets, buttonholes and waist band are entirely or partially hand sewn. This particular pattern had 5 smaller paper backed tin buttons to close the fly.

Image 4: Detail of the waistband, pocket, maker's and inspector's marks. The trousers are marked "WM. DEERING PORTLAND MAINE" and "U.S. Inspector JOS JONES N.Y."

Image 5: Trapezoidal yoke, tapered waistband, suspender buttons and reinforces holes for the string. The pockets are simple slit types.

Image 6: Interior of the yoke, showing the hand sewn waistband and vent reinforcement. The size stamp is on the right.

Ray Hock Civilian Shirt

Image 1: A view of the placket and collar. The buttons are sewn on using an "x" stitch. The collar is relatively small.

Image 2: Both the collar and the cuff cuff sewn on with an evenly spaced whip stitch. The main seams are machine sewn and neatly felled.

Image 3: It takes more than a couple of bone buttons and hand sewn button holes to be authentic. This is a 150% magnification of the cloth in the shirt, showing the woven texture of the shirt, as well as one of the several small "imperfections" in the cloth.

S.G. Marinos Braces

	Image 1: Ends, with the brass clip. These braces are design for a 6 button arrangement, which was probably a field modification. The clip is brass, not sheet steel. The buttonholes are hand sewn, and incorporated into the fabric. Leather ends were more common, although this style is also correct.
Image 2: One brace, complete. The end to the left shows the use of a different cloth on the underside. Unlike many "suspenders" readily available at events, these braces form a true pair, in that each strap came unattached to the other. They form an X pattern in back.

Dirty Billy Forage Cap

 

Image 1 shows the inside of the forage cap, with the maker's tag, leather headband and painted leather bill clearly displayed. The cap is lined with polished black cotton. The note the hand stitching used to attach the headband to the cap. Image 2: A closer view of the maker's tag.

Image 3: Side view of the forage cap. The pink cast is from the scanner.

Cedar Creek Supply Depot Bootees

Image 1: Side view of the Cedar Creek Supply Depot bootee.

Image 2: Soles, showing the double pegging, square toe and heel plate (added later).

G.H. Bent Hardtack

Image 1: Hardtack box. The other side reads "Because of the freshness of the cracker it can be eaten as is or prepared in any number of ways according to your taste and ingenuity. We hear of a dish called "skillygalee" in which the cracker is soaked in water and fried brown in pork fat, salting to taste. Though Julia Child may not serve this dish, neither would she go to the considerable trouble of dressing up in 1860's clothing and fight in the hot sun for a hilltop. The finer things in life must be gotten at some risk.