Ah, ok. A volunteer uniform. That makes much more sense!...
Phil:
Glad that's all cleared up. We can stop the rattling of the sabres.
"mixed blue wool jeancloth" as was used in the 1840's military uniform.
Maybe I should have put the words
military uniform in quotes, as the militias of the period known as "The Long Peace" (1816-1845) weren't particularly
military and anything but
uniform! It's a great period to study and portray*, as those who showed up at militia musters wore everything from civilian workclothes to shakos and well-cut tailcoats -liberally peppered in gilt buttons. While some militia coats are true beauties, others are so shoddy that they wouldn't
pass muster at a school play.
Looking back at Dulcie's original question, I guess I'm just assuming that she's looking for
wool jean which was common for the period. As to what Levi Strauss was producing in terms of
cotton jeancloth -I'm clueless. I haven't seen a surviving pair in any museum or book.
-Tom
*If anyone's interested in this fascinating period of er, uh..."military" history, I strongly recommend the bi-annual 1830's Militia Muster at Old Sturbridge Villiage. A friend best described it as a "reenactment of a reenactment" with sham battles, rounders games, striped pigs and other forms of general revelry, but this is a subject for another thread.