Trousers, pre-1875

[Pitspitr]

Period photos are wonderful for verifying 'what' was in use and 'how' it was worn - but there's a 'staged' aspect to them - due in large part to their 'need' to pose the subjects.

Damned shame they can't be digitized to reveal 'more' depth and design - but...

Maybe I'm just misunderstanding your comment, but it can and has been done. The Nebraska Historical Society has alot of Solomon Butcher's glass negatives. They digitized several of them. One shows the front of a store in Broken Bow. When they digitized it they were able to see the labels on the cans on the shelves inside the store.

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Thanks to Glen (Delmonico) I've seen that photo.  Awesome!

[The Avocado Kid]

Well now...

You'd most certainly have cotton.

'Nankee' trousers - a yellow-brown type of cotton cloth - would be common and about the time of the California Gold Rush - Levi Strauss was making stout trousers from tent cloth.

They'd eventually become known as 'Levi's pants' by the miners - later to be known as 'Levi's'.
He adopted the Indigo Blue as a hallmark to identify his product.
The copper rivets, Orange thread, oilcloth identifying ticket and leather label were in use and patented or copyrighted up until about 1908.

Anyone cowboying would've sought out the toughest pants he could find for the work ahead - and Levi's filled the bill - as did the various tailor-made stuff.

Wool and wool-blends were as common as cotton - plain and in varying patterns - both dark and light - and I've seen the wildest plaids you can imagine in period photographs and daguerreotypes.

Must not've been many available mirrors...

Remember - over time - aging and fading happens in photographs - and that doesn't  properly show 'true' colors.

WAH does a fine representation of available trousers - as does COWS and I'm sure - others.

One other thing - at the time - pretty much all clothing was made-to-measure - and though the 'style' was similar - fit varied.
There was no crease in the trouser leg - a crease indicating that you bought your goods over the counter and the 'proof' was the folded crease line.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!


"and I've seen the wildest plaids" A good place to find these wild plaid pants is Civil War sutlers on the web....Fall Creek is a good one.