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ca. 1880’s 5 BUTTON BLOUSE
- US ARMY INDIAN WAR UNIFORM COAT IN VERY GOOD
CONDITION: A very nice Indian Wars
period original 5 button US Army Blouse.
As
there was no distinct lines of demarcation when one
pattern of clothing was replaced by subsequent patterns
– the quantities of existing clothing being used until
stocks were exhausted –some combinations of features
between different patterns is often encountered in these
Indian War period uniforms. Further blurring the
distinction between standard issue patterns is that a
certain level of custom tailoring by the soldiers was
not only tolerated by their company and regimental
officers, but based on period photographs, may very well
have been encouraged to a point as the soldiers sought
to make their uniforms more stylish or functional.
This blouse most closely follows the general pattern
adopted by the Quartermaster Department in the
mid-1880’s with the square corners at the bottom of the
front opening and the single inside breast pocket on the
left side.
The five original buttons are intact down the front of
the blouse and there are two buttons at the cuff of each
sleeve. From what I can determine, there were only two
buttons per cuff originally sewn to this blouse.
This blouse shows obvious signs of gentle use and wear,
but has survived in very nice condition and as a
respectable specimen of genuine Indian War era
uniforming worn on the frontier. There are two small
wear or moth holes on the left sleeve between the cuff
and the elbow as shown in the photographs below.
Neither is significant and they do not detract from the
display quality of the blouse. Otherwise the wool is
very solid with no weak points, and no open seams.
The black polished cotton
lining shows
very little wear,
limited to some wear on
each side of the interior of the neck (shown below),
probably from a rough hanger, and in the interior armpit
area of the right sleeve.
The bottom edge of the
blouse and lining is in very good condition, unusual to
find on these original uniforms. None of this wear to
the lining affects the integrity of the blouse, rather
just what you would expect to see on a piece of
uniforming that was subjected to wear.
This is a very respectable example of a desirable Indian
War uniform blouse and one that would be an attractive
addition to your collection. (0502) $875
NOTE: To say that photographing
dark blue wool is a challenge is an understatement. In
normal lighting, it appears black and none of the finer
features or condition details can be seen clearly. In
order to highlight the features and provide you with an
accurate view of the material, I have to lighten the
contrast of the photograph which in turn causes the even
colored dark blue wool to appear faded or discolored
when such is not the case. This coat is an even dark
blue color as is seen in background wool surrounding the
close up photograph of the button.
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