19TH CENTURY TRADE BLANKET 3 ½ POINT
GRAY WOOL A SCARCE EARLY BLANKET IN EXCELLENT
CONDITION: Dating from the 19TH
Century, this 3 ½ Point Gray Wool Trade Blanket features
the famous points or size marks, woven into one edge
of the blanket. Next to firearms and edged weapons, the
Trade Blanket was the most common foundation commodity
of the frontier trade economy. In spite of the numbers
of these blankets that were sent into the West during
the 19th Century, due to the heavy use to
which they were subjected, very few survive today.
Contrary to legend and lore, the points did not indicate
the value of the blanket when bartered for various pelts
i.e. three large and one small beaver hides rather in fact
these marks indicated the size and weight of the blanket
so that when on the shelf, the factor could determine
the size of the blanket without having to unfold and
measure it for the customer.
This blanket measures 84 long by 68 wide with a 4
wide stripe running the width of the blanket located 8
from each end of the blanket. These stripes served more
of a practical purpose than mere decoration and are
evidence of early manufacturing practicality. The
blanket material was woven in large bolts or rolls
some in excess of several hundred feet of material in
one continuous piece. The bolts were then moved to the
cutting room tables and the stripes indicated where one
blanket ended and the next began. The stripes as
they appear on the finished blanket are spaced at the
extreme ends of the individual blanket, however while the
material was still on the roll the stripes were spaced
approximately 6-16 apart. The cuts to separate the
individual blankets from the roll of material could
simply be made on the midpoint in this smaller space
between a pair of stripes, then the material was pulled out to
the next set of stripes and cut again, and the proper
sized blanket was produced.
The three points are 4 long with the shorter point just
over half that length. They are woven into the blanket
and not applied. There is the remnants of a maker's
tag present on the blanket and it is similar in style
and size to the tag used by the famous Whitney Woolen
Mills company of England, but there is not enough of the
tag remaining to make a definitive identification.
The blanket is in very good condition with only a few
scattered wear points and one hole Ό in diameter very
little wear considering the history of these blankets.
An excellent blanket to display with a Northwest Trade
Gun or other Indian-used or Frontier associated firearm,
this is a scarce piece of American Frontier history you
will not likely encounter again.
SOLD
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