Jeans of the Old West: A History

[entertainment!]

Thanks for posting those pages entertainment! How many pages are in the magazine, that show my collection?

Eight pages.

[rnrswitch]

Scan them all slacker!

Eight pages.

[eltopo]

Switch your post are great as usual. Mike always great to see your stuff everywhere. The felt hat is amazing.Thought I would post some images I took off Ebay of some Boss of the Road jeans from a couple months ago. Sorry if this isn't the right forum for them. Just thought you guys would like see them if you hadn't already.

www.banditphotograher.com

[Sansome1877]

Sorry?? This thread is a perfect place for these photos. This is 1890's vintage, Boss of the Road, most likely made in New York, thanks for posting them.

[Sansome1877]

This boot was found in a 1880's mine but the mine was worked up until the 1930's. Anybody have any ideas on the age of this boot??

[Sansome1877]

Roy this is the piece that I though was like the #9 swatch I gave you. Turns out this tar soaked dirt clod was part of a pullover. It feels like the same weight as the #9 swatch, as you can see it's a different pattern.

[mtchfrnk]

Mike, is the pattern on this ^^^ fabric regular? Does it repeat, or are the indigo v. white threads just random? Curious how it would look from a distance -- I'm picturing vertical lines of indigo fading in and out, so to speak, like an ombre plaid.

[/img]

Cool, over-the-yoke pockets like Rodeo Bill's Tender Co. jeans. These have all sorts of interesting improvements -- reinforced crotch w/rivet, "patented continuous fly," those nice single-needle arcuates. And it looks like the back pockets are cut on the bias? Is that common?

[Sansome1877]

mtchfrnk here is an overview.

[Sansome1877]

[roy6]

^That duck pleated-front blouse is really exciting! I've never seen one of those, either a vintage or LVC repro.

A recent find?

[fardin]

thats such a beautiful jacket. thanks so much for sharing. the top button is real intersting, i wonder if it was replaced by the owner or if it was used by the factory. great stuff. hope lvc ons day makes a replics or mybe warehouse.

[Sansome1877]

^That duck pleated-front blouse is really exciting! I've never seen one of those, either a vintage or LVC repro.

A recent find?

this blouse is in the 1879 price list, the one that's pictured in the 1879 list shows pocket flaps on the pockets. LVC never made this one?

[Sansome1877]

BTW a denim version of this jacket is in the book( Jeans of the old west page 33.)

[aho]

Sad to say that my fabric swatches never made it out to me....but I did get to thinking, how do you store all of your finds Mike? Lots of cedar, low light exposure, keep away from heat/cold, and in a well vented area? I bet you have a full museum of all your finds!

[crownzip]

Mike, Thanks for posting the photos of the pleated blouse. Interesting looking rivet on what looks like a chin strap. Is the collar a stand collar construction? The collar almost looks like it's the early removable collar design you see on early dress shirts.

It's cool to see how tight the stitching is throughout the piece.

Other than the tears and rips the collar area shows very little wear. Are there any areas that look worn or faded from use?

I wonder what caused all the random rips and tears - almost looks like the shirt was chewed on by a critter of some sort.

Very cool to see such an early piece of workwear!

[Sansome1877]

crownzip - when it comes to old duck and denim, Levi always has super tight stitching........sometimes we can tell that a scrap is Levi just because of the stitching. The collar isn't really a removable collar.....it's just torn off and we laid it back into place.

the blouse has been battered by time, is has survived almost 140 years since the owner took it off and then it was found. some areas have rotted off and some areas still have strong material.

Aho - glad to hear your scraps arrived....I sent them by way of pony express so that it would be authentic and all....lol

[Sansome1877]

First picture is a close up of the rivet.... on the Levi duck blouse. Second picture has the late 1880's Levi brass rivet on the right side... early 1870's Levi rivet on the left (note the size of the print on the early 1870's rivet)

The third picture has the brass rivet on the left... early 1870's rivet on the right.

Note the small print on the Levi duck blouse rivet.

[mtchfrnk]

Mike, is that a photo of 2x1 denim next to 3x1? Or is it the back and front of a single piece of denim?

It would be really educational to see a picture of 2x1 and 3x1 side by side -- if you have a spare minute.

[rnrswitch]

Mike, is that a photo of 2x1 denim next to 3x1? Or is it the back and front of a single piece of denim?

It would be really educational to see a picture of 2x1 and 3x1 side by side -- if you have a spare minute.

Those are both 2x1 denim.

I can take some 2x1 vs. 3x1 denim shots later if needed. I believe some of the denim chunks I have are 2x1 and I will take some pics of a random pair of 3x1 jeans. It isn't very noticeable, but I will try to illustrate the difference in the pics.

[Paul T]

Fabulous photos, Mike. Those early rivets made me feel indecently excited. Interesting, too, about the stitching; I remember someone here (Ande Whall?) mentioned it's really hard to get that tight, short stitch length.

Is the duck jacket cut full width, selvage-to-selvage?

[Sansome1877]

Fabulous photos, Mike. Those early rivets made me feel indecently excited. Interesting, too, about the stitching; I remember someone here (Ande Whall?) mentioned it's really hard to get that tight, short stitch length.

Is the duck jacket cut full width, selvage-to-selvage?

I don't think the duck jacket is cut full width.... I think I will do a stitch count per inch tonight, the Levi #2's you posted on the LVC thread a few months ago is insane... I think I counted 13 stitches per inch? I can show an early Cheng Quan wo stitch(it's not so tight) So you got BTW I received your book yesterday Paul(NICE!!!!) Thank you!! rnrswitch and mtchfrnk I will post some 2x1 & 3x1 denim tonight.

[rnrswitch]

Those are both 2x1 denim.

I can take some 2x1 vs. 3x1 denim shots later if needed. I believe some of the denim chunks I have are 2x1 and I will take some pics of a random pair of 3x1 jeans. It isn't very noticeable, but I will try to illustrate the difference in the pics.

Still waiting slacker.

Hopefully tonight.

[Sansome1877]

I've been away from my computer... I'LL try to post those pictures tonight.

[rnrswitch]

Alright. Here it goes. 2x1 vs. 3x1 denim if y'all haven't already figured it out.

2x1: I have traced out the path of the warp yarn which is shown as 2 black dots and the thin black line represents the path of that warp yarn behind the weft. If you see, the weft yarns are displayed as red lines, but the warp yarn passes over 2 weft yarns... 2x1.

3x1: Picture of wrong side of the denim. Again the warp yarns are denoted as black dots and the thin black line is its path on the right side of the denim. Red lines are weft again. As you can see it needs to pass over 3 weft yarns... 3x1.

If anybody want to hand out any rep, throw it my way. I was recently passed up by Roy6 and i received a gloating PM from him and I considered suicide. I am not begging for rep, but...

[roy6]

I tried to give you some rep, rnr, but gee, gotta spread. Maybe you'd get some plus rep if you learned to size your pics properly. It's 640 pixels wide, unless you're trying to show off.

Beautiful macros, though, and a good, concise explanation. I really did try to plus rep you.

[rnrswitch]

I tried to give you some rep, rnr, but gee, gotta spread. Maybe you'd get some plus rep if you learned to size your pics properly. It's 640 pixels wide, unless you're trying to show off.

Beautiful macros, though, and a good, concise explanation. I really did try to plus rep you.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Whatever.

Also, anyone that looks at those pictures and now understands the difference between 2x1 and 3x1 denim better rep me. If you don't, then you should move to Switzerland or the Nederlands, you freeloading hippy! This is the invisible hand of the free market talking.

[Sansome1877]

The first picture is a piece of leg fabric.... anyone know the official name for this fabric? The second picture is 3x1 & 2x1 next to each other, the 2x1 fabric is on the right hand side.

[erk]

very interesting guys. I gotta spread as well so I can't rep you rnr.

can we see a pic of the warp side of the two denims? particularly those last to examples that sansome posted. I'd like to see the difference from the other side.

[Paul T]

Sadly, I gave away my little 2x1 jacket. But i think the macro shots actually make it harder to tell the difference, in the hand they don't look at all similar. THe twill line is far less pronounced on 2x1.

Mike, that fabric looks like a ticking to me. Lovely French fabric, still trendy, they sell a lot of it on Berwick St, near me. Amoskeag used to produce huge amounts of it.

[Joseph Hill]

My Roundhouse overalls, and Lee Dungarees are 2x1. The Lees are also left hand. They're not bad for mass market. They are both fairly light and have held up to a good bit of abuse.