OSENBRIGS! February 22, 1768 at the Colden Store, Coldengham, New York

Monday February 22, 1768
Coldengham, New York
Store of Cadwallader Colden, Jr.

Lawn and Osenbrigs (Ozenbrigs, Osnaburg)

This week at the Colden store started quietly, 250 years ago today. There were only twelve items purchased on seven different accounts. Two of the purchases were fabrics whose names appear frequently in the DayBook, but are terms foreign to us 250 years later. William Miller purchased 1/2 yard of "Lawn" at 12 Shillings per yard and John Belknap purchased two yards of "Osenbrigs" at only 1 Shilling per yard.

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This article is one in a series of a daily accountings of Colden Store transactions. Be sure you read the first installment for an introduction to the store. You should also read this article which appeared in the Journal of the Orange County Historical Society.

Lawn is defined in Webster's 1828 dictionary as "A sort of fine linen. Its use in the sleeves of bishops, explains the following line. -A saint in crape is twice a saint in lawn-."  Lawn at the Colden store was twelve times the price of "Osenbrigs" [Osnaburg]. Caulfeild's 1882 Dictionary of Needlework describes Lawn as "a delicate linen .. used for making of shirts, handkerchiefs, ruffles, and ruffs....resembles cambric, but thinner and finer." p321  Over the prior six months, Colden sold 15 yards of Lawn.

Osnaburg fabric is almost always spelled "ozenbrigs or osenbrigs" in the DayBook. In 18th century writings it is spelled many ways including oznaburg, oznaburgh, osnaburgh, oznabrigs, osenbrigs, ozenbrigo, and oznaburg. Wikipedia defines it as a "coarse type of plain fabric, named from the archaic English name for the city of Osnabrück, Germany." Caulfeild describes it as  "Osnaburghs, a narrow make of linen, used in mangling." p326 This inexpensive, coarse fabric of linen or hemp made in Osnaburg, Germany and some parts of Great Britain, was "imported by the thousands of yards for slaves' shirts and shifts. Osnaburg was apparently unbleached or 'brown,' as suggested by the runaways who are described as taking both 'white' and 'oznaburgh' shirts." [See an excellent article by Linda Baumgarten - Colonial Williamsburg]. Over the prior six months, Colden sold 66 yards of Osnaburg.

Osnaburg fabric - Image courtesy of fabric.com

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