Coldengham, New York
Store of Cadwallader Colden, Jr.
Everlasting
Peter Terwilliger Sr. purchased two yards of Everlasting on this day, 250 years ago. Everlasting was a course, inexpensive, durable fabric used in outerwear.
===================================
Search the DayBook
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.
====================================
The Terwilliger surname is by far the most frequently recorded surname in the DayBook. It appears 162 times in 27 different spellings! I won't even take a stab at an attempt to explain the Terwilliger relationships as there are so many.
Peter Sr. purchased several sewing items on the account of his son, Jacob Terwilliger Jr. [Yes, that is not a typo. Jacob is listed as a "Jr." to a Peter "Sr." ]
The fabric that Peter selected, known as "Everlasting," was purchased on at least fourteen different occasions in the prior six months.
Everlasting (the fabric) did not appear in Webster's dictionary of 1828. However, it is described in Caulfeild's 1882 Dictionary of Sewing as a "woollen Jean, employed for the tops of boots." - p201
The British History's Dictionary of Traded Goods (a great source for this type of thing) describes Everlasting as "A material used in the sixteenth century and the seventeenth for the military dress and for outer wear generally, apparently identical with DURANCE [spelled Durant or Durent in the DayBook]. The term was later applied to another durable CLOTH, strongly twilled, also called LASTING, used, among other purposes, for ladies' SHOEs [Montgomery (1984)], as in the advertisement for 'a large Quantity of Damask and Everlasting Shoes, of several colours' [Newspapers (1751)]. This term was also applied in other circumstances when durability was the main characteristic, for example to the embroidered edging for underclothing, which was called EVERLASTING trimming. OED earliest date of use: 1590-1607. Found described as BLACK, PLAID, RED, SCARLET Found describing WAISTCOAT. Found in units of YARD."
The week ended with darkening skies and a wind out of the Northeast that increased during the night to a gale. The wind and snow continued into Sunday as the store sat closed. The storm damaged several wharves and ships in New York harbor. [New-York Weekly Mercury March 28, 1768]
===================
Search the DayBook
No comments:
Post a Comment