Coldengham, New York
Store of Cadwallader Colden, Jr.
Shalloon
Haneas Decker purchased one-half yard of Shalloon cloth from the Colden Store on this day, 250 years-ago. Shalloon was a course woolen cloth that was commonly used as a coat liner. It was relatively inexpensive for its insulating properties.
 |
| Lining of 18th Century drummer coat compared with modern Shalloon. Image courtesy of HistoricalTextiles.com |
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.
================================
Webster in his 1828 dictionary had few words for Shalloon: "A slight woolen stuff." Caulfeild was a bit more descriptive in her 1882 Dictionary of Sewing: "a loosely woven worsted stuff, thin, short-napped, and twilled, used by tailors for coat linings, and also for dresses. It is woven from Lincolnshire and Yorkshire Long Staple Wool, of the finest qualities, twilled on both sides, and mostly dyed red... was originally manufactured at Chalons, whence the name is derived. There is a very fine variety called Cubica."
Shalloon was one of the most popular fabrics at the Colden store. See my prior blog on CLOTH. In that analysis Shalloon ranked second, just trailing linen, for most yardage sold. Since that analysis, much more of the DayBook has been transcribed and a full analysis will be done when the transcription is complete.
Over the prior eight months more than 250 yards of Shalloon were sold at the Colden Store. The average purchase was about two yards.
===================
Search the DayBook
No comments:
Post a Comment