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In
researching the history of point
blankets and some insight into how the
point measurements appear in the trade
ledgers don't necessarily describe the
same size blanket one would find today
with the same point markings.
I'm
still trying to understand the topic,
but close as we can figure -- the
value of wool blankets was measured by
their weight during the fur trade,
rather than being measured by area (
i.e.. 72'' x 90'') as done today.
Today, when you purchase according to
point bars you buy point bars and area
dimensions-- not historically
equivalents of blanket sizing. The
trade ledgers indicate if just looking
for point bars that would have been on
a trapper's blankets, you would
purchase 2 1/2 or 3 point bars. This
becomes more complicated when you
study some of the primary historical
sources, (such as Osborne Russell's
personal purchases) the 2 1/2 and 3
point blankets could be purchased as a
"pair". This means one large
blanket still woven together as it was
shipped from the factory. A 2 1/2
point pair could be completely
different dimension and a much larger
area single blanket than one would
picture using today's point-bar
designation.
Ledgers
don't show trappers purchasing 5 or 6
point blankets, if the trapper
purchase a blanket pair he could have
had a very large blanket that was
proportional much longer and narrower
than today's 5 or 6 point blankets.
Many
of the early suppliers East of the
Mississippi considered the 3 point
blanket (3 1/2 point - available
today) as a standard stock item for
trade stores in white with black
"strips", white with blue
"strips", white with grey-pale
blue "strips" (these are
really rare and issued for only a few
years around 1800), 4 points were
special order, white with black
"shoots" were special order
also, per Charles Hanson.
The
3 1/2 point blankets are now getting
hard to find today, most use a 4 point
for capotes, etc., plus today we are
larger in size than our forefathers.
But the smaller blanket is something
handy in camp or on the trail as a rap
or just extra padding.
Years
ago Charles Hanson displayed a
"triple" which is very rare
at the museum, said it was only the
second or third time he had ever seen
one, thought it maybe the end of a
"run" of a batch of wool.
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NOTE:
Other uses of these blankets.
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The
description of a "French
knapsack" in the "las
artcile" on winter travel in
the Northeast? It's a sack
50" high big enough to get
the lower part of your bedroll in.
It's painted with milk paint to
make it water repellent. During
travel the blankets and extra
cloths are folded inside and
completely protected from the
weather. I have also found
information on outer bags, or
envelopes, being used in the
Canadian north later in the 19th
Century, but haven't documented
yet for pre'1840 in the Rockies.
The narrative the accompanies
these describes them as being
essential to sleeping warm in
windy areas, implying that they
may have been in fairly common
use. I suspect that we often don't
give enough credit to the
versatility of pack covers,
"mantis", or wrapper
blankets. When we remember that
the mountain men usually traveled
with large numbers of pack stock,
we have to account for the fabrics
they used to cover the packs that
they had to get into daily for
their own gear. Miller's paintings
show lots of "man tied"
loads at campsites. What all this
tells me is that many other horse
brigade men didn't ever need to
make a bedroll cover specifically,
because they always had lots of
pack covers available every time
the camped, which they could use
over and under their beds. Even
today, I know a lot of experienced
wilderness horse packers who
depend only on their manti's for
shelter after the mosquitoes thin
out so that they no longer need a
tent to protect them from the bugs.
C. L.
Here's
how the trade began with these
enterprising gentlemen.
Radisson
and Grosseilliers (both born in
France) were among the first men to
successfully reach the Hudson's Bay
where they discovered that the
majority of furs came from the
northern forests. The newly discovered
bay gave the easiest port access to
this rich fur area. They traveled to
France to obtain support in a major
trading venture out of the bay. When
no interest was shown in France,
Grosseilliers and Radisson traveled
to London to secure financial
support. In 1667 Prince Rupert (cousin
of Charles II) showed an interest in
the venture. In the next two years
ships were dispatched for Hudson's
Bay.
A
1725 invoice listing merchandise for a
trade company in Green Bay listed
2-point blankets, and a 1766 invoice
from a Philadelphia company listed
4-point, 3-point and 2 1/2-point watch
coats. It is generally accepted
that the practice of hand-weaving
points into blankets for the Hudson's
Bay Company, started in 1780 with
Thomas Empson, who was the principal
supplier of blankets for the HBC.
Point blankets are seen in most of the
surviving inventories and invoices
from the North West Company, Hudson's
Bay Company and many of the Rocky
Mountain fur trading companies.
Early's
of Witney was founded in 1669 and is
still in production. They have
been providing high quality wool
blankets for the Indian trade from the
late 17th or early 18th century.
Receiving their first contract to
provide blankets to the Hudson's Bay
Company in 1805. Only difference
between an Early's of Witney and a HBC
blanket is the label. Early's of
Witney blankets are twill woven of
100% virgin wool with an extra weight
of yarn, referred to as
"Kersey twill". The
wool fibers of these blankets are
teased to produce an extra thick nap,
then hand-finished.
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Here's
a few items to look for:
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Any
blanket:
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Hudson's
Bay "Point" Blanket
Labels:
|
| condition,
condition, condition |
1890
- present: bears their
"coat of arms" |
| weight
and fullness of weave |
last
line: "The Seal of
Quality" |
| ask
another's opinion |
1920's:
"Made in England"
added below "coat of
arms" |
| ask
seller about thickness &
weight |
later:
reads "100% Wool" |
| check
color combinations |
1980's:
"Laine" added to
label |
| check
size compared to
"points" |
recent:
"CA00234" as last
line |
| return
policy of seller |
2000:
label reads "Dry clean
only" |
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A
Note on Multistripe or
Hudson's Bay Pattern Blankets
We
received a request for
information from a woman who
had given her father a modern
HBC blanket with four
differently colored stripes at
either end. He had taken it to
a rendezvous whose some Star
Chamber committee on
authenticity informed him he
couldn't use it because it
wasn't rendezvous period. It
gives me great pleasure to
inform all the experts out
there that in 1799 the
Hudson's Bay Company post at
Albany River ordered
"Pointed Blankets to be
striped Red Blue Green &
Yellow" (HBC Records,
Section A Class 27, Orders
1799-Goods for Posts. Manitoba
Provincial Archives,
Winnipeg). For diehards, here
are two more: in 1831, York
Factory ordered "fine HB
striped 3-1/2 blue, green, red
& yellow stripes
100," and in 1830, the
Columbia district, which
included most of HBC's
Northwest Coast and it's
beaver trapping brigades,
ordered "Blankets-Fine HB
striped, Blue, Green, Red and
yellow stripes" (HBC
Records, Microfilm Reel 375,
Indent Books 1826-31).
JAH
MUSEUM
OF THE FUR TRADE QUARTERLY
VOLUME
39, NUMBER 1 ISSN
0027-4135 SPRING 2003
________________________________________________________________________________
The
name "Hudson's Bay blanket" is commonly
used to describe any point blanket in today's
society; example in 1819 Office of Indian Trade
order listed 2-1/2 point blankets in three
qualities: NW @ $5.85, large extra heavy @ $5.40,
and Mackinac @ $4.61+1/4. Different grades of
point blankets were determined by variations in
size, nap (raised or finished both sides), amount
of wool used. Regular blankets were of
"ordinary and middle" wool with better
quality ones using "fleece and tail"
wool. (Montgomery,p.375).
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North
West Company (NW) blanket. American term for a
point blanket of superior size, weight and
quality.
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Mackinaw
blanket. Canadian term for second quality
point blanket of large size but light of
weight. (Avis,p.455).
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Mock
Mackinaw blanket. A term for second quality
Mackinaw blankets, so defined in 1824 US
government order (Hanson,p.6).
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Hudson
Bay blanket. Old term for white blanket with
multiple stripes in different colors at each
end.
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Here
are the colors available and the time periods
manufactured.
The
French sold "point" blankets in white,
blue, red and green, mentioned in supply lists and
journals about 1694, also noted in French
Louisiana in 1702 lists. North West Co. used
French system as did the Americans (found in
Revolutionary War records - point blankets being
used). Hudson's Bay did not offer
"point" blankets until 1780.
COLORS
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Body
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Stripe
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Color
Note
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Manufacturer
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most
typical colors found in fur trade |
HBC
1779 until after WW II. |
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same
as above
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same
as above
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replaced
unpointed blankets |
HBC
1786 |
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"pale
grey-blue" 3-1/2 pt only |
circa
1810-1830 |
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"dark
green" various orders |
circa
1810-1850 |
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same
as above
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same
as above
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"rose"
bar |
1871
HBC order 3 pt/ 2-1/2 pt |
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after
WW II to replace earlier dark green, dark
blue and black bar blankets
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same
as above
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same
as above
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same
as above
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Body
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Stripe
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Multiple
Stripe Blankets
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Manufacturer
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multiple
stripe - standard comb. * #1
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HBC
1850 and used today
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*
#1
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see
A Note on Multistripe
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*
#1
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*
#1
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multiple
stripe - 1820s comb. * #2 |
HBC
before 1820 - ref as early
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*
#2
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as 1762 and possibly earlier.
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*
#2
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*
#2
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multiple
stripe - 1830s comb. * #3
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HBC
1830s |
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*
#3
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*
#3
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multiple
stripe - 1840s-50s comb. * #4
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HBC
1840s-1850s
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*
#4
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*
#4
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"pale
grey-blue" 3-1/2 pt only |
brought
back in 1970 & 1971 |
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Solid
body with black stripe
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"red"
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circa
1800s-present |
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"green"
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old
French color 1850s
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"indigo
blue" |
circa
1820-pre., French color
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"light
blue"
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HBC
circa 1830s-present
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"gentianella"
a medium blue
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circa
1830s-1870s
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"brown"
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AFC
circa 1834-present
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"orange"
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HBC
circa 1897-1926
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"purple" |
HBC-Queen
Elizabeth II blanket
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"khaki"
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HBC
1900 during Boer War
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"grey"
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see
"khaki"
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"camel"
listed as "tan" 1933 ad
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circa
1935 |
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"pastels"
sky blue, gold, rose, helio(called
orchid), reseda (Nile green).
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HBC
1929
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"pastels"
pine green, wild cranberry, coraline. |
HBC
1936
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"pastels"
highland heather. |
HBC
1937
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It
seems that everyone has an opinion on the size
of the "point" blanket, they very
quit a bit when reading the measurements of
different folk's blankets and what they are
referred to it for number of points. We have
seen the HBC 4 point blanket shown from
68" X 86" to 76" X 94",
these blankets had to either shrink or stretch
according to Hudson's Bay Company advertising
literature stating a 4 pt blank at 72" X
90". The only French blanket size found
by researchers has been a "two
point" measuring 59" x 48" with
a weight of 3 lb. 7 oz. (Brain,p.298).
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The
'point' system has been a point of discussion
as to when first started by researchers for
years, an article written in 1935 did not
help, found in "The Beaver"
magazine - stated, "the 'point' on the
blanket, in its present standardized form is
comparatively modern, being introduced in
1850. Prior to that date blankets for Hudson's
Bay Company were made with the bar, a 'point',
on his product to show the size and weight.
These colors were in different coloured wools
and usually about one inch
long".(Mackay,p.46). Office of Indian
Trade instructions in 1809 stated the points
should be as long as a finger (three or four
inches). Points today are five or more inches
long. (Hanson,p.7).
To
the
Label
page
To
the
News
page
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U.S.
Office of Indian Trade
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American
Fur Company
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1809
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size
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"point"
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weight
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63"
x 77-1/2"
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(3-1/2) "point"
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n/a
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54"
x 70-1/2"
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(3) "point"
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n/a
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46"
x 62"
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(2-1/2) "point"
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n/a
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43"
x 53"
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(2) "point"
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n/a
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41-1/2"
x 50"
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(1-1/2) "point"
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n/a
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39-1/2"
x 43"
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(1) "point"
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n/a
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