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Did You Know They Wore Braces in the 1860's?!
by Aaron Young
Yes, it is true.... Braces were worn by soldiers and civilian men
during the War of the Rebellion. "Braces"
during the 19th century was common terminology for suspenders.
Suspenders or braces are by far one of the most misrepresented
reproduction items available today. In no way possible is
it authentic for a reenactor to use modern day elastic
suspenders. These are only exceptable for those portraying
Ronald McDonald or Bozo the Clown.
Braces of this era were of the "X" type
arrangement. Braces during the Civil War were not issued to
the soldiers. Braces were not issued to Federal soldiers
until 1883. The soldiers had to obtain them on their
own. Therefore, these were items that the enlisted man and
the officers had that could have been of the same quality.
The men of the period took great pride in their braces.
These were one of the few things the soldiers had that they could
show their personal identity with. Charles Goodyear wrote
about braces in his 1855 book, Gum Elastic and It's
Varieties: "This (suspenders) is one of those
articles with which fashion has so much to do, and the choice
among the different kinds depends so much upon the fancy of the
wearer, as well as upon the real utility of the article, that it
may be considered presumptuous in anyone to assert absolutely
what kind is best." Although braces were not items
of issue, many soldiers wore them, if nothing else just to hold
their trowsers up, due to the odd sizes of trowsers issued by the
government. Belt loops were not seen on trowsers until the
turn of the century.
Striped canvas pillow ticking braces that modern sutlers sell and
claim to be authentic apparently were rarely used in the
1860's. Plain canvas ticking however, was quite commonly
used for material. There was a wide variety of material
used in making braces. Some popular materials were
tapestry, velvet, woolen carpet, linen, and braided leather just
to name a few. Flowers, birds, initials, flags, and many
more designs were often embroidered in bright colors on the
braces for decoration.
During the Civil War when trowsers were issued to the infantry,
the majority came with five paper-backed tin buttons, for the fly
and only four around the waist for braces. Therefore,
many of the braces soldiers wore had four button holes, front and
back. One button was used to secure each strap on the
braces. The majority of the buttonholes and attachments
were made of leather. It seems very few of the button holes
were placed on the material itself. Only about 10% of
period braces had the button holes on the material, instead of
leather. Since a great deal of the braces were either sent
from home or purchased from civilians, many of them were sewn
entirely by hand.
Sources:
"Braces." Military Dispatch.
Vol. 1. 1993
Nichols, Nick and Ken Smith. "The Great Trowser Hoax - Part Three." Civil War Calvary Review. 1989.
Federal Enlisted Uniforms of the Civil War. Video tape by Smithsonian Institute. Washington D.C.: Roberts Video Pub. 1990
Note: Copying or reprinting of the above article is not permitted without the written permission of the author. Permission can be easily achieved by emailing: cotoneyejoe@juno.com.
