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English Import Blanket
English Import Blanket


 
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Our Price: $225.00



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After many hours of research and more emails than I can count, we are finally able to offer this very fine reproduction of an English made, Confederate import blanket. We were very fortunate to have had the opportunity to examine detailed images of extant originals, view one in person, and stumble across a fourth in a private collection that is similar to but slightly different from our model. (We hope to do a run of the variant in the future.)

Our blanket measures out to 80" in length and 58" in width (it features a four inch wide black stripe). We chose this final size based upon dimensions of a blanket bale annotated on an import manifest. After comparing the sizes of the existing originals to those of the different bales listed, we ran several rigorous shrinkage tests on a few of our samples. We ultimately found that they experienced about a once inch loss on the black stripe, a roughly 6-9 inch loss in the overall length, and an approximately 1-3 inch loss on the width. The shrinkage compares favorably to the estimated starting dimensions and the extant blankets’ present condition.

This reproduction is made on antique looms by a weaver with an extensive knowledge of historic textiles. They are woven with a proper return selvage. The custom spun yarn is 100% wool and even includes the kemp (or sheep's hair), which are the brittle white fibers found in many Nineteenth-Century blankets. You can choose to have an "NC" stitched in or we will include the yarn for you to do it yourself. Please note that not all of these blankets were purchased or solely imported by North Carolina.

Shipping on this blanket is FREE. You will also receive a 10% OFF coupon for a Confederate kepi or Federal forage cap of your choice!

Please take the time to read:

-Fred Gaede, "Three NC Blankets," Journal of the Company of Military Historians, vol. 41, no. 3 (Fall 1989).

-C. L. Webster III, Entrepot: Government Imports into the Confederate States (Roseville, MN: Edinborough Press, 2009).

A special thanks to all those who went to great lengths in helping us with this project!