Interesting vintage tartan Oddfellows Fraternal Order sash

[Tam Piperson]

I recently came across an interesting fraternal organization sash on ebay which the seller believes was associated with an Oddfellows lodge, that appears to be made from a unique tartan, which I thought might be of some historical interest to the resident tartan scholars here. The Oddfellows was a benevolent society similar to the Freemasons that flourished in the 19th century, and still has a small but declining membership today.

Here is a link to listing for the sash: http://www.ebay.com/itm/PLAIN-SCOTTI...item1c2cee45ba

[figheadair]

Looks old so bought it for £2.00. Will be interesting to see what it turns out to be.

[Tam Piperson]

Indeed. I believe it is likely from the late 19th or possibly the early 20th century. If it turns out to be a unique design, it could be recorded as the Odd Fellows tartan (provided that is the organization that it was actually associated with).

They seem to have enjoyed dressing in a variety of interesting costumes as part of their lodge meetings:

[usonian]

I'm glad you grabbed it, Peter - I'd had it on my watchlist but forgot to follow up.

I agree that it's probably around 100 years old... The Odd Fellows were at their peak (in the United States, anyway) in the late 19th/early 20th century, then like so many other Fraternal Orders took a heavy hit because of the great depression, and again after the 1950's/60's when few baby boomers joined. They're still around, but I'm guessing that their regalia has been scaled back quite a bit from the beautiful example above... nobody's making that stuff anymore, at least not at prices that modern lodges could afford with dues that haven't been adjusted for inflation since the 1950's.

[figheadair]

Well it arrived in the post today and was £2.00 well spent. Definitely late Victorian I'd say, silk with lovely metal brocade tassels.
Will post some pics when I get a moment. Until then here's the sett.

[artificer]

Well it arrived in the post today and was £2.00 well spent. Definitely late Victorian I'd say, silk with lovely metal brocade tassels.
Will post some pics when I get a moment. Until then here's the sett.

Peter, I can't wait to see your thoughts on this odd little piece.

ith:

[creagdhubh]

Peter, I can't wait to see your thoughts on this odd little piece.

ith:

Likewise!

[figheadair]

Here's a more detailed image. There's a very small are of damage but otherwise the sash is in remarkable condition. It's woven in very fine silk, is some 6 x 100 inches with gold coloured metal filigree tassels. A really good find which I guess is c1880-1915.

[figheadair]

Found a similar one on SCRAN. I guess one can speculate that mine would originally also have had the Lodge symbols etc,

[creagdhubh]

Very interesting, Peter.