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Thread: Pre 1900 Tam's

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  1. #1
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    Got my dates wrong in my last reply1953 should have been 1957. I also like liver and cook it the way my mother did. I remember cooking it once and my stepdaughter said ugh liver. I told her to try one bite, she did. Then she ate a whole piece. She then asked me to cook it again. When I was four or five I was at a doctors office he was working on my right arm. I was busy petting his bulldog so I was not bothered what he was doing to my arm. When he got done he said I was such a good boy that he gave me a square of chocolate. The first I had ever had. Kept it in my mouth long after it melted. It was so good I didn’t want to swallow it. As kids we used to say I’d buy some sweets if I had some money, if I had some coupons, if there was some sweets. It was a hard time but it made us tough.

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  3. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by super8mm View Post
    What were the pre 1900's Tam how were they made and from what material?
    How pre-1900 do you want to go..?

    Maxwell and Hutchison's excellent work on Scottish Costume for 300 years from 1550 is based on written accounts of the period, estate records, tailors' accounts and pictorial evidence, to present a valuable reference in terms of dress, fashion and style.

    They record that between 1660 and 1707 - the Restoration until the Union of Parliaments - that 'The common headgear of the poorer classes was still the bonnet, either blue or russet, and showed no change from previous periods.'

    I emphasise 'still' as it is significant, but this is the only historic reference I have come across that mentions a colour for the bonnet being other than blue - usually illustrated as a dark shade. To say 'still' shows that the use is continued from earlier times - ie, prior to 1660.

    Bonnets were made in industrial quantities at certain centres around Scotland, and their regional styles varied somewhat, but knitted and felted wool was the practice then, as now.

    Craigievar Castle has a spendid example of an early blue bonnet, with known provenance, and is civilian rather than the military version that was subject to regimental fashion and whim.

    My picture is a curling club bonnet, made from marled yarn in club colours, which dates from early last century and there is nothing unusual about it otherwise. The other picture is of Highand school children from the late 1800s, and shows something of the variety in bonnets - no doubt home-made.

    The density of the knit, the felting and so the form-holding of the bonnet gives the lie to the 'Outlander' theatrical style so favoured by dramatists and re-enactors. If authenticity is what you are after, theatrical and film costume is best avioded.

    DSCF0670a.jpg DSCF0672a.jpg DSCF0679a.jpgLochlee curling club bonnet.jpg

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  5. #3
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    Commercial and burgh records shine a spotlight on both the fashions and cultural habits of the past.

    Prior to the start of the 18th century, hats (that is those forms of headwear that had a crown and brim, as opposed to bonnets) were virtually unknown in Inverness, and were the preserve of senior burghers on account of their rank, but bonnets quickly became the symbol of low birth and labouring status.

    Where the bonnet remained the head-covering of choice (and more practical in many ways) social status, or rank, was shown by gentlemen opting for black bonnets, to distinguish themselves from their servants and employees or tennants who continued to wear the more common (in more ways than one!) blue bonnet.

    The recent demise of Mackie's business is a reminder of how the bonnet market crashed some 300 or so years ago - along with hose production. Hose, produced in a variety of bright colours (as can be seen in contemporary pictures) were costly and time-consuming to produce, and so commanded high prices.

    So the high cost of bonnets and hose today are in-keeping with the past.

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  7. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Troglodyte View Post
    I emphasise 'still' as it is significant, but this is the only historic reference I have come across that mentions a colour for the bonnet being other than blue - usually illustrated as a dark shade. To say 'still' shows that the use is continued from earlier times - ie, prior to 1660.
    The reference to russet bonnets is interesting and one I've not seen before. In terms of an historical reference it appears to be supported by the portrait of Aeneas (Angus) MacBean of Kinchyle c.1743.

    Aeneas (Angus) MacBean of Kinchyle c1743.jpg

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