Black Gum Toothbrushes and Nightcaps

 

Supplies. Organization. Funding. Three key pieces to the war machine that didn't exist in the early days of the territory that would become the United States and shortly after. Due to this lack, soldiers often furnished their own needs. For example, dog tags were not provided until World War I. If a soldier wished to have a form of identification during the Civil War, they had one made or created it themselves. Notice the brass tag in the photo at right.

Another essential was what we might refer to as a dop or toiletry kit. During the Civil War, this was dubbed, "The Housewife." 

I learned about these lifelines when I visited the Tabor House in Ellijay, GA. You can read the prior post to learn more about the museum. I'm grateful to the docent volunteers who shared their time and their knowledge. One dedicated individual is featured below with his nightcap. 

This is a short fun post today to learn about some of the contents:

Toothbrush and tooth powder - In North Georgia, the preferred toothbrush was crafted from Black Gum tree twigs. Soldiers removed the bark and chewed the end of the twig. This made a bristle type brush. Funny, in watching the Lost in Austen movie, I wondered what Jane meant when she showed Amanda the implements to clean her teeth. I couldn't imagine how they worked. Did you see that movie and wonder the same? Now we know. The other type of toothbrush had a bone handle with pig hair. Don't those options sound delightful?

Comb

Personal lantern and spare candles – A candle stood inside a folding tin container to reflect the light. How neat is that?

Pocket knife

Coffee pot

Notebook, Bible, Prayer book, paper, pencils

Fishing kit (see photo above at right)

Medicated paper for the water closet. I’m surprised they carried this luxury at all.

Soap

Fork, spoon, knife - These had many variations depending on what was available. Some resemble modern hiking kits. Some were individual utensils.

Plate and tin mug

Sewing kit – This could be the reason behind the entire kit name of “Housewife.”

Sleeping cap – Think, “Twas the Night Before Christmas” but a bigger/longer version. The men pulled the cap down over their noses, either due to cold or bugs.

Mittens and socks - “Why not gloves,” you ask? Mittens were much warmer for the troops on the ground out in the cold. In fact, instead of gloves, they had mittens that allowed them to shoot a gun with the mitten on. Trigger finger isolated.

                

Canteen – Did you know the best or favored canteens were made of wood? The soldiers preferred that type because they kept the water cooler, and the taste was better. These canteens were often some of the first pilfered items by the Northern units when they overtook their Southern counterparts.

The country made great progress in all three areas over the years. During WWII soldiers had more resources available. I photographed these items at the Airborne Museum in Normandy, France. 

I never thought about the logistics of the military until a family member joined. Stop and consider all that must transpire to keep the wheels turning. Perhaps I'll share more in the future. We did visit an interesting transportation museum. Have you ever considered what the daily life components were/are like for the soldier in each of the battles and wars?

      

As a child, Rebecca loved to write. She nurtured this skill as an educator and later as an editor for an online magazine. Rebecca then joined the Cru Ministry - NBS2GO/Neighbor Bible Studies 2GO, at its inception. She serves as the YouVersion Content Creator, with over 100 Plans on the Bible.com app.

Rebecca lives near the mountains with her husband and a rescued dog named Ranger. If it were up to her, she would be traveling - right now. As a member of ACFW and FHLCW, Rebecca learns the craft of fiction while networking with a host of generous writers. She is working on her first fiction novel. This story unfolds from the 1830s in Northern Georgia.

Connect with Rebecca: Clubhouse Facebook Goodreads Instagram Pinterest Twitter

Civil War Stitches

A footnote from history by Stephanie Grace Whitson

Neither the Union nor the Confederate governments were prepared to field armies when the Civil War first began. The most obvious need was for uniforms for the tens of thousands of volunteers. President Lincoln's first call was for 75,000 volunteers. An estimated 4.5 yards of fabric were needed per uniform. that's 337,500 yards (or 191.76 miles) of fabric just for trousers and jackets. Who made those uniforms? Well, at the outset of the war, governments contracted with factories, but they couldn't work fast enough. Women stepped up, and they did made a lot more than just uniforms.

Women made the regimental flags carried into battle. The photo below

shows a detail of one such flag presented by the ladies of St. Louis to a regiment serving with the Missouri Guard. Those bears are created with silk thread, one stitch at a time. The flag flew outside the regimental commander's tent. Other regimental flags made by women were carried into battle. 

Once war broke out, sewing circles that already existed to benefit the destitute immediately added filling soldiers' needs to their cause, providing shirts and socks, blankets and quilts, for the boys and men volunteering from their town or region.

"My dear friend, you are not my husband nor son; but you are the husband or son of some woman who undoubtedly loves you as I love mine. I have made these garments for you with a heart that aches for your sufferings ..." [note included in a Sanitary Commission shipment] 

As the war went on and hospitals began to fill with the wounded, women produced hospital shirts and bandages. One impressive statistic: by war's end, the Northwestern Sanitary Commission headquartered in Chicago had supplied 267,936 pounds of bandages, compresses, and lint (lint was used for packing wounds and created by unraveling linen towels or "scraping" other household textiles to break down the fibers). 

"My dear boy, I have knit these socks expressly for you. How do you like them? ... Write and tell me all about yourself, and how you get on in the hospitals ..." [note included in a Sanitary Commission shipment]

Women knitted socks and mittens, the latter created from a pattern developed to incorporate a trigger finger. The Western Sanitary Commission headquartered in St. Louis had, by war's end, provided 78,656 pairs of socks.

In the early stages of the war, women collected quilts and blankets. When the supply ran out, they began to make cot-sized quilts and tied comforters (15,131 comforts from the Northwestern Sanitary Commission and 40,574 blankets and comforts from the Western Sanitary Commission), along with 100,000 pillow cases. 

The numbers are a bit staggering, aren't they? In an era when we buy the textiles we need for our families, it's difficult to imagine having to make literally everything a soldier might need in the field. 

"She'd sat up half the night making Seamus his own mending kit--a replica of the one a teary-eyed Bridget Feeny had presented to Jack yesterday afternoon. The soldiers called them housewives, Bridget said. Making one for Seamus had given Maggie something productive to do last night, when sleep simply would not come." From Daughter of the Regiment

Housewife (soldier's mending kit)

Soldiers had to do their own mending in camp, and so women made mending kits referred to as "housewives." Many different examples survive in museum collections. I photographed the one at left when I visited a museum exhibit about Illinois women's efforts during the war.

"Feed the Hungry" quilt

Civil War women were very well aware of the importance of what they were doing. Some referred to their sewing groups as "needle regiments." With the conclusion of the war, they didn't stop stitching for the benefit of soldiers and their families. Raffle quilts raised funds to benefit destitute families of wounded warriors. The one at left was created and raffled by a Methodist Episcopal ladies group in Lexington, Missouri. Across the surface of the quilt, the words "feed the hungry" reminded survivors that the war might be over, but the need for women's stitches had not ended. 

The tradition of sewing for soldiers continues today. One example is Quilts of Valor, created to "cover service members and veterans touched by war with comforting and healing Quilts of Valor." 

Have you ever sent a care package to a modern-day warrior? Are you part of a contemporary "needle regiment" making Quilts of Valor? God bless you.

______________

Stephanie learned about "Civil War stitches" while researching her book Daughter of the Regiment. This fall, you'll be able to read about Civil War stitchers in her novella appearing in A Basket Brigade Christmas, a Civil War collection written with Nancy Moser and Judith Miller. Stay tuned!

http://www.amazon.com/Daughter-Regiment-Stephanie-Grace-Whitson/dp/1455529036

An inspiring story of discovering courage and friendship through tremendous adversity. Drawing on the actual histories of women who found ways to work on the battlefront during the Civil War, this outstanding historical will attract fans of Janette Oke, Lisa Wingate, and Tamera Alexander. *Starred review* Library Journal

Based on true events, this story will capture the hearts of historical fiction fans. Publishers Weekly