Tuesday, September 21, 2010

1900'S LUMBERJACK COAT

Classic 2 pockets "buffalo plaid"lumberjack jacket ....

Early to mid 1900's A shaped cut ,with an expected positioning of the brand's tag and this up to the 30's.....
All silk thread .......

Celluloid buttons .....

The famous "Malone plaid" as produced nowadays by Johnson woolen mills.....


Fall is here ,so it's time to switch wardrobes and pull out some of the good old "Autumn's classics" .So,today's post will be about an early 1900's lumberjack coat from the elusive J.O. Ballard company.needless to say,that finding infos about the brand,was quite a challenge .So,fyi here's what i was able to gather ,about Ballard,during the course of the last 2 years .....

The J.O Ballard Mill was built in 1901 in Malone NY along side the Salmon River. For many years ,the woolen mills gave employment to area residents.Those loyal employees, were proud of their superior product, as was Capt. J O Ballard . Its motto: “all wool and a yard wide”, exemplified quality and became a mainstay with distribution nationwide for sports and utility outdoor clothing, and was a major industry in town. Civic minded and philanthropic, Captain Ballard was an “institution” in Malone, part of its forward-thinking attitude that created the prosperity prevailing at the time.

The Ballard Woolen Mill was famous for its heavyweight wool garments designed to endure the rigors of Adirondack Winters, constructed most of the clothing used by Adirondack guides and their wealthy patrons such as the Roosevelts, Carnegies, Vanderbilts and Whitneys in the first half of the 20th century.

Ballard's plaids were all copyrighted pretty smart at the time ,as the brand designed then,what became some of the most iconic and classical patterns.when Ballard went out of business in the 70's,their entire collection was bought by Johnson Woolen Mills.Among favorite textile patterns bought from J. O. Ballard Co.,was the way famous old favorite “Malone plaid” .Thanks to Johnson it's still in production today. this plaid was used by " engineered garments " for one of their winter collections.
even if Ballard's garments were widely popular,mostly on the est coast and Canada,they remain quite rare and finding one in good condition from the 1900's is always a treat........

15 comments:

  1. Always a pleasure reading your blog posts Mr Segui...I've learn alot of things from you sir!Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Amazing old coat, I've recently discovered your blog and love it! Keep up the good work!

    btw I have an old coat that's w/o tag, and I've tried to find info on it but don't know where to start. Could I send you a couple of pics and get your opinion? I'm not trying to sell it or anything as it fits me, I'm just interested to try and find some history about what I'm wearing. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  3. totally stoked on how not only do you post up some good finds but take the time to do a little research to find out what you can about its origin.

    I find it very interesting that most of this countries woolen mills made almost the exact same style coat... ah, but you can never have too much of a good thing, right?

    As always great find informative post.

    Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nice buffalo coat !!! you're a lucky guy Patrick !

    ReplyDelete
  5. THX Mr T.
    always a pleasure to read comments from devoted followers .i've always thought this blog should be informative in some ways .posting pictures taken from ebay or else,was not my intente to begin with .the initiale idea, started from frustration of not being really satisfied with the kind of blog i was reading on the web ....i guess for the same reasons you've started your little adventure right !??

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mr W you can post your email i'll try to help

    ReplyDelete
  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great Blog! I have a Ralph Lauren -POLO- Lumber Jack coat i bought a few years back - they obviously bit from a vintage piece - They did an excellent job on it(heavy wool, great buttons ,6 Pockets w/ xtra Shotgun Shell back pockets) despite the Steep retail price 1,000.00 (bought it for 200 on sale)it's one of the best winter coats i have and it looks sick on me with a pair of redline Levis' and just a plain white t with black heavy duty oxfords.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Patrick, here's a link to a photo of the front. If you think you can help let me know and I'll post my email (not too keen on the spam potential). I can also take any other photos you might need.
    http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s10/pics4fun1/front.jpg
    Thank you again!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I don't know how to hyperlink it. Were you able to copy and paste it in the url bar?

    ReplyDelete
  11. hmm. Okay if you'd please email me at pnofxw [at] yahoo [dot] com, I'll attach it there. Sorry about all this, and thanks again for your help!

    ReplyDelete
  12. To compare what was going on in the home sewing side of things, you may want to check my blog, www.unsungsewingpatterns.net. With the cooler weather, I'll be posting at least one coat pattern in the next few weeks.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.