The myth of Modern Mass Production Techniques.
In reproductions, a gulf exists between the authentic reproductions and the lower and which is often called “farby”. In the past, what I have heard as a defense for a lack of authenticity is the utilization of “modern mass production techniques”. The implication is that it may not be the same quality of an authentic counterpart, but it is still acceptable.
I attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in the industrial garment pattern making division. What I am trained in, is in fact modern mass production techniques. This reflects not only streamlined production time, but also a quality level. The best example of modern production techniques is your local department store, not sutler’s row. What most of these sutlers are selling is amateur sewing techniques.
The first course of the first semester at the Fashion Institute was tailoring I, taught by Professor Caffarelli. The first day, he was on the bench, sitting, cross-legged “Indian style”. Previous to this, I had seen Civil War period woodcuts of tailors sitting in this manner. Professor Caffarelli said that it was the way that he was taught, and he found it to be the best way to sew. When you think about putting the lining in a frock coat skirt, you really have to be able to drape it over a table to make it fit properly.
His course, however, dealt with the fundamentals of stitching and tailoring techniques. Shortly after enrolling at F.I.T., I encountered a copy of a book published in 1830, t
itled The Tailor. This book was geared towards teaching apprentices sewing techniques, as well as giving them advice about entering the trade. To my surprise, in the first semester at F.I.T., we were taught all of the same techniques mentioned in the first section of the book, except for two things. They were called stotting (pronounced stoating) and rantering. In the 1830’s these techniques were used primarily to save fabric, today it would cost more to do, than the price of the fabric itself. Surprisingly, the trade has not drifted significantly from the 1830’s.
Many replica “mass produced” uniforms have thick, bulky unclipped seams, with little inf any pressing. By contrast, original Civil War uniforms and modern ready to wear clothes both have small seam allowances. It is continuation of the same concept of the maximum utilization of material. Factories, whether they operate in the 1860’s or the 1990’s do not make money by wasting materials.
Many of the replicas available have more of a theatrical air than that of a reproduction of factory made men’s clothing. Theatrical clothing is exaggerated to emphasize a feature so that it can be seen from a distance. If one examines original factory-made men’s shirts you will see the same high level of workmanship still present in the modern day department store men’s shirts. Whether you go to a modern department store or a museum, you will not find shirts with one-inch wooden or mother of pearl buttons. Most reproduction shirts are sold as authentic, and still sport enormous buttons. Oddly enough, if someone was to replace the buttons on his modern shirt with the ones that you find on most reproductions, common sense would dictate that they were the wrong size. Most reproductions are contrary to mass production techniques, both today, as well as in the 1860’s.
“Mass produced” has often become synonymous with “farb” items in the re-enactor’s lexicon. Ironically, the people who have been accepted as making quality items are regarded as great artists, and produce on a one at a time basis. While many of these people are meticulous, they seem to overshoot the mark. They are trying to make marble statues when they actually should be aluminum hubcaps. Moreover, the original items were NOT produced one at a time during the Civil War. If one reads the appendix of Francis A. Lord’s Civil War Collector’s Encyclopedia, you will encounter a list of the hundreds of contractors that produced items for the Federal and Confederate governments during the Civil War. You will also note that these contracts were for 10,000 of a particular item, and the contract proposals specify that they are to be delivered at the rat of 1,000 per week! In the Philadelphia branch of the National Archives, I encountered correspondence from a manufacturer to Colonel Crosman. This manufacturer stated that he had enough agents who could comb the streets to “gather a force requisite to produce 1,000 shelter tents per week, and even more if there is a full moon.” In America, the Civil War was the first major demand for mass produced items. Essentially, if the “one at a time” level at which the makers of higher quality reproductions was correct, you would only need one person working on the assembly line of an automobile factory.
As a point of comparison, while I was at the Fashion Institute of Technology, one of my classmates worked in a coat factory in Brooklyn. On average, they produce about
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