Figure 1.--Well to do boys in the late 19th century had heavy overcoats. The boy's name is written on the back of the cabinent card portrait. This New York City boy looks to be Frank Brineck. (The last name is hard to read.) He was photographed wearing a bowler hat, Norfolk suit and heavy overcoat during the 1880s. We believe this is a bufallo coat, but we are not yet positive. Perhaps a reader will know.

Coats are heavy outer garments for cold weather. The English definition is very basic and loosely encompases a wide range of garments. One example is, "An outer garment with sleees covering at last the upper body." There are two primary meanings. One is the upper part of a suit. This means a garment worn for formality not warmth. The other is an outdoor garment for cold weather. This is is what we are discussing here. There are a wide range of cold weather coats. The major difference is length. Overcoats are generally longer coats falling to about knee-lengh. They are done in many different styles, both single- and double-breasted. There are also shorter coasts. This is complicated because shorter coats are sometimes called jackets. Navy pea coat is relatively short, but as it is heavy, usually called a pea coat or sometimes navy jacket. For similar reasons (heavy weight) we usually say duffle coats. The other heavy short coat, shorter than the duffle coat is is the ski jacket. It is always called a ski jacket because even though it was heavilh insulated. There have also been specialized coats, particularly the water proofed rain coat which appeared after the turn of the century. Raincoats are usually called coats, primarily because of their length. Most American primary-age boys by the 1920s had a rain coat. It was a necesity in the age when most boys walked to school. In recent years this has become somewhat less common. English boys might be safely given an umbrella, but American mothers realized that this was a serious mistake, at least for boys. American boys would be prone to use them for swordfights and other wonderfully boyish devilment. At first the raincoat was a black rubberized garment, but by the 1940s colored versions appeared--at first yellow ones. A popular early style included matching headwear that completely envelopd the head. I believe that it originated with New England fishermen. This style, however, went out of fashion in the 1960s. The popularily and avaialbility of the different types varied chronologically. There were also didderences from countrt to country.

Definition

Coats are heavy outer garments for cold weather. The English definition is very basic and loosely encompases a wide range of garments. One example is, "An outer garment with sleeves covering at last the upper body." There are two primary meanings. One is the upper part of a suit. This means a garment worn for formality not warmth. The other is an outdoor garment for cold weather. This is is what we are discussing here. A complication here is sometimes the termms coats and jackets are used interchangeably. Thus the pea coat is short, but still called a coat. The heavily insulated skit jacket is called a jacket.

Cold Weather Coat Types

Cold weather coats are the primary garment we are considering here. American boys over time have worn a wide range of cold weather coats. These were the sane styles worn in Britain and other European vountries. The major difference between the different types is length. Overcoats are generally longer coats falling to below knee-lengh. It is generally seen as a formal style, often worn when wearing suits underneath. They were done in many different styles, both single- and double-breasted. There was also a range of detail refinements. The materials also varried. There are also shorter coasts. These are now the most popular. This is complicated because shorter coats are sometimes called jackets. The Navy pea coat is relatively short, but as it is heavy, usually called a pea coat or sometimes navy jacket. For similar reasons (heavy weight) we usually say duffle coats with destinguishing toggles. It is kind of a mid length jacket, but not long as it like pea coat oriinated for naval wear. The other heavy short coat, shorter than the duffle coat is is the ski jacket. It is always called a ski jacket because even though it was heavily insulated.

Specialized Coats

There have also been specialized coats, particularly the water proofed rain coat which appeared after the turn of the century. Raincoats are usually called coats, primarily because of their length. Most American primary-age boys by the 1920s had a rain coat. It was a necesity in the age when most boys walked to school. In recent years this has become somewhat less common. English boys might be safely given an umbrella, but American mothers realized that this was a serious mistake, at least for boys. American boys would be prone to use them for swordfights and other wonderfully boyish devilment. At first the raincoat was a black rubberized garment, but by the 1940s colored versions appeared--at first yellow ones. A popular early style included matching headwear that completely envelopd the head. I believe that it originated with New England fishermen. This style, however, went out of fashion in the 1960s.

Chronology

The popularily and avaialbility of the different types of coats worn by American boys varied chronologically. This is a topic we are still developing. Overcoats seem particularly common in the 19th century. We see buffalo coats after tge Civik War, but these seem nore common for adukts than boys. A factor here is not only warmth, but formality. An overcoat is often worn wjen the boy is wearing a suit. We still see them in the 20th century, but not very commonly for boys. We still see boys from affluent families wearing overcoats in the early-20th century. This becomes less and less common after World War I, even with well-to-do boys. I don't believe I had an overcoat growing up at mid-century. Some well-to-do boys msy have had them, but not after the 70s. Here a factor was the fact that suits were becoming much less common. Both pea coats and duffle coats were popular coat styles. We see pea coats in the late-19th century. We are not sure when duffle coats first appeared. Both were worn through the post-World War II era. We do see boys wearing shorter coats in the 20th century, someof whivh wdre called ski jackets by the 1970s. Ski jackets were very popular in the late-20th centuey. We have not yet developed informatiuon on the 21st century. As gar as we can tell, ski jackets continue to be very popular.

American Styles

There were also differences from countrt to country. We do not yet have enough information to know much about specific American styles.

Created: 7:23 PM 11/3/2009
Last updated: 10:46 PM 1/12/2012