Figure 1.--Sears in 1902 offered this classic reefer for boys 9-15 years of age. We do not know what Bauendahl's meant nor do we think that the coat was made out of true chinchilla. Note the cap the boy here is shown as wearing.
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Figure 1.--Sears in 1902 offered this classic reefer for boys 9-15 years of age. We do not know what Bauendahl's meant nor do we think that the coat was made out of true chinchilla. Note the cap the boy here is shown as wearing. |
A chinchilla is a small South American rodent living in rocky burrows in the Andes (Bolivia, Peru, and Chile). The rodents were domesticated for their silver gray fur. It is a very coistly fur. The term is also used for a coat fabric with a curly nap. We believe that the boys' coats described as chinchilla may not have been true chinchilla, but rather wool with a curly nap. True chinchilkla would have been relatively expensive, but we can not be sure if it was used in any specific garment. Thus while chinchilla appears to refer to a material, it is probably used more, in reference to boys' garments, to indicate a weave--fabric with a curly nap.
An example here is the reefer coat offered by Sears (figure 1).
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