Artifact: Woman's hat
Materials: Buckram interior, silk tabby exterior
Dimensions: 11 1/2"; Depth: 11"
Date: Circa 1840
Origin: England
Collection: Image Courtesy of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
License: All rights reserved
Ledger Entry: Buckram
Department: Textile
Customer: Joseph Yates
Ledger Page: 174
Imported From:
Product Description
Buckram is a stiff coarse fabric of hemp. It was primarily used to stiffen garments and accessories such as bodices, hats, or outerwear into a desired shape. Since buckram was typically sewn on the interior of garments, it could be produced new or made of re-purposed fabric.
Citation: Florence M. Montgomery. Textiles in America, 1650-1870 : a Dictionary Based on Original Documents : Prints and Paintings, Commercial Records, American Merchants' Papers, Shopkeepers' Advertisements, and Pattern Books with Original Swatches of Cloth. (New York :Norton, 1984), 181.;
Historical Price: 12 pence per yard; Modern USD: $11.2
Product Variations
The databases record thirteen purchases of Buckram with no qualifiers to indicate quality or type. Buckram was usually purchased by the yard, though occasionally by the piece. The purchases are for quantities of one yard or smaller, likely since it was only used in areas where fabric needed to be stiffened. The prices range from two and a half pence for a quarter yard to one shilling ten pence for one piece.
