Artifact: Drab cotton dress
Materials: Roller-Printed Drab
Dimensions: OL: 51"; Textile width: 34 1/2"; waist: about 21"
Date: 1830s
Origin: England
Collection: Image Courtesy of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
License: All rights reserved
Ledger Entry: Drab
Department: Textile
Customer: Mary Janey
Ledger Page: 92
Imported From: Most of the textiles sold in the Ramsay store were either produced and imported from England, or imported to the colonies through England.
Product Description
Drab is a thick, dense, and costly fabric. It was used for clothing and was an ideal fabric for outerwear because of it's heavy weight. Though drab could be dyed in a variety of colors, it is often the same dull gray-beige as the color of the same name.
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), 224.;
Historical Price: 14 shillings per yard; Modern USD: $157
Product Variations
The databases record only one purchase of drab as a textile; however there are also also three drab cloaks.
