Subject: | |
From: | |
Reply To: | |
Date: | Fri, 15 Mar 2002 23:30:27 -0500 |
Content-Type: | text/plain |
Parts/Attachments: |
|
|
Mary B. wrote:
>I have excavated hem weights (your lead buttons) at my site in Newbury
>and have done a bit of research on them. By the late 19th/early 20th
>century these were stamped out with holes so they could be sewn into
>hems and hence stay put. The main use for them was to keep men's coat
>tails from flapping in the breeze, but they also were used on women's
>skirts and in draperies. Earlier examples were just bits of lead,
>perhaps flattened, perhaps not, and examples have been found in burials
>of men who had their clothes on (unusual circumstances) ca. 1700. So
>there's a longish history of their use, but before they were made in a
>recognizable form, we'd mistake them for lead shot, lead sprue or waste,
>etc., unless the context was absolutely clear cut.
>
>I discuss hem weights among many other sewing tools and sewing notions
>in my upcoming book on the material culture of needlework and sewing.
>Watch this space!
Might that explain some of the flattened, drilled, and modified musket
balls we have found on military sites? This was discussed about a year ago
and I do not recall that hem weights, or even tent canvas weights, were
mentioned as a possibility. It sure wouldn't hurt to add that to the long
list of possible explanations.
Dan W.
|
|
|