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U.S. Army Shirts 1900 to 1919


world war I nerd
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world war I nerd

Sorry if I seem to belaboring a point, but I ran across another photograph of the early collarless Army shirt. Each time I look at a photo of this shirt I can't decide if the collar has been turned down or if it is in fact collarless.

 

By the way, the photo was labeled "33rd Volunteer Infantry, Philippines"

 

Does anybody have any opinions?

 

If so, I'd really like to hear them ... Thanks

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world war I nerd

The collarless shirt looks to be almost identical to the other shirts in the photo with a collar.

 

Here's a comparison of the two.

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I, too, am intrigued by the collarless shirt pics. This last one, of the 33rd Vols. has GOT to be non-reg. They all appear to be wearing the Army blue uniform of the Span-Am War and early Philippine Insurrection period. I can't tell if that collar has been removed or really neatly folded under, but the shirt appears to be the issue blue one like the other privates are wearing. Have we found a uniform regulation or specification that describes the collarless shirt? I suspect that the ones that we are seeing in these pics either are collars folded under, or field modifications allowed as a nod to comfort or fashion.

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world war I nerd

Cavdoc 83,

 

I can't find anything official on the so called collarless shirts. I agree that the one shown in the above photo looks identical to the issued shirts with a collar. In that particular photo I'm convinced that the collar is not turned down as their isn't a bulge of any sort under the shirt as far as I can tell.

 

I was wondering if the shirt could be some kind of a sleeping shirt or perhaps a shirt that was meant to be worn with the neck stock. The only other thing I could come up with is that maybe the collars were removed to allow for more neck room when the service coat was worn over it or to make it cooler in the tropics.

 

Also if you know what either the 1902 or 1904 flannel shirts look like, can you post either a description or a photo. I think everyone would appreciate that information. I know I would.

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bertmedals

World War I Nerd,

Thanks again for another outstanding post. Your reports are like a graduate school in WWI era material.

Dennis

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  • 2 weeks later...

WWI Nerd,

 

For the sake of having another original shown on your post, I am adding two views of my late pattern shirt with the elongated elbow patch and collar punched for the collar disks.

 

 

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This is an Incredible Thread! Wow!

 

Thank you for taking out the time to put this together!

 

LF

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world war I nerd

First ... to everybody please post photos of your U.S. Army & Marine Corps Shirts, mundane or otherwise from this period!

 

Second ... Thanks to all for the comments.

 

Third ... Trenchrat, thanks so much for posting your shirt with the rectangular elbow patches. I was beginning to think that I was the only person that had ever seen one!

 

Was there a tag on the shirt, and is possible for you to post a close up of the collar without the collar discs? Thanks again for posting.

 

Brian

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Brian,

 

As you requested, here is an image of the collar - sans disk. It may not be entirely clear, but the eyelet is in fact stitched. It seems to me, tho, that the eyelets are a little higher up the collar than the ones you posted. Also, note the repair to the rear of the collar.

 

There is a tag in the shirt's skirt, but as usual, it is totally washed out, tho it is much like the typical cotton tag often seen in issued garments.

 

I also include an image of the pocket. I don’t believe this type of pocket has been described here yet. As you can see, not only are the bottom corners of the pocket clipped like the earlier shirts, but so are the pocket flaps.

 

What do you think of this feature? Maybe a private purchase, I thought, but for that washed out QM-style label...

 

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
world war I nerd

Photo No. 41: This is probably a private purchase shirt, but there is a very slim chance that it might be the single pocket shirt that was mentioned in America's Munitions.

 

The main differences between this particular shirt and the Army issued flannel shirt are: only one pocket, no pocket flap, the end of the placket is flat rather than pointed, and to me, the shirt looks to be made out of cotton. For more information on the single pocket shirt please refer to post number 27 in this post.

 

Does anybody have any opinions on this shirt?

 

I'm also trying to figure out what he's wearing on his head. It sort of looks like a campaign hat with the brim cut off.

 

Has anybody ever seen any headgear like this?

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First of all, like the others let me also compliment you on an excellent thread. It is this type of topic that I love to see on the forum, as it allows collectors the ability to come back for years to reference material that has yet to be included in reference books.

 

As I have been collecting Marine Corps material almost exclusively for the past 4 years or so, I found the material presented here on USMC shirts most useful. A few years ago, I purchased a grouping of USMC material belonging to the same man. I have posted this elsewhere on the forum, but thought this thread was a good place to include a brief discussion of the shirt that came with the group. The grouping consisted of a USMC dress tunic with paddle style shoulder boards named to a man that served shipboard during the Span Am War. The tunic is contract dated 1899-1900. Included was what until now I thought was a Model 1883 army shirt. I can only assume this Marine obtained the shirt during the time he was in the service, so once again, around the turn of the century. I believe pre 1900, the Marines were wearing the same shirt as the army. This shirt has two center button breast pockets with no flaps. It is constructed of lightweight flannel. I am not sure if that conforms to your description of Chambray or wool. The buttons appear to be a brown shade, and I am not sure if they started as black, or have faded to a brown over the years. They have not been replaced and the stitching is original. The interior has partial off white cotton muslin sewn from collar to bottom of the pockets. I think I remember reading the specifications of the M1883 shirt indicate this was done to support the weight of anything that might be in the pockets. There is no QM marking or makers label in the shirt.

 

Quite frankly, even though the tunic itself is much more showy, I was far more excited to acquire the shirt as I know they are very rare. Again, I thought this was the earlier shirt, and the same model worn by the Rough Riders in 1898 until I read this thread. Now I am not so sure, and I am eager to hear what anyone else might think (especially you WWI nerd). Thanks again for this informative post-Kevin

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world war I nerd

Hi Kevin,

 

Thanks for the compliments on a post that is woefully short on information and long on speculation. Also, I appreciate you adding to it. It's great to see another early USMC or Army shirt.

 

I've always thought that the shirts are much harder to come by than the actual uniform because they were more easily incorporated into a civilian wardrobe, and thus worn until they fell apart. I think any pre 1910 military shirt is a rare and great find.

 

Even though your shirt is very interesting, once I get into the blue uniforms of the late 1800s, I'm sorry to say that I know very little.

 

I would suggest making a separate post of the shirt on the forum, as there are a number of forum members who know a lot more about the uniforms of the late 1800s than I do. I'm sure that they will have some answers for you.

 

If you do turn up anything of interest, if you don't mind maybe you can post what you found out on this thread for anybody who happens to look at it in the future.

 

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

 

Brian

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Will do Brian, thanks. Wouldn'tt have gone here except for the fact that it appears there were some blue shirts that look like this one made just around the turn if the century. I think in the end, mine probably is the 1883 pattern. I will see what others have to say. Thanks again, Kevin

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I'm a late arrival here, but concur with the previous comments. A superb piece of research, very well presented and worthy of pinning. Thanks for your efforts!

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  • 1 month later...

Here is my list of Specification Numbers for Olive Drab and Khaki Flannel Shirts

 

Spec 502 2/14/1900 Khaki

Spec 572 5/14/1902 Khaki

Spec 662 5/3/1904

Spec 994 8/21/1908

Spec 1092 10/18/1910

Spec 1287 12/21/1917

Spec 1387 10/17/1918

Spec 415-3-1387 5/10/1919

 

Your list of Chambray Shirts is complete and correct, There is one more Muslin Shirt, Spec. 304 11/13/1890. And if you want to go a bit further back and get all the Grey Wool,

and Blue Wool Shirts, these Spec. Numbers will complete the list.

 

Spec 19 1/16/1878

Spec 76 2/16/1881

Spec 79 2/24/1882

Spec 91 4/12/1882

Spec 97 11/26/1883

Spec 362 2/27/1895

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Just a follow up note. Since the specification for shirts only called for Olive Drab Flannel, the Spec for that flannel may have changed (wool to cotton mix, weight, dye process) without changing the spec for the shirt.

 

In photo #5 you call the belt the 1904 Garrison Belt with Saber Ring. It is a trouser belt. The misidentification comes from Randy Steffen's "The Horse Soldier" This I believe is the only error I could find in his otherwise super reference work.

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world war I nerd

Thanks jprostak for updating the specification number list, and for the correction regarding the 1904 belt.

 

Do you have any additional information other than the color for any of the shirt spec. no's that you posted?

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I have almost all of the complete specifications for shirts, I believe, off the top of my head that I'm missing 502 and 1387, but much can be surmised from the specification on either side. I'm pretty sure I have specs for all the other shirts, chambay, linen and Blue Wool.

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world war I nerd

While researching something else, I came across some interesting photos of a few early Army shirts.

 

First up is a pair of Blue Flannel Shirts circa 1892 to 1902 from the Philippines. Can anybody identify exactly what model or specification number they mught be?

 

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world war I nerd

In photo No. 06/post number 02 on page one of this post, I posted what I called a "Mystery Khaki Shirt" with pointed pocket flaps that looked remarkably like a USMC style shirt.

 

Here is a close up of photo No. 06 (left) and a similar style shirt being worn by I assume is a soldier in the Philippines. I think this is the same shirt as that worn in photo No. 06.

 

Does anybody have any thoughts or ideas on this shirt?

 

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world war I nerd

here is the un-cropped photo, plus another showing what looks to be the same shirt. By the way, the non-regulation bow tie is a nice touch!

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RE Photo #23 Collar disk through shirt then coat collar.... why in the world would anyone do that? Makes removing one's coat more than a bit awkward! My motto when it comes to Doughboys and their duds is "never say never" just weird. Steve McG

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