Civil war period US issue blanket

[mdk0911]

Hello all,

one again would like an opinion on this civil war blanket - looks good to me but I'm not well versed on this.

I have compared to other original blankets pictures and the only thing i question is the US stitching 

specs

51 x 80 3/4 in

wool blanket (uneven edge, a few areas with hand-stitched repairs)

three light blue stripes

Hand-embroidered outlined "US" at center.

Edges unbound. 

 

thx in advance mike 

[manifestdestiny]

Do you have a picture of this blanket unfolded? The location of the US and the chainstitch pattern associated with it, a center stripe, and the color of the stripe itself give me cause for pause. I'm by no means an expert on these blankets, but its unlike anything I've seen from the Civil War era.

[mdk0911]

unfortunately these are the only 2 pictures 

this blanket comes from Bruce B. Hermann collection

[manifestdestiny]

I am not trying to discredit the blanket's authenticity at all. Raw edges are completely common with this blanket, and it seems like it is correctly woven together.

 

I'm mainly confused about the center stripe and that the stripes are of a lighter color than the blanket as opposed the stripes being darker than the blanket. 

 

The unbalanced nature of the US stitching is off to me as well. I know that there are a myriad of ways these were stitched to the blanket (US in three parallel lines, US in two parallel lines, US in two parallel lines closed at either end, block letters, contoured letting etc), but the letters seem to be two different sizes).

 

That being said, I know that some reproduction blankets have been produced without the stitching and that some vendors supply the yarn and template needed to chain stitch the US to the blanket. I own two that were produced this way. Perhaps someone applied the US at a later date than this blanket was originally made? 

 

This is an intriguing blanket for sure.

[mdk0911]

I didn't want to come across doubting your opinion - I'm sorry for that - I really appreciate your opinion as these blankets are expensive!!

I do question the US also - I did ask for more pictures 

[mdk0911]

15 hours ago, manifestdestiny said:

I am not trying to discredit the blanket's authenticity at all. Raw edges are completely common with this blanket, and it seems like it is correctly woven together.

 

I'm mainly confused about the center stripe and that the stripes are of a lighter color than the blanket as opposed the stripes being darker than the blanket. 

 

The unbalanced nature of the US stitching is off to me as well. I know that there are a myriad of ways these were stitched to the blanket (US in three parallel lines, US in two parallel lines, US in two parallel lines closed at either end, block letters, contoured letting etc), but the letters seem to be two different sizes).

 

That being said, I know that some reproduction blankets have been produced without the stitching and that some vendors supply the yarn and template needed to chain stitch the US to the blanket. I own two that were produced this way. Perhaps someone applied the US at a later date than this blanket was originally made? 

 

This is an intriguing blanket for sure.

 

hello - I got 2 more pictures after I sent an email

 

 

[manifestdestiny]

I am fairly convinced that this is an Australian Blanket from the World War Two era. I think the border stitching was removed to make it has a raw edge like Civil War blankets and the stripes are light blue (outer ones look like they have a red stripe on the outside of them as well).

 

Here are some pictures of Australian World War Two Blankets that I pulled from google. 

[manifestdestiny]

Here are some original US blankets from the Civil War for comparison:

https://uniondb.com/products/civil-war-us-blanketper351

 

https://uniondb.com/products/original-civil-war-state-issue-soldiers-blanket