Info. Req: Proper way to wear Putties?

[SGM (ret.)]

Hi all,

 

Does anyone have the instructions for how the WWI putties were supposed to be wrapped around the lower legs and boot tops? I know it seems like one of those intuitive tasks, but I have read a few comments in various sources that it was actually an acquired skill to get it right so that they didn't come unraveled. I'd also assume that there were specified winding directions (clockwise and counter-clockwise) for each leg.(?)

 

I'm getting ready to put together a WWI field uniform display and would like to use the pants and putties. So, I'm looking for the official instructions if any such ever existed.

 

I suppose in the absence of any written instructions and diagrams, maybe some clear contemporary photos or photos of uniform displays in your collections would set me straight. Maybe I'm over-thinking the problem.

 

TIA!

 

Mike

[MAW]

It really is an art, and even the original doughboys had troubles with it occasionally. Somewhere on my bookshelf I have a Marine memoir that mentions puttees coming undone during a formal review by Pershing.....they were dragging behind soldiers in the mud, etc.

 

The best way I found to do it is start at your ankle, then go down to cover the top of the boot, then go back up in a spiral motion over your calfs and to just under the bend of the knee.

 

Tying them off is another, seperate, art. I usually made one knot, then tucked the ends into the tightly wound fabric of the puttee. This method generally works well.

 

Some doughs got creative and fancy.....there are pre-tapered puttees, and sometimes men would put them on in reverse order so they were tied off at the ankle......I have heard that this is supposedly for mounted troops, but I have no documentation on that. I think it is partially subjective.

 

Bon Chance!

[craig_pickrall]

I looked thru both the Uniform Specs and the Uniform Regs that cover the period from 1900 to 1921. The Puttees are mentioned but there are no wrapping instructions included.

 

I have a WW1 period Uniform catalog that shows a pic of a wrapped puttee. It isn't the best of instructions but better than none. If no one can come up with proper instructions let me know and I will post a pic of what I found.

 

You might try contacting Gil Sanow one of the Mods here, I'll bet he knows how or has a good reference.

[GIl Sanow]

I wish I could help. I have seen humorous comments and cartoons on the subject, but never a decent set of instructions.

 

When I put them on a manikin, I start at the ankle and do what is described above. I think each leg was wound in opposite directions to give a pleasing spiral, but have never seen that in writing either.

 

I suppose the solution is to get a pair of puttees and practice on your own legs until you get it right.

 

Please do reply back here when you come up with the answer.

 

I wonder how WW1 reinactors do it?

 

G

[LtRGFRANK]

let me go dig mine out and see if I can get a good picture of it and post it. Robert

[LtRGFRANK]

let me go dig mine out and see if I can get a good picture of it and post it. Robert

I downloaded mine from http://www.oryansroughnecks.org/how4.html

Hope that helps. Robert

[craig_pickrall]

Great job, Robert. That is a good reference site.

[GIl Sanow]

Great find!

 

G

[MAW]

I did WW1 living history and events for a number of years.....that, along with references from personal narratives, is where my info comes from.

 

fwiw

[SGM (ret.)]

Well thanks everybody! I was wondering why it seemed so hard to find anything official. It seems that maybe there are no official instructions.

 

Robert, that's a great site and perfect instructions for the Puttees! I am curious now about where those procedures came from. What is the purpose of the X-wrap across the shins, I wonder? (extra padding on the front of the leg, a neater appearance, to take up extra length, provides better support to the leg and ankle, hmmm...?)

 

I suppose word of mouth passed from one old soldier to another was the method of instruction for the AEF on this. Can anyone give the uniform history on the use of the Puttees by US forces during the period.

 

As I understand from reading several on-line sources, the Puttees were adopted by the AEF once the soldiers arrived in theater. The issued leggings were found to be impractical in the mud and water of the trenches, so the AEF adopted the British / French uniform item.

 

Does anyone know if this is actually true, or is it an "urban legend" (or would that be a "trench legend")? If this is true, did the US Army (and USMC) ever officially adopt the Puttee as a uniform item covered by the regulations of the day? Perhaps the unofficial-official nature of the things is the reason why there's no written rules and instructions for wear.

 

Thanks again for the help. I'll be sure to post some pictures once I get the display ready.

 

Mike

[craig_pickrall]

WW1 is outside my area of interest so I have no long term knowledge of the uniforms. What I saw while looking thru period manuals and catalogs today is the extent of my knowledge on Puttees.

 

In the mauals I looked at even before WW1, Puttees were listed in the index but when you checked the listing it actually read Leggings and it was a brief statement that the perscribed legging would be worn according to instructions. In the Cavalry references only the leather leggings were shown. I looked at some manuals as new as 1940 and there were drawings of various uniforms that showed Puttees. Some of these drawings were newer to, not just left overs from the WW1 period.

 

In the one catalog that I found a good pic of Puttees they mentioned that they were imported from England

[USARV72]

[USARV72]

[USARV72]

[USARV72]

[USARV72]

[USARV72]

[USARV72]

 

 

 

Dug this out of reference this AM. Looks as the 1917 Regs binder is incomplete, but its as found.

Article on the putees is sourced at the bottom.....BTW Robert Bruce is Author of

"The M-1 Does my Talking" and many magazine article on military history and weapons.

Dave

[SGM (ret.)]

Thanks, again guys. That makes three distinctly different methods.

 

1) Shown in the web site instructions.

2) The alternate method in the web site instructions.

3) The method described by Mr. Nihart in USARV72's posts.

 

Interestingly, Mr. Nihart is adament that starting at the bottom invites disaster and the First Sergeant's wrath, while the web site instructions both start at the bottom and end at the top.

 

Any ideas if the photos in the web site article are comtemporary (ca. 1920's) or if they're BW photos of reenactors?

 

The 1917 Uniform Regulations seem to make it official that the puttees were an issued item by that date. Any thoughts on the initial adoption date? I'm still wondering about the "wive's tale" about the puttee replacing the canvas leggings because the leggings were unsuitable for trench wear. Mr. Nihart gives 1908 as the Army's adoption date. That would seem to rule out the "trench story."

 

Mike

[USARV72]

 

 

 

WWI Individual Personal Equipment receipt. Lists Leggins, Canvas; Leggins , Canvas, Reinforced and Leggins, Leather. Putees are not printed on the form.

[john.manguso]

The Bruce Nihart article on wrapping puttees sent in by USARV72 is from the Army Center of Military's Museum Newsletter from the 1970s and reissued on microfiche around 1982 (way before scanners and the internet).

[everforward]

WW1 is outside my area of interest so I have no long term knowledge of the uniforms. What I saw while looking thru period manuals and catalogs today is the extent of my knowledge on Puttees.

 

In the mauals I looked at even before WW1, Puttees were listed in the index but when you checked the listing it actually read Leggings and it was a brief statement that the perscribed legging would be worn according to instructions. In the Cavalry references only the leather leggings were shown. I looked at some manuals as new as 1940 and there were drawings of various uniforms that showed Puttees. Some of these drawings were newer to, not just left overs from the WW1 period.

 

In the one catalog that I found a good pic of Puttees they mentioned that they were imported from England

 

In the 1940 National Guard yearbooks for Maryland and Virginia (29th ID), there are many many photographs of soldiers wearing Puttees, even with Class-A uniform service blouses.

[patches]

Should,nt this be a pinned topic? it seems to be an important one.