Leather Breeches, Suspender and Girdle

Leather breeches can be found in continental Europe and in England. So, it is not surprising to see them in New Netherland and later British New York. They are also readily found in New England and possibly New Sweden. This is great for reenactors who are looking for something different for their kits. Though, less so for vegetarians like me but the reality was that at the time, leather breeches were available and used. (I especially like the one's linked to below.)

From early in the 17th Century both New Netherland and New England had leather breeches in their inventories. However, from the sample in the database, they do not turn up in the same manor. In New Netherland, leather breeches are often listed as if an alternative to the cloth/textile choice, or simply on their own. This rule of thumb is flipped when it comes to New Sweden (Delaware) and also New England, where leather breeches are found often - but not always - in suit form. There are a couple references stating that in New Netherland and New Sweden breeches are made from elkskin as compared to buck or otter skin jackets.

Also, how one secures one's breeches to their body, may be somewhat different between New Netherland as a whole and New England. However, for this last point there is only a couple primary sources currently available that show the presents of of suspenders and girdles for men, so we cannot determine the frequency of use.


I couldn't fined a good image of 17c leather breeches; 18th Century leather breeches, Link. 

Common Examples of leather breeches from New Netherland and New York:

1662 - Wiltwijck, Ulster Co., Wages earned by a young apprentice
four schepels of wheat and a pair of leather breeches

1664 - Brooklyn, New Netherland/New York, Upon a 14 year old's mother's death, the boy owned
a pair of leather breeches

1665 - Albany, New York, From the Church Deacons to Frans Coninck’s children

2 packages [one complete set or suit] of leather clothes, on which were used 7 deer skins

You probably noted a trend above. Children from about seven (7) years old through the teen years were likely to have leather breeches. Leather, along with Serge, were some of the most common textiles used for active kids.

New Netherland and New York's various records also show the use of leather breeches by adults. While breeches for women turn up more often in this colony than others, I have yet to find them in leather. But then again, leather breeches do not turn up in men's inventories at a high frequency either, but they are not unusual either. It is probable that this garment wore out quickly as it is a work horse for those in carpentry, masonry, etc. Also, while I have many farmer's inventories; I have but a few carpenter's, mason's, etc inventories.

On the 23rd of January 1642
Gregorio Pieterse, plaintiff, vs. Tomas Coninck, defendant.
Plaintiff demands payment for an elk skin which cost him 8 gl [gilders].
Defendant answers that he warned the plaintiff that breeches were made of the elk skin. He is ordered to prove the same.

and

1666 - WIC Employee and Trader with the Native Americans, Fort Orange inventory:
[adult] a leather and a cloth breeches f 36.10.00 [no leather coats or jackets were included]


Primary and Secondary Sources for the leather breeches of New Sweden and later New Amstel:

I have seen a few references to the people of New Sweden (1638 to 1655, afterwards called New Amstel) wearing buckskin or elk breeches, but they are 19th or 20th Century sources. Also, the documents available currently are not turning up probate inventories to New Sweden outside of a few inventories where a Dutchmen is planning a trip. This said, items being sent to New Amstel are; 

1661

7 ells red duffle

1 anker anise & 20 ells red duffle

30 ells linen

10 ells linen

10 ells linen 

1 pair of stockings

1 pair of stockings & 2 pairs of shoes

1 pair of shoes

There tends to be a distinct lack of clothing outside of stockings and shoes being sent to the New Amstel area from New Netherland. The above is a sampling for the year 1661, the records included additional anise, linen, red duffle plus items like Spanish wine as the year continues. Its possible they had a person sewing skins for jackets and breeches for the population. Many of the people located here were farmers. Further research is needed to uncover primary sources for this specific area.

One early 20th Century document gave the following referencing buckskin jackets and elk-skin breeches:

"Their dress wa chiefly of coarse woolen cloth, their shirts of linen, their stockings of felt, wool or linen, according to the season and the purse of the wearer... Leather, either tanned or cured in Indian fashion, was easier to procure and more durable to wear than woolen cloth, so coats made of leather, buckskin or otter skins, and elk-skin breeches were later commonly worn." - The Dutch and the Swedes on the Delaware 1609-64

These 19th and 20th sources may be referencing a 1749 interview of the "Oldest Swede on the Delaware, Nils Gustafson of Raccoon Creek". The interview occurred on the 16th of March 1749 old style. A man by the name of Peter Kalm did the interview of the 91 year old Gustafson who was born in America in 1658 to Swedish parents and is found in the book "Peter Kalm's Travels in North America".

"Before the English came to settle here, the Swedes could not get as many clothes as they needed, and were therefore obliged to get along as well as they could. The men wore waistcoats and breeches of skins.... The women were dressed in jackets and petticoats of skins."

From what I understand there are inventories from he late 17th Century from people who were Swedish and Nordic settlers. So, we will return to this topic and clothing in general for this region once enough inventories are secured.


The leather breeches of New England: 

The one off leather breeches in New Netherland and later New York are in contrast to the leather breeches in New England for the narrow time period of 1641 to 1661.  Below are most of the accounts of leather garments from Essex Co., New England that mentioned leather breeches, jacket or suit. For New England reenactors suits of leather are a great option and possibly reflect the less urban and high number of farms and villages:

1641, Ipswich Town Records
1 pair of stirrup hose

1641, Ipswich Town Records
1 leather "dublet", 8s. 6d.
1 pr. leather stockings, 2s.

(Below are three different 1647 inventories)

1647, Essex Co., MA
a leather Suite, 1Li. 6s. 8d.
a leather Jacket, 4s.

1647, Essex Co., MA
one leather "sute" 1li.10s.
one leather jacket, 1li.,

1647, Essex Co. MA
one leather suit, 1li.6s.8d.
one leather "dublett", 14s.

1655, Essex Co. MA
one "sute" of leather, 18s.

1661, Salem
a leather Jacket, 4s.


Suspender and Girdle:

When looking to see how these leather breeches were held to the body, it is likely they were simply buttoned. However, both New Netherland in 1665 and New England in 1648 each have another way; leather suspenders and leather girdle respectively. These items turn up rarely, likely due to their repeated use which would cause a high level of wear and tear. But these inventories at least allow us to see they both existed.

In the New England none of the inventories use the term "belt" unless paired with a sword or similar weapon. "Girdle" is found in four inventories; 1 leather, 1 embroidered, and 2 silk. In New Netherland and later 17th Century New York girdle is used for 3 different silver girdles for women.


1665 - Surgeon, Wiltwijck, Ulster County,  NewYork
a leather suspender

1648, Essex Co. MA
four Cushings & a leather girdle


The "one leather suspender" is likely, not that there were originally a pair of two separate straps, but likely the Dutch-German style of lederhosen suspender which is sewn into one piece. See the below etching called "Brandspuitenboek" printed in 1690 by Jan van der Heiden.

Below, Are those green fabric suspenders??? "Portrait of a Host by Peter Jakob Horemans 1765"

The use of leather breeches in British New York continue through the 18th Century. Below are a few examples.

1702 Merchant living in both New York City and Southhampton, New York
To 3 old “Lather” “Briches” 12
To 2 old “payre” of leather “Briches” & 2 old “wastcoats” 000:18:00

1774 Duchess Co., New York
Two Pair of Leather Breeches 1:0:0,

For the reenactor this is a great addition to a kit. Considering the high number of German, Dutch, Scandie and others; maybe we will be seeing some Leder Hosen with suspender style outfits at the 17th Century reenactments ! 

Woman's Knives in a Tube

To expand on "knives in a tube" for women we'll look at how they are included in wardrobes, worn and used. There are at least three and probably more types for the ladies than I have found so far, but this will provide a launching point to work from. Both of the below are found in inventories.The third, utility and fancy knives will be covered in another post. 

1) The double knives in a sheath hung from the girdle.
2) The knife and fort in a sheath hung from the girdle.


From Museum Vieeshuis in Netherlands two knives in sheath dated to 1562 Link: 

The 17th century was both an adventure and consolidation era for those on the European continent. The introduction of new goods were spreading from one nation to another. Many made it to America. Unfortunately, I don't have comparison info for England and New England, but of the 16 New England inventories I have from 1633 - 1675 I haven't found "women's knives"; though I suspect they existed or at least women adapted the use of them at some point. This said, one woman has a blunderblust ! I love this woman. 

But I digress, the 17th century sees a massive leap forward and there is a reason why it is grouped with the Modern Era as apposed to the middle-ages. Nearing the end of the Italian renaissance, enough ideas and developments of economies had occur for Central and Northern Europe to increase international trade and exposure to other cultures. The Flemish and Netherlanders had developed strong textile industries during the middle-ages, along with the invention of new technologies including the windmill for industrial purposes (except for the 12th century one developed by the Italians for the fulling of woolens ), business models focused on warehousing huge quantities of goods, and the fluyte a ship that only needs the same number of men as a gallon but with a pot belly able to carried more than twice the cargo. These developments did something rather unique, the Dutch were able to buys goods in one nation and ship them for low costs to another, AND they paid their workers and laborers more than comparable workers in other nations. (More on incomes later.) This meant that the average working class person could afford meat once a week, and had access to goods from around the world. 

1) What is called "ladies knives in a tube" or "woman's knives in a tube" is the movement from women in the middle ages from having a single small all-purpose knife, to knives for specific purposes. Its not that they didn't exist before, but that during the 17th Century laborers, peddlers and farmers were able to access goods that may of been either too expensive or just not available. 

1665 - Rachel Monger de la Montagne wife of Mr. Gysbert Van Imbroch’s a surgeon  of Kingston, NY -  two women's knives made of silver in a tube  


Below is a painting of a Fanconia-Wuttenberg woman (note the round fur hat), name unknown, about 1620s-1630, upper middle class, merchant or nobility. It is difficult to tell sometimes due to the similarity of clothing between the wealthy middle class and nobility. The painting is in the the Crailo Fort historical museum near Albany, NY. We don't know if the painting was brought over as a Victorian era souvenir, or with an early settler. While not clear in the photo, the tops of the utensils are very similar to the design posted at the bottom of this post. 

The Crailo museum also has an early fork and knife without a case on display. It was found during a dig on the site. The knife right below the Crailo knife, is a 1760 Dutch antique, Link.. Note the bird wing or feather shape of the blades. 

The ladies knives in a tube are worn by the women of the Netherlands, Flanders, Frankfurt the greater Franconia region, and Wittenberg which over laps with Franconia and in America. They are worn in other areas, but my data is specific the regions above. 

The allegory by Adriaen Pietersz van de Venne (1589 – 12 November 1662) shows a poor couple. Though poor, she still has a sheath for cutlery. Many of de Venne's prints (post 1620s to his death) are made from works created by the Dutchman Jacob Cats. Adriaen Pieters van de Venne

Here is a simple set in tube from the Netherlands from http://www.rondom1920.nl. The shape is a lot like the ones shown in the images of women with a long strap to a thin sheath. There are actually two tube attached together, with separate openings for each utensil. When the utensils are in the sheath or "Hoes", they protrude out the top, total length is 18cm.

Another of de Venne paintings is an allegory of greed, but in stead of a wealthy merchant a  male and female peddlers are the focus. This is a cropping of the Art.net image. Link

Pheasant Couple Dancing by van de Venne. Note that for peasant, working class and peddlers the sheath is hung rather low, with the top reaching the knee. Link 

An one more of van de Venne's, woman with fish basket. The only thing about this image is her head dress is made of fur. It is in the Franconia-Wuttemberg style. She may be an immigrant and explains the look a young Dutchmen - not seen here - is giving her.

An older image about 1600. The woman is middle class and we can tell because she is wearing a Spanish ropa (robe) and "hyke" or long vail, a common outfit for married women of Flanders, the Netherland and German regions at this time. Link

In the 1692 Deledique New York inventory we have "2 knives & 1 fork & pocket pistol". The below image of red cutlery is of a man's version but demonstrates just how fancy they can get. While referred to as a "hunting kit", it was not a carving set as they are too small and lack a blade sharpener. The back of the case has owners initials and the date of 1667.

PHOTO FROM Live-Auctioneers.com August 14th, 2016, West Point Auction, Lot 0775. 
Description: 
Weight (Lbs): 0.75 
Height (In.): 10.5 
Width (In.): 2.5 
Depth (In.): 2.5 
Size: 154.5 x 4.0 x 4.0" 
Maker: Unknown German 
Material: Silver, Agate, Shagreen 
Date: 17th C. 





2) One of the many items that originated in Italy, later turning up in the Netherlands and brought to America was the fork. This transition from two knives to a fork and knife reflects the adoption of new eating habits. You need a reason to adopt forks. For the Italians it was due to a specific pasta (a general term) called "spaghetti". In American English we tend to use "spaghetti" naively to mean all pasta, when it is specifically only a medium thickness very long noodle that are difficult to eat.  For the Dutch is was not pasta, or meat, as stabbing it with a knife worked perfectly fine... it was due to the Dutch introducing a new food. A "lettuce salad" with "salad oil" dressing. No joke. Those modern day ladies who lunch in Manhattan have been doing it for almost 400 years (They arrived in 1624). Below the 5 cases of knives and forks were in with items from the east indies specifically from "Indea". The owners used other terms for items from other "east indies" regions. So, these are likely to be either European or from India. It also doesn't mention if they are meant for men or women, however much of their inventory does designate when something is specific to one or the other. 

1685 - de Lang - of NYC for sale in their store - "5 knives & 5 'forces' in cases 00:10:00"

17th century German knife and fork in tube, Link


Knife, Fork and Spoon in hard case, Link


Europeans were not the only ones eating with knives and forks during the 17th century. One historian suggested that the fork was adopted from the middle east during the middle ages, with 16th century case knives and forks in museum collections. Italy also got the spinning wheel, horizontal loom, and wooden washboard for clothes from the middle east and so this is not surprising. Knife and forks from Syria and India plus Germany and Netherlands in a sheath come up for auction, luckily many have marks that can ID them.

17th Century Syrian knife and fork in tube, Link. 


In the 17th century we can see average everyday people with tubes attached to their girdles. It is possible that during the 17th century that working class persons were more likely to have the two knives in a tube, while wealthier persons had adopted the fork and knife.

17th century design plate in Rijksmuseum collection in the Netherlands: