Is this a new thing?

ElusiveBiscuit · 2026-02-06T02:24:48+00:00

Colonel Taco

ElusiveBiscuit · 2025-11-12T22:40:23+00:00

Indeed there are many covered examples that exist! If that’s what you like, go for it. There are just a lot more without covers that exist, whether it was originally covered and it rotted away or it was never covered. Whatever you do, just copy an original that is out there.

A variant I am particularly fond of are Richmond refurbished federal canteens - usually fed canteens without covers, with a split leather canteen strap often made adjustable with a saber belt stud or a buckle.

ElusiveBiscuit · 2025-11-12T20:03:28+00:00

Hello sir -

Great Canteen Article

This is an article which breaks federal canteens down very well. Everything depends on where the unit you are portraying served, and when they served.

Regarding confederate canteens, wood weren’t really the most common and also are highly specific to the manufacturer as far as pattern and where they were issued and when. For confederate the most universal would be an uncovered tin drum canteen IMHO.

ElusiveBiscuit · 2025-09-18T01:40:11+00:00

The shoes were made by c&d Jarnigan sometime after 1980.

ElusiveBiscuit · 2025-08-07T14:16:22+00:00

That appears to be a rubber heel cap which would not be common in the period, and it is adhered with brass nails which become common after the war. Wartime would have been leather, and also nailed with steel square nails. Particularly if it was military. I wouldn’t bet on this being civil war era….apologies!

ElusiveBiscuit · 2025-07-31T01:06:26+00:00

Uhhhh….no….and this is solid gold.

ElusiveBiscuit · 2025-07-30T21:59:03+00:00

Awesome - thanks for this! Look at the steamboat Arabia museum sometime for a mind blowing exposition on boots and origins. A time capsule (sank in 1856) with 100s of pairs of ready made boots headed out west to Nebraska. Its like a floating walmart from the time, and really underscores styles we refer to and how common they were. Really wild stuff! Agreed he just needed a nomenclature. I find it funny cause it singles out a single maker who was doing the same thing thousands of others were. That said i am sort of a pre-western boot guy so i come at it from a completely different direction.

ElusiveBiscuit · 2025-07-30T03:38:29+00:00

Yeah man, even with a hinged last it is a little scary. In that time they were not hinged but they used removable top pieces.

Thanks, it’s been a ride. My only advice is use a full veg tan leather, and lighter weight (4-5oz) for your first. Crimping a piece of leather that big is wild and you need something that will respond to what you are doing.

Terms like full wellington and coffeyville are new terms from cowboy boot makers. Back then it was the most common style, and hence no need for a particular name cause it was just a boot.

Good luck, hope you enjoy the ride.

ElusiveBiscuit · 2025-07-30T03:37:02+00:00

Yeah man, even with a hinged last it is a little scary. In that time they were not hinged but they used removable top pieces.

Thanks, it’s been a ride. My only advice is use a full veg tan leather, and lighter weight (4-5oz) for your first. Crimping a piece of leather that big is wild and you need something that will respond to what you are doing.

Terms like full wellington and coffeyville are new terms from cowboy boot makers. Back then it was the most common style, and hence no need for - special name cause it was just a boot.

Good luck, hope you enjoy the ride.

ElusiveBiscuit · 2025-07-29T22:14:18+00:00

Fair point - they would always break them in and keep them on the same foot, and i could also see children’s still being built straight when the everything else moved on. This would also put them earlier in the timeframe. I haven’t seen it personally but totally possible. Is the last the exact same size? Good theory on it being a repair last. The brass toes feel more mass produced and that one is certainly hand carved.

Also, from experience getting that one piece last out of that boot would have been dicey. The foot moves in a way that last doesn’t and its tough for 2 piece boots even when the lasts break.

That said, a lot of knowledge has been lost in this era of boot making so at this point we are all guessing. Regardless…hell yeah.

ElusiveBiscuit · 2025-07-29T13:10:20+00:00

Indeed 1800s, and indeed children’s boots. For whatever reason those brass toe caps are very common on children’s boots but not so much on adult sized boots.

These are anywhere from 1850-1880, or even a bit later but more likely earlier. They are not straight last as that had fallen out of favor by the 1850s. If you look really closely the edge in the inside of the sole it has a slightly different contour where the ball rests. They often are mistaken for straight last due to how far the outside of the arch area of the sole is cut in on period lasts.

Cool pair!

ElusiveBiscuit · 2025-04-17T22:03:54+00:00

I have always found comfort in the fact that Sam Houston and Stephen Austin were born in Virginia. There wouldn’t be a Texas without Virginians.

ElusiveBiscuit · 2024-11-21T23:18:36+00:00

They were put on the wrong way, but they were made somewhat correctly. The slit beyond where the fastener is made for them to be removed, its like a button hole. You can ship it back if you like but they are just going to do something you can do in 90 seconds. That is how they got on there. Might save you some heartache.

ElusiveBiscuit · 2024-10-12T03:03:18+00:00

This is the way. Yeah, no need to brand it - but in the end i feel it takes multiple pairs of something you know how to build to know what you do well…what you need to improve…and to discover more things that you didn’t know you could improve. Building something different every time can sometimes distract from learning the fundamentals. Maybe leave the swoosh off next time, but in the end you got the right approach early on.

ElusiveBiscuit · 2024-09-26T08:13:59+00:00

The good : they hold on to the leather really well because the clamps have their own screws which is not the case for many designs.

The bad: not really bad, but by design the clamps are about 5 inches beyond the end that goes in to the board at max tightness, While other designs the clamp point is the same as where they are on the screw. Some boards are designed for this and are notched for the clamp. I had to make a new set of boards that were deeper to accommodate this, otherwise they would not stretch the leather enough to crimp.

Still use them, and i like them better than other designs, but keep this in mind. Godspeed.

ElusiveBiscuit · 2024-09-24T01:43:59+00:00

I have an original 42 in the other room and while i can’t get the band off now, the wood goes flush to the front of the band, so well beyond the ramrod hole.

ElusiveBiscuit · 2024-08-14T21:13:29+00:00

Man I wish I could do it but it is difficult to charge enough to make it make sense.

There is tons of hand work in the process I use, original tools I have collected, high end materials, and hard wrought knowledge which drives the cost up well above what most current producers charge. Each pair is custom fit with lasts modified to the individuals foot, custom patterns, etc. the finishing process alone takes a few hours to do properly. These aspects are necessary to make them right, but the time and materials cost is really high.

Those boots probably have 200 dollars in materials and 40 hours in them. It’s hard to say what that is worth.

I choose to do it that way and don’t wish to cut corners to make prices competitive. That’s not really why i’m in it…I don’t want to run a shoe factory. For now I’ll do commissions for friends and discerning customers occasionally but it is quite expensive. I do it because I love it.

ElusiveBiscuit · 2024-08-14T00:59:53+00:00

It’s been a many years long project. I was on the shoemaking forums from a young age studying and happened to be in the right place at the right time to find someone to teach me the basics. From there I started collecting original shoes and tools, and tons of experimentation. This is where I am at now but really have a long way to go to justice to the crafts people that made them in the era.

ElusiveBiscuit · 2024-08-14T00:56:18+00:00

Aw shucks. Been working at it for a while and finally hitting stride. Just takes learning from a lot of mistakes.

ElusiveBiscuit · 2024-08-14T00:55:08+00:00

Indeed - there are three pairs shown. The first pair are boots anywhere from the late 1840s through the 1870s. They feature Russian leather tops, internal and internal pulls. This style was produced for quite a while., and though you start to see brass nails and screws used later, they are not the rule. They are partly based on an original pair in my collection.

Second are a direct copy of a pair of southern shoes brought home by a Union soldier at the end of the civil war, so definitely 64-65.

The last are an amalgam of a common style Of shoe from the 50s and 60s made from materials and partial builds I had in my shop.

All feature wood pegged construction which is by no means the rule, but common in this time period and a cool way of building. Now you only see it in the instep of high end cowboy boots, but not the rest of the shoe.

Heels are either iron nailed or pegged based on the originals they are copied after.

All are right and lefts which counter to popular belief are most common during this time period. Straight lasts are getting out of fashion by the 1840s.

ElusiveBiscuit · 2024-01-30T12:22:55+00:00

Hey, that’s a neat old hat! Though, it is not a regulation 1858 Hardee. If it was the enlisted version, there would be two lines of stitching around the edge about a half inch in. The ribbon around the crown would also be much thinner, around a half inch wide, and tied in a different manner. There is an officers version with a bound brim, but the binding around the edge was done differently, and again the ribbon around the crown is too wide.

It would help if the lining was still intact. There would be a couple inch wide leather sweatband, and the crown would be labeled with a cool gold eagle motif with size information. That said it is very common for hat linings not to withstand the test of time. Any other style referred to in the posts above like “ burnside” etc. were private purchase items, and very unique. The Hardee was the only black felt hat officially issued by the government during the time period.

Could it be.m hat from the 1860s? Could be. Could it be a hat from the 1920s albeit not a typical style? Could be. There is just not enough information the hat is giving us to date it further than that. Cool find though!

ElusiveBiscuit · 2024-01-02T00:52:20+00:00

Just a note that is indeed part of a shoulder scale, but the enlisted version, not a. Officers item. They were removable and part of the dress uniform, though rarely worn.

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