Lizzie Borden Society Forum

I found this definition of an "albert overcoat" in the book "Everyday Life in the 1800's" by Marc McCutcheon, c. 1993, Writer's Digest Books, Cincinnati, Ohio, page 106.

I'm assuming that this is the same as Andrew's "Prince Albert" coat.

"albert overcoat: a man's calf-length overcoat having breast and hip pockets and a half-circle cape resting on the shoulders, fashionable in the 1840s. Also known as a box coat or a driving coat."

Hmm. I don't know about the half-circle cape resting on the shoulder. Coulda been. I have that vision of Fritz Weaver in "The Legend of Lizzie Borden" and what he had on, and I have to remind myself to be more open minded than that.

What caught my attention, tho, is that it says this coat was fashionable in the 1840s. Their furniture was said to be really out of date. This would fit his personality, to hang onto a coat for a long time and to go about dressed old-fashioned for the 1890's.

Does anyone have any more information on a Prince Albert coat?
And what was that "reefer" he supposedly changed into? A jacket of some sort?

By the 1880s it was also refered to as a Frock coat:

Continues in use but now is known as a Prince Albert. It is the least formal of the formal choices. Generally it is double breasted and done in black or navy blue. It has a matching vest and is worn with grey striped trousers. The style is now associated with older men.

Throughout the nineteenth century, the frock coat dominated men's wardrobes. Unlike sack coats, the frock had a waist seam, was fitted at the waist, and frequently padded in the chest. It had five vertical seams versus the sack which usually had three. The frock came in many different cuts including the cutaway, tails, or the Prince Albert. The latter, a knee-length coat with a full skirt, was especially popular with professional men.



A Prince Albert frock coat from the 1870s.

Heres a current day costume Prince Albert coat.


Heres a current day copy of a Prince Albert from Laughing Moon Mercantile made from an 1880s pattern.


Heres an image for a pattern for an 1898 Reefer jacket along with a lounge jacket. Sounds like they were made for more comfortable wear.
http://www.costumes.org/history/victori ... rt1/77.jpg

Found where it got its name from:

Short jackets generally in the doublebreasted style were worn by boys during the winter. The term reefer refers to the task of deploying or taking in the sails. The sailors needed short jackets while working aloft. The reefer jackets they wore are also believed to have been the inspiration for the blazer.

A reefer jacket is a short coat or jacket of thick cloth. They were double breasted with a double row of buttons.

There were some differences in the design of reefer jackets. Elegant reefer jackets might have velvet at the collar. There were also differences in the number and arrangement of pockets. Lengths also varied. Some might come down to knee level, but most were much shorter.

Boys would wear the jacket at home or at school and not take it off like a coat.

We believed that they became popular in the 1880s and were worn through the 1910s. This is, however, only an estimate and needs further conformation. We are less sure about the chrnology of reefer jackets as coats.

From this site:
http://histclo.hispeed.com/style/suit/s ... ilors.html

Susan, as usual we can count on you for all of our costuming needs.

I've always wanted a frock coat, but I can't afford to spring for something that I'd only wear once a year at our "Very Victorian Holiday" celebration in December. Fortunately we've got a vintage clothing store in town that does rentals.

Jeesh! And Andrew probably wore his for 10 years every single day winter and summer?
We never found out what happened to that coat.
I'm surprised it didn't end up on E-bay!

Thanks Susan!

Susan
Do you have a pic of what the pink wrapper looked like?

Thank you, Susan! So if people were wearing them in the 1880s, then it wasn't so out of style probably for Andrew to go about in his - especially at his age.

I'm assuming Andrew's was made out of wool. But maybe he had a winter Prince Albert and then a lighter one for summer? I can't imagine him wearing a heavy one in summer in Fall River, and on that Thursday when we was half sick. We know he always wore black, according to comments made about him after his death.

The pattern is neat.

Maybe that one photo is Andrew's coat - the head is missing off that guy...

A pink wrapper photo would be great. Seems like Susan posted one before - and probably a Prince Albert before.

There is quite a discussion on the wrapper in the archives at this URL:

http://www.lizzieandrewborden.com/Archi ... ecture.htm

I took the blue/white wrapper in that thread and converted it to pink/white. I believe Lizzie's had a red ribbon around the waist.



Just call me Officer Harrington!

THAT is really good, Harry!
The best so far.
I think there was some dark figure in it too. But this looks great.

I had supplied a Prince Albert and a pink werapper I painted as well, back then.

My first painting!

I like that used and shapeless Prince Albert that Susan posted better than my old one, tho!

Thanks gang, glad you enjoyed my search. Hi Connecticuthills, welcome to the forum. Hmmm, I'd have to say that the pink and white stripe wrapper that Harry posted is as good as anything I could find. There seems to be a plethora of women's wrappers or tea gowns as I've seen them called. Tea gowns were a fancier version of the wrapper or housedress. Maybe I'll do a bit more poking around later after work and see if I can find anything, we don't have as much info on the pink and white stripe wrapper of Lizzie's as we do on her Bedford cord dress.

Witness Statements, 6
Harrington:
"I arrived at the house about 12.15 or 12.20 M. The conversation with Lizzie was about five minutes later.
She was dressed in a striped house wrapper, full waist, and caught on the side by a bright red ribbon, which was tied in a bow in front. The stripes were on the pink shade, and between them was a dark figure."

I think Kimberly found that wrapper, Har, and it was too big for her to post so I shrunk the file size.

Why do we think it was pink and white?
Does Emma describe it?

The description of the pink and white stripe wrapper is pretty good, but, there is nothing about the sleeves or whether there was any other trim on the dress or not. Nor is there any indication if the striping was strictly vertical or if it was horizontal, or a mix of both. I found this 1898 striped dress that has both.



From Alice Russell's Trial testimony, pg 382:

Q. What sort of wrapper was it?
A. Pink and white stripe, I think.

From Philip Harrington's Trial testimony, pg. 565

Q. Will you describe it?
A. It was a house wrape, a striped house wrap, with a pink and light stripe alternating; the pink the most prominent color. On the light ground stripe was a diamond figure formed by narrow stripes, some of which ran diagonally or bias to the stripe and others parallel with it.

Q. It was a loose house wrapper?
A. Well, the sides were tailor fitting, or fitted to the form. The front from the waist to the neck was loose and in folds. The collar was standing, plaited on the sides and closely shirred in the front. On either side, directly over the hips, was caught a narrow bright red ribbon, perhaps three-fourths of an inch or an inch in width. This was brought around the front, tied in a bow, and allowed to drop, with the ends hanging a little below the bow. It was cut in a semi-train or bell skirt, which the ladies were wearing that season.

Mrs. Holmes Trial testimony, pg 1505:

Q. Color?
A. A stripe----pink stripe and white stripe with what I would call a sheeny figure in it.

Thank you- that was great!

I'm going crazy here- not being able to look stuff up while I'm online! AARRGG!
No mail today- hence no modem yet.
Why was July 5th given off?

You're welcome, Kat. I'm sorry, I know how annoying that is when you can't get stuff online when you want to look up sources and such. BTW, I didn't have off work today, I could've taken it if I really wanted to, but, needed to get stuff done at work.

Kat, the 5th was given off primarily, I think, because so many union contracts specify the Fourth of July as a paid holiday and when it falls on a Sunday, the day off is Monday.

In Fairhaven, I scheduled our American History Costume Parade and the cannon firing at Fort Phoenix on Monday the 5th because a parade through the center of town on a Sunday morning would have conflicted with church services. Bristol, RI, which runs the country's oldest Fourth of July parade, held the parade on Monday, too, for the same reason.

I love that dress, Susan. And both wrappers Kat and Harry posted.

I was reading some primary sources over the weekend and came across that word "sheeny" in this passage. What did they mean by "sheeny"? Shiny?

Would have liked to have seen your parade, Fairhaven Guy. Must have been pretty neat.

I wondered about that too, Augusta. I think Mrs. Holmes meant "sheeny" as in shiny, though I did do a search and in the 1800s that word was also a racial slur against the Jewish race.

Heres what else I found:

Adj. 1. sheeny - reflecting light; "glistening bodies of swimmers"; "the horse's glossy coat"; "lustrous auburn hair"; "saw the moon like a shiny dime on a deep blue velvet carpet"; "shining white enamel"
glistening, shiny, glossy, lustrous, shining
bright - emitting or reflecting light readily or in large amounts; "the sun was bright and hot"; "a bright sunlit room"

I have a friend from Massachusetts who once told me that "sheeny" was a derogatory term used by New England yankees (read "Puritans") to refer to the Irish. likely, the pattern was a shamrock (which appears in other dress patterns)

Thanks, Robert Harry, I've heard it used that way before in person while I was living on the east coast. Maybe it was used for any recent group of immigrants that came to the country?