Canoe sleeves at turn of the Century

[RobinR]

Dear WCHA members,

I would like to learn more about the "canoe sleeves" that were worn by some builders and paddlers at the turn of the last Century (circa 1900). A photo of theses sleeves can be readily seen in the great book by Jerry Stelmok, in which Joe Seliga's father Stephen is wearing dark sleeves over a fine white shirt (see attached photo courtesy of Stelmok's book, THE ART OF THE CANOE WITH JOE SELIGA). Presumably these "sleeves" were used to protect the white shirt and formal attire worn by these earlier canoers/builders so they did not get dirty?

My question is by whom and when were these sleeves worn by early canoers? Would these sleeves have been used primarily by paddlers during special canoe outings (i.e. a Sunday paddle with the family or a canoe regatta) or would the sleeves have been worn by builders to protect fine clothing/formal attire when the canoe owner was working around the shop (i.e. to restore and maintain their cherished wood and canvas canoe)?

Do any builders still use such sleeves today to protect fine clothing? If so, under what circumstances are they used?

Thank you for any feedback or other historical information you can provide about the use of canoe sleeves!

Sincerely,

Robin

 

[Benson Gray]

I have done some more research on this topic since we traded messages today and have a bit of additional information. The enlarged scan below of the Old Town Canoe Company employees on the steps of the factory indicates that they may not be wearing sleeve protectors but simply have long sleeved undershirts of a different color. There is an advertisement for sleeve protectors at http://books.google.com/books?id=jY...g4BNgcfN8TM9jKBGrEcBQ&ci=1,754,461,689&edge=0 from 1904 and an image from 1908 at http://www.officemuseum.com/1908_Office_5_Men_2_with_Sleeve_Protectors_Stove_OM.jpg showing several men wearing them who don't appear to have any connection to canoes. I've also searched through a few hundred images of people in canoes from the last century and can't find another example showing a person with sleeve protectors like the ones in the Seliga image.

These are still available today at http://www.riverjunction.com/Saloon--Sleeve-Stockings_p_246.html with the comment that "These were used to keep your shirt sleeves and cuffs clean in a time when laundering was not done on a daily basis, as we do today." The phrase "sleeve protector" appears to have been much more commonly used in the early 1900s as shown at http://books.google.com/ngrams/grap...00&year_end=2010&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share= than it has been since then. This tool also finds no examples of "canoe sleeve" or "canoe sleeves" in any of their scanned books. Please reply here if you learn anything more. Thanks,

Benson

 

[Kathryn Klos]

One of my interests is "antique clothing", and I have nothing to add to Benson's reply. Until relatively modern times (the "automatic washer") folks were more careful with their clothing-- wearing protective-layers and doing a lot of "spot cleaning" rather than washing the entire garment. When the style of sleeves on women's dresses were full, they wore "under-sleeves" which could more easily be washed than the full dress-- the sleeve protectors worn by men are a similar concept. Could have been fairly miserable on a hot day.

 

[Danroy]

Or a bit of added warmth in the morning. I once raced as an amateur cyclist and we would often wear sleeves similar to this at the beginning of our races to keep our arms warm and then roll them up into a doughnut like ring and store them in our rear jersey pocket as the day got warmer.