Jasper County Democrat, Volume 10, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 July 1907 — Before There Were Naval Uniforms. [ARTICLE]

Before There Were Naval Uniforms.

A little prior to the Revolutionary war, says the Newport Bluejacket there was no such thing as a naval uniform. The officers wore civilian clothes or some sort of an adaptation of an army uniform as suited their fancies, and the men dressed any how, though they generally agreed In wearing their hair long and done up in a cue, or pigtail, and with a lovelock or 'two straggling down either side of the face. The sailor seems always to have, been given to wide trousers, experience having taught him that his nether garments must be so constructed that they could be easily rolled above th’e knees when washing down decks. Sometimes the old time sailor did not wear trousers at all, but a sort of kilt like a highlander’s. Look at any old print showing a man-o'-war’s crew as late as 1818 and see what a motley lot of garments are shown on the men. Some of them even, wore stovepipe hats upon their heads.