Gum Blankets in the Civil War - by Jo-Ann Roberts

 

I am not a fan of camping...I'll admit it. My idea of "roughing it" on vacation is a hotel room with Netflix and a hot shower! 

The one and only time we did go was in 1980-something when our children were small and at the invitation from friends. It was the hottest weekend of the summer, and my husband and I shared the top bunkbed in the camper, our noses about eight inches from the ceiling.

We've never gone again.

So, when I was plotting out my newest work in progress set during the Civil War, I had a scene where the MMC offers the FMC protection from a rainstorm. Knowing a blanket or a quilt would get soaked, offering no protection, I did some digging.

Today, we would think of these blankets as a type of tarpaulin, made of plastic to keep moisture from wicking through. In the mid-19th century, plastic was many decades away, and rubber, the top-of-line material for these blankets, was just coming into fashion. Developers in various parts of the world worked on developing rubber so that it would not become brittle at below freezing temperatures or begin to melt and get sticky at higher temperatures.

Civil War soldiers left their homes for camping trips which went on for four long years. Plastic tarps didn't yet exist, but most Union soldiers had a rubber blanket, sometimes called a gum blanket, or poncho with a slit to allow it to be worn over the body in wet weather. Soldiers could use the rubber blankets as ground cloths, or several soldiers to turn rubber blankets into a tent or just put one over the entrance to the tent.

 

The waterproof blankets issued during the Civil War generally had a cloth foundation layer, often cotton duck or muslin, which was then coated on one side with a waterproofing base. While some of these blankets may have been made with varnish, most were rubberized. Manufacturers of rubber blankets began by rubberizing both sides but soon switched to rubberizing only one side of the blanket. This This change kept costs of the blankets down and reduced the weight of items carried by soldiers as they marched from camp to camp or battle to battle, a factor that sometimes meant life or death. There were two variations on the rubber blanket--ponchos, which had a reinforced slit, so they could be put over the head, and simpler blanket, measuring 71 x 44 inches without the slit.

Soldiers were quick to recognize the value of rubber blankets. They would frequently abandon their heavy knapsacks, shedding unnecessary weight, and carrying only a bed roll around what few personal and valuable items they could not bear to be parted from.

The issuance of a rubber blanket to a Union soldier was even used as a recruiting inducement. One regiment in Philadelphia was particularly aggressive in using gum blankets as an inducement to voluntary enlistment by placing a classified advertisement in October 1862.

AVOID THE DRAFT --Join the 157 Regiment, Colonel WM. A.Gray

 Complete outfit, one month's pay in advance, all the bounties and a gum blanket

 Call at No. 627 Chestnut Street

Civil War ground cloths were more than just protective coverings--they were vital tools for soldiers in the field. Whether used for sleeping, sitting, or as part of a shelter, these rubberized blankets provided essential comfort and protection against the elements.

 

 

by Kristin Holt, USA Today Bestselling Author
of Sweet Romance set in the Victorian American West

Victorian Housekeeping: Washing Blankets

Nineteenth-century women worked with an intensity most of us today can't compare with. Our great-great grandmothers lugged water (if not from a well or stream, then from the kitchen pump to her washtub or bath tub). They prepared three meals a day--including all of the seasonal work like canning, preserving, churning, butchering, harvesting, salting, and drying. Somehow, these women scrubbed their homes from top to bottom (literally) and took spring- and fall-cleaning seriously. Including cleaning the wallpaper.

This model, captured in a cabinet card photo (1870 to 1880 or so), had it easy! A washing machine! No need to stoop (until it's time to lift buckets of water).

Photo: Studio composition of 'laundry maid' with mangle, pail, clothes basket, and Empire Washer. Unknown photographer, 1870-1880. Source: Pinterest.

 

Sigh. I rather like my modern washer and dryer, dishwasher, and air conditioning. Not to mention a wicked-efficient vacuum so light I carry it one-handed.

Despite our twenty-first century conveniences, readers of western historical romance find the details of Victorian-era life interesting (if not fascinating).

It's a bright sunny day (for most northern hemisphere dwellers), so let's wash the household blankets!

How to Wash Blankets, Victorian-style

Instructions for laundering blankets was published in nineteenth-century newspapers, cook books, and ladies' magazines. While advice overlaps and often contradicts, the instructions are simple.

Note the key elements in blanket-washing instructions:

• a tub
• borax
• soft soap
• cold water
• soak!
  
• do not wring
  

Notice this housekeeper says her method works for woolens, flannels, mosquito bars (netting?), lace curtains and blankets. 

Cool! What other blanket-cleaning advice came from Victorian-era laundresses?

Detailed Victorian Blanket-cleaning Instructions 

Published in Lawrence Daily Journal of Lawrence, Kansas on September 24, 1886, these detailed "Washing Blankets" instructions were credited to the popular Good Housekeeping magazine. 

To make reading easy on the eyes, I've carefully transcribed this Victorian newspaper clipping (including uncommon punctuation).

 

WASHING BLANKETS.

Some Remarks on This Important and Vexatious Domestic Problem.

I do not claim to know every thing about washing blankets, or perhaps the best method of doing it, but I have had a bit of experience in that line and would be glad to impart it to any who would like to know it. In the last twenty-five or more years I have had four and some of the time five beds in daily use. For these the only covering is blankets, winter and summer, with the exception of the white bedspread. I do not own a comfortable (no comfort in them that I can see) and but two patch-work quilts, so I make up in blankets. Using so many I have some to wash every spring and fall. In order to wash blankets successfully, four things are necessary. A good day, plenty of soft water, dissolved soap ad libitum, and two pairs of stout hands.

1. A good day--pleasant; of course. The sooner a blanket is dry after being wet, the better it looks and the less it shrinks. If the sun does not shine the hottest, provided the wind blows it is just as well for they are apt to smell oily if the sun is too hot.

2. Plenty of soft water. If soft water is not to be had a large spoonful of borax dissolved in hot water and added to each pail will help wonderfully.

3. Plenty of dissolved soap. Never use soap that has rosin in it as it hardens the texture and causes an unpleasant smell. I would not use it for any washing as it turns white clothes yellow when they are laid aside,

4. Two pairs of hands are needed, because the blankets should not be rubbed on the board, and two can handle them much easier than one. Let us not attempt to wash any more than we can do well. Here is a blanket that has been on a sick bed and there are some spots of oil on it. Take some cold water and soap and wash out the spots before putting into the hot suds. Blankets when bought are bound on the edges with ribbon of different colors. If washed with this on they will be blankets of many colors when done. I rip off the ribbon and button hole the edges with white zephyr worsted. Blankets are bought in pairs, but it is not necessary to keep them so. They are much easier handled and are not always needed on the bed together, so I have found it wise to cut them apart,

Now we are ready for the washing. I make a strong suds of the dissolved soap and hot water, having it hot enough to be comfortable to my hands and put in a couple of blankets to soak a few minutes while filling the boiler again. Squeeze the blankets in the hands pressing them up and down in the tub, then transfer them to a second tub, prepared in a like manner with not quite as much soap. Put some more blankets to soak in the first tub. If the first ones look clean when out of the second suds they can be put next into a clean water for rinsing. The first rinse will probably be quite soapy, use the second and if necessary the third rinse. Be sure no soap is left in the blankets as it will leave them hard. Have all the water as near of one temperature as you can; you can judge by the feeling to your hands. Some use a little bluing in the last water, I prefer the clean white look to the possible streaks of blue. Have the wringer loose so as not to press down the pile too hard.  When out of doors one pair of hands should take hold of one end and one pair of the other and shake and pull in shape. Hang evenly on the line. As they begin to dry pull in shape repeating at intervals until dry. Fold when dry, pulling in shape, pile together and place a weight on them. If to be put away for the summer, sew each one in cloth (old sheets come in handy) and you may bid defiance to the moth who is ever on the alert seeking what it may devour.

 

Allingham's Hanging the Washing. Courtesy of Pinterest.

If you wish to wash blankets for the first time they will need a little different treatment. Never mix them with those that have been washed before. The water must be just warm, plenty of soap, and the borax in two or three waters. the blankets are full of grease, as you will see when they get into the water, and it must be got out now or never. When they have been washed so they do not look streaked, it will do to put them into a hotter suds for the final one, then rinse as above stated until they are clear white.

If blankets are not used constantly, they need not be washed every season. It suffices to hang them on the line when the wind blows and the sun is not too hot. And finally get all the blankets you can. Use them in preference to any other bed clothing, especially for children. Perhaps the crossness, the "I don't want any breakfast" disposition may be in a measure owing to the heavy quilt or comfortable [sic] on the child's bed. Don't blame the child--look after the bed clothing instead.--Mrs. M. J. Plumstead, in Good Housekeeping.

Victorian Laundry Tools, Calderdale Libraries, Museums and Arts, image via Pinterest

Additional Methods for Cleaning Blankets

Laundresses (including moms) used ammonia, too. This first example shows soap and ammonia. Check this out:

This "receipt" provides lots of extra vintage hints to prevent colors from running or fading, also to brighten tints.

Victorian Washtub. Source: Object Lessons

 

The next blanket-washing instructions emphasize the use of ammonia such that it doesn't evaporate away. Note that this example has ammonia but no soap. This article was published by The Wichita Eagle, of Wichita, Kansas on September 29, 1888. I've carefully transcribed all spelling and original punctuation.

How to Wash Blankets.

Put a pint of household ammonia in the bottom of your tub, having had the blankets well beaten to remove all clinging dust before you get the tubs out. Then lay the blanket lightly on over the ammonia, and pour upon it a sufficient quantity of warm water to cover the blanket entirely. Then with a stick or the hand flop the blanket about in the solution, pressing all the water that will come out of it against the side of the tub, without wringing as you remove it to the rinse water. You will be amazed to see the dissolved dirt coming out through the fibers, as no washing or rubbing with soap suds will bring it out. Rinse in the same way, the same moderately warm water (not boiling water), and by simply pushing the blankets about in the tub. Press through the wringer and hang out to dry in a windy place, not in the sun.

As the blanket hangs there drying a little water will collect in the four corners, which it is rather an amusement to squeeze out to help the drying process. If you do not care to put a second blanket in the first ammoniated [sic] water, which must be done promptly, as the ammonia evaporates quickly, divide the quantity, taking half a pint for each one of the two tubs, and wash two blankets at once. The evaporating ammonia, released by the warmth of the water, can only escape through the blanket,  which is laid over it in the tub before the water is applied. Hence you get the value of every drop of it. In ordinary cleaning with ammonia, for paint, brasses, silver, etc., mix it with cold water first, and then add a little warm water to the pail.

Invitation

Who's ready to throw a blanket or three into your late-model washer and dryer?

Do you have ideas or thoughts to share? Please scroll down and comment.

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Copyright Ⓒ 2021 Kristin Holt LC