Civil War Navy Rubberized Foul Weather Gear – Pants and Mittens

Civil War Navy Rubberized Foul Weather Gear – Pants and Mittens – This pair of pants and mittens, with rubberized exteriors, are the only such we have encountered, other than the pants pictured in William C. Davis’ “The Commanders of the Civil War” (published by Gallery Books) – the pair pictured on page 137, in a color photograph, belonged to U.S. Navy Surgeon Jacob Solis-Cohen and were once in the collections of the Civil War Museum and Library, in Philadelphia. The pant legs were not joined to one another and were meant to wear separately, on each leg. Both legs measure approximately 27.5”, in length. We have included in our pictures, information gleaned from an article in the June 22, 1861 edition of “Scientific American” – this article discusses the new uses of rubberized items being supplied to the U.S. military, for the war effort; included in the article’s pictures, is a pair of very similar, rubberized, foul weather pants. The pants and accompanying mittens remain in near unused condition, with only some minor fraying to the off white, linen or cotton linings. The pants retain shoulder straps with their original, black, enameled buckles for size adjustment of the straps. The mittens have a cotton drawstring around the interior of each wrist area, for tightening the fit around the wearer’s hands. These are extremely rare, Civil War naval accouterments and are the only ones we have ever encountered.