Snapsack

[tenngun]

Could be right. Looking close you can tell where it ends. So fat and curving could be a snapsack that moved forward :idunno: Wish they had taken a photo, this would be a lot easier. Since haversacks were food bags for the army, it is unlikly its a haversack.Rose by any other name.

 

[Stophel]

Oh, here, Spence wanted an American picture, here's one!

This is a detail from the Fraktur illustration in the Schwenkfelder catechism belonging to David Schultz (upper Hanover Township, Montgomery county PA. Dated Feb 1, 1787). It may be hard to see, but in this picture, the man (or boy, David Schultz?) is carrying a square shoulder bag with triangular flap. Leather, fabric? Who knows. My thought is that it would be a leather bag, given the triangular flap, but that's a guess. Is he carrying his school books, or is he picking apples? Lunch for the day? Don't know, but there is your shoulder bag. :wink: And the ubiquitous German man-tall walking stick.

 

[George]

Aha! An American civilian haversack. :haha:

I'll see your square shoulder bag and raise you a waxed wallet. You do need doc for that, don't you?

"The Pennsylvania Gazette
December 11, 1766

RUN away from the subscriber, ”¦.a bound servant man, named George May, a smith by trade, ... is a German, ... a black crape neckcloth, old shoes, a pair of pumps, with square buckles, four shirts, a waxed linen wallet, and several smith’s tools to shoe horses."

Spence

 

[tenngun]

I hate quoats like that. Is it a market wallet or some sort of folding bag. Was it a snapsack? At least it was waxxed.

 

[Stophel]

Sweet!!! The first time I have seen any reference to something like this that was waxed!

I do believe that generally the word "wallet" in the 18th century did refer to the large slit-center bag that for some reason today has taken on the trendy moniker of "market wallet". "Wallet" can also, it seems, refer to virtually any kind of cloth folded up or wrapped to hold something (as in Dodderidge's famous quote about the front of the hunting shirt made a handy wallet for carrying food or whatever).

Wallets are all the rage now, but frankly I'm not crazy about them. Maybe fine as a saddle bag sort of thing, or even a small one could be hung from the belt like the Indian slit pouches, but otherwise, I find them very inconvenient to try to use. But there they are. By the way, these continued in use in Europe into the 20th century at least. I'm very out of practice with reading German, but this is apparently a sock/stocking maker/seller carrying his goods in his wallet ("Quersack") 1910.

 

[tenngun]

I made a market wallet,a little smaller then his. I keep my food in it in camp. I did not find it handy to walk with at all. Shopping in a fair like setting or at a green grocer may have been handy but I dont think it would ever see me in to the woods. There is a web sight on you tube called cold creek or cold water woods craft. A boy on that is trying to do good 18th cent equipment and use. He made a wallet and said it was handy as a pillow. For me in general its an invention in search of a need.

 

[BillinOregon]

I, too, made a wallet, just because I could. Might work for gathering apples or some such, but not nearly as useful as a snapsack or haversack.
Spence, thanks once again for finding reference to a waxed fabric container.
Stophel, I am pretty sure I have some heavy linen stashed somewhere from which to sew up a snapsack, even though I might be tempted to weave the strap on the "incorrect" inkle loom I built.
Thanks for the inspiration -- and for sharing the wonderful images, as usual.

 

[Black Hand]

I found my market wallet (~1x3 foot) handy for storing meat in a tree when on the trail. That way, any blood will drip on the ground rather than onto my gear. It would travel inside my kettle until we are in camp.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I use a waxed wallet to hold my gear when rolled up in a blanket pack using my tumpline.

As for waxed cloth, cerecloth was wax treated linen, and was used for wrapping the deceased. I would venture that it was intended for preservation of a lot of things, and was later applied to corpses for burial. OR...was an idea applied to a specific cloth for burial, taken from other cloth items waxed for storage.

LD

 

[George]

Oilcloth was common, used for rain gear and many other things.

Spence

 

[coloradoclyde]

I use a waxed wallet to hold my gear when rolled up in a blanket pack using my tumpline.

:hmm: tumplines....interestingly absent from the period pictures we've seen....
are they uniquely American? :hmm:

 

[Stophel]

I believe, but I'm not sure, that the tumpline/hoppus strap was derived from Indian usage. And Bill, as I understand it, an Inkle loom creates the same finished product as the older box/card loom, but don't take my word as authoritative!

 

[Black Hand]

IIRC, someone once posted an image from France (?) of a tumpline in use. I would hazard a guess that a strap tied to a bundle for the purpose of carrying said bundle is likely a global phenomenon.

 

[tenngun]

Was it over the forehead Black Hand? The only time I've seen this is on American Indians and then to French boatmen and Metis . I've used the term incorrectly as an over the shoulder bundle.

 

[coloradoclyde]

I wonder if that picture pre-dates the American fur trade, as it likely could have been imported back to Europe with the furs...
I'm sure it probably developed elsewhere, but it seems most prevalent in the Americas...

I guess my point is that in our timeframe they had multiple means of carrying things..

 

[Black Hand]

Here is an image of one in use in Africa: https://www.bing.com/images/search...947&thid=JN.e+HIeNsNxhce3Bi3h+2sfg&ajaxhist=0

Nepal: https://www.bing.com/images/search...843&thid=JN./zXxx/p4D754bepfJ1W2Tw&ajaxhist=0

Kenya: https://www.bing.com/images/search...765&thid=JN.LuGql3wpTd7+6I/18cGtrw&ajaxhist=0

 

[tenngun]

Three limited wheel use areas . I wonder if that effect it's use

 

[coloradoclyde]

:thumbsup:

 

[Black Hand]

Three limited wheel use areas . I wonder if that effect it's use

A "tumpline" certainly does allow you to carry more weight more "comfortably" than hand- carrying and said weight is easier to deal with. It also allows your body/spine to support the load rather than the arms/shoulders which will fatigue in a short time.

I use a tumpline to carry my blankets while my gear is carried in a 2-strap knapsack. I've found this to be most comfortable compared to when I tied my blankets to the bottom of the same knapsack. Inside my blanket(s) are rolled additional articles of clothing and moccasins.

 

[tenngun]

I went to a snap sack and an over the shoulder blanket roll for the same reason. The two strap pack, even today's ultra light stuff, just gets fatiguing to me. And it's a real pain to put on and off. Do you have much neck fatigue in your carry?