Notes on mittens in the 18th century
Diagrams relating to the construction of men’s leather mittens from the Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers (1765).
Fig. 14. The main piece for the closed mitten.
A, the outer side of the hand.
B, the inner side [i.e., the palm].
C, the opening [for the thumb].
Fig. 15. The thumb.
A, the top.
B, the side near the opening.
Fig. 16. The lining of the cuff.
A, the top.
B, the bottom.
Fig. 17. Closed mitten, made.
Additional Resources
Women’s Mitts and earlier gloves and mittens from the 12th-17th centuries
Winter Mittens in Early America: A summarized tutorial from Karl Koster
(Excerpts from “Obliged to make use of their mittens …”)
Sewing 18th Century Mittens / Mitaines d'Hommes from Diderot's Encyclopaedia
Patterns for 18th century mittens by Mara Riley, and The Farm at Morrison Corner
Extant 18th century mittens
Hunterian Museum Archaeology & Ethnography Collections GLAHM E.105, a pair of mittens of black-smoked deer hide with embroidery in dyed moose hair, Huron, 18th century
Peabody Museum 99-12-10/53140, 18th century buckskin mitten in black hide, ripped fur trim, orange and white floral embroidery, Huron, Mohawk, Iroquois?
18th century mittens from Scandinavian museum collections on DigitaltMuseum; most are embroidered, and some have a slit through the palm so the fingers can emerge for better dexterity
Concord Museum PER2116F.1 & PER2116F.2, a pair of black silk crepe mittens embroidered on the backs with a floral motif and lined with cotton batting, mid-18th century
Gants et Mitaines d’ Hommes s.n. Gantier, The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d’Alembert, 1765 (possibly made of leather; note that what Diderot calls “Mitaines de Femmes” are what we’d call mitts)
Historic New England 1928.1076AB, a pair of child-sized mittens knit in cream-colored wool, with shaggy looped trim at the cuffs, cross-stitched 'DW' on the back of the cuffs of both mittens, c. 1772
Light brown knit wool mitten recovered from a clay bog in what was a British army camp in New York
A pair of knit mittens from the shipwreck of the General Carleton of Whitby, 1785; they “feature a wide band of checkering at the wrist. They were hand-knit in the round with what was originally grey or natural wool yarn. The points of the hands and thumbs were formed by simply dropping stitches. The wrist hem is three rows wide. The mittens’ style and construction technique bears a close resemblance to traditional Latvian mittens, suggesting they were acquired in the Baltic region by one of the ship’s sailors.”
18th and 19th century mittens from Latvia from the Kūlainis, pērstainis, delnainis… exhibit at the National History Museum of Latvia
Skinner Auctions 2983B, Lot 129, pair of Huron black-dyed buckskin mittens with vegetal-dyed moose hair embroidery, late 18th early 19th century
National Museum of American History 1979.0980, a pair of knit mittens with a poem and shag wrists, early 19th century
References to (and descriptions of) 18th century mittens
The Pennsylvania Gazette
November 19, 1730
“All sorts of Stockings new grafted and run at the Heels, and footed; also Gloves, mittens and Children’s Stockings made out of Stockings; Likewise plain work done by Elizabeth Boyd, at the Corner House opposite to Mr. Vallete’s.” (The New-York Gazette Revived in the Weekly Post-Boy, September 26, 1748, in The Arts and Crafts in New York
“This is to give Notice, That Elizabeth Boyd, is going to remove next door to the Widow Hog’s in Broad Street, near the Long Bridge, and will continue, as usual, to graft Pieces in Knit Jackets and Breeches, not to be discern’d, also to graft and foot Stockings, and Gentlemen’s Gloves, Mittens or Muffatees made out of old Stockings, or runs them in the Heels: She likewise makes Children’s Stockings out of old Ones; at a very reasonable Rate. There is a Shop to be Lett in the said House.” (The New-York Gazette Revived in the Weekly Post-Boy, April 1, 1751, in Manual of the corporation of the city of New York)
“I took the prisoner to the watch-house, and searched him: he pulled out a pair of silver buckles out of his mittins” (Trial of Joseph Butterworth, 19th February 1752)
“The Indians … make mittens of skins or flannel, hung to their neck by a string, which serves them better than gloves, because the separated fingers would be more liable to freeze.” (Memoir upon the late war in North America, between the French and English, 1755-60 by M. Pouchot)
The Pennsylvania Gazette
February 26, 1756
The Ipswich Journal
September 11, 1758
The Pennsylvania Gazette
November 29, 1770
Massachusetts Spy
June 25, 1772
The Pennsylvania Gazette
January 13, 1773
The Pennsylvania Gazette
December 28, 1774
The Pennsylvania Ledger, or, the Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New-Jersey Weekly Advertiser
January 27, 1776
“The Board I observe have not considered themselves at liberty to direct the purchase of Mittens. These in case of a late Campaign or a Winter expedition will be of great service – and I would recommend the procuring a good many.” (Letter from George Washington to the Board of War, 14 September 1778)
“The Season of the Year, will require that all the Men of the Fleet should be furnished with Plenty of thick Warm Woolen Cloathing and Blanketts, and particularly thick milled Mittens for their Hands, without which in the cold Weather, they cannot handle the rigging.”(Letter from John Adams to Edmé Jacques Genet, 31 October 1778)
Martha Ballard’s diary has entries that reference knitting, wearing, giving, or receiving mittens on several dates from 1787 to 1811, most of which are in December, January, or February
Excerpt from a letter Benjamin Franklin wrote to Benjamin Vaughan in 1784, on the subject of luxury, idleness, and industry, as printed in the Aurora Daily Advertiser, September 15, 1792
Additional clippings relating to the Cape May mittens:
