A CROSS SECTION OF INDIVIDUALS

[fred]

It allready sold. To whom I don't have any idea because the bidders list only used "bidder 1 Bidder 2 etc. I talked to the seller for the information. He picked it up while on vacation or something. I doubt if it was of any significance though. The initials could stand for anything from Ivan Molotov to Icabob Meintzgeller. Although interesting, I wasn't about to put up the winning bid of 400 something bucks for a "maybe..." However, somebody picked up a mighty nice old watch that ran perfectly. I kinda wish that I'd bought it now.

[Greg C.]

how much did it go for on ebay?

[fred]

I believe I remember it going for $439.00 That'd be pretty cheap if one could've traced it to the Alamo. However, it's still kinda cheap for a watch of that vintage that still ran. I thought about submitting a high bid for it that would've won it, but I got talked out of it by someone who posted on The Alamo Forum. :-/Maybe I made a mistake, huh? If I did, I'm glad that I'll never know for sure. I'd feel really bad

[neferetus]

It's New Year's Eve in San Antonio and you're a Texian volunteer who's stayed on, long after all your buddies have said "Adieu" and headed back home to the bosom of their wives and sweethearts. You're broke, you've hawked your precious rifle for a few beans and a warm blanket. You're sleeping inside the Alamo, because you can't afford even a cheap room in town. That fire buring in the courtyard and that cheap demijohn of rum are all that is keeping you warm this evening. That and the companionship of 80 other Tom-Fool volunteers who hadn't the sense to skip out, while the going was good. You pass around the demijohn and toast each other and the New Year. Maybe things will be better, come the early Spring. Maybe the coming of March will bring hope and warm bones again.

[neferetus]

Here's something I posted over on thealamofilm site 04/29/2004:

In the backwoods of Tennessee and Kentucky, back when those two illustrious states were considered 'the frontier', buckskin was the natural and preferred attire of the pioneer. While cotton and wool tended to rot in that damp clime, buckskin was both durable and practical. Moccasins too, seemed to best suit the backwoodsman. A feller more inclined to walking through the dense forests and underbrush upon a thick bed of pine needles found the mocs most comfortable, indeed. Even when he would venture into town to do a little trading, or else raise up a little ruckus, the 'long hunter' would stand out like a sore thumb by the very nature of his very noticible long strides. The animal fur hat was also something else that was practical to the long hunter- the fur would keep his head warm in the frigid winters. Little was left to chance or sported as mere fooferaw. The long tail left on the cap, when thrust behind the collar of the wearer's hunting frock, would keep the blood in his neck warm.

Texas landscape, the long hunter soon found, was a whole different animal. Vast stretches of endless prairie made travel by horseback a necessity. Fur caps were soon foregone for more practical wide brimmed floppy felt hats, or else the 'sombrero' of the local inhabitants. Buckskin, the long hunter came to realize, did nothing but keep you cold in the winter months and hot in the summer. Its durability was one of the only things that kept some of these early Texas pioneers still wearing buckskin britches. If less durable, homespun was cheap and the pioneers adapted to it.

A newcomer to Texas and not knowing how to dress, weatherwise, Davy Crockett likely brought along a bit of everything he had, clothingwise. A little of his citified duds, mixed with his old memories of days long since gone by. And so, while the coon hat did, undoubtedly go with Crockett to Texas, so too, possibly went his floppy, nondescript felt hat. And if he did indeed wear the coon hat at the Alamo, he likely did it for the benefit of the fellers to raise up their spirits.

[seguin]

Interesting post, Nef! I never thought of the idea of the coonskin caps tail as a neck warmer, and I never knew that buckskin was cold in winter and warm in summer. It should have been the other way around. Poor indians!
As for felt hats, I´ve always liked the "slouch" hat we know from the civil war...

[neferetus]

Them Texas winters were both wet and cold. Wet buckskin is a miserable thing in winter. Back East, the long hunter would don his fur coat and leggings against the winter chill and snow. Texas, on the other hand, was an altogether different animal.

[Judy Jennings]

Mar 17, 2007 21:09:26 GMT -5 fred said:

Thankyou Davy! This is a Great site!!