Note the chart that shows the use over time for the word ‘calico,’ reaching a peak of usage (super high!) shortly after 1850. This google ( North American) definition of calico is “printed cotton fabric”. Image contained on page 32 of Dress of the Oregon Trail emigrants: 1843 to 1855. Photo taken courtesy of the Oregon Historical Society, Portland, Oregon. 1850 (Oregon Historical Society Costume Collection). ~ Dress of the Oregon Trail emigrants: 1843 to 1855 (p 30), by Maria Barbara McMartin of Iowa State University, Retrospective Theses and Dissertationsįigure 2., Three calico prints used to face dress hem, c. Colors fashionable at this time were drab, usually blue, dark green, tan, dull gold, brown, purple, red, and black (Pettit, 1970) (see Figures 2, 8, 16, and 18). Popular designs in the l840s and l850s were vertical stripes of stippling set off by floral sprays, allover small geometries, and mazes of tiny flowers and leaves.

Calico designs were usually composed of three to four colors with white or black outlining the design. This popular inexpensive white cotton fabric of plain weave was machine printed with an allover pattern and called calico (Wingate, 1967, p. īy the l840s textile mills in Eastern United States produced cotton cloth varying in width from 25 to 32 inches and woven in plain weaves, stripes, plaids, and white muslin sheeting. History of the cotton manufacture in Great Britain.Ĭopyrighted work available under Creative Commons Attribution only licence CC BY 4.0. ~ Dress of the Oregon Trail emigrants: 1843 to 1855 (p 30), by Maria Barbara McMartin of Iowa State University, Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. Silk, fine woolens, and expensive cottons were seldom affordable for everyday clothing by the middle-class family, but limited amounts were imported from Europe for home furnishings. Popular fabrics included cotton calicoes, osnaburg, jean, wool, linen, and linsey-woolsey, a combination of wool and linen yarns. įabric used in the pioneer’s clothing of the 1840s and 1850s was mostly domestically manufactured in the United States or home produced. (For lots more detail, see Wikipedia: Calico. By 17th century, calico had made its way to Europe through trade. By 15th century, calico had made an appearance in Egypt. Known as chaliyan to the natives, the cloth made its way into Indian literature by the 12th century, when a writer described a calico fabric printed with lotus designs. Ĭalico–a woven fabric made of cotton–originated in southwestern India (in present-day Keraia) during the 11th century. Victorian Calico Fabric–More Than Little Flowery Patterns Victorian Calico Fabric–More Than Little Flowery Patterns.

Calico dress