The Sailor and the Quack Doctor, c. 1807

The Sailor and the Quack Doctor. London. Lewis Walpole Library.

I return today to the Lewis Walpole Library's collection and Woodward and Cruickshank's caricature magazine, the Hudibrastic Mirror. Published beginning in 1807, the magazine consisted of several volumes published over several years. This print is from an earlier volume and is dated as [1807] by the Walpole library's catalog.

In this image the sailor and a quack doctor are in the doctor's consulting room. The sailor has a bandage over his forehead, eye, and cheek, and carries a paper entitled "List of Cures". Behind the sailor is a cupboard with a skeleton. Jack says, speaking in nautical-laced jargon as is typical for caricatures,

"You must know Doctor I have got a bit of a Confusion on my larboard cheek from a chance shot, and as I dont think it of consequence enough for our Ship's surgeon, I bore down to you, after overhauling a long list of your cures - but I suppose front the messmate in the Cabin there, you dont always make a return of the Killed and Wounded?"

The quack in his physical wig and breeches, replies,

"Sir, my rule of practice is this, there is pen, ink, and paper, - sign a certificate of your cure, and I'll take you in hand immediately on paying down two Guineas!"

 Jack's hat is of the large, oversized "squashy" kind where the crown is wider than the brim. He carries a thick stick under his arm, and over a white shirt his blue jacket is worn closed with a double row of little buttons. On his feet he wears white socks and black buckle shoes, with the strap on his left foot trained through a white buckle. 

In this copy Jack's hair is white, making me suspect that between the color and the shape it might be a wig. His red handkerchief is worn around his neck with the knot under his throat and the ends hanging down to his belly. His trousers are striped in red and white.

Alternate copy. Lewis Walpole Library.

In this copy Jack's wig is brown. His handkerchief is black, and his trousers are blue.

The sailor and banker, 1799

The Sailor and Banker, 1799. Lewis Walpole Library.

I'm having some trouble with formatting today, so here the the rest of the information for this caricature. As always click on the link to the Walpole to see the original.

"The sailor and banker, or, The firm in danger"
Woodward del. ; etched by Rowlandson.
London : Pubd. Octr. 28, 1799, by R. Ackermann.

Today's tar is trying to get some money from a banker, who gazes up at him unconvinced. The caption reads:

I say- my tight little Fellow- I've brought you a Tickler!
A Draught for Twenty Pounds, thats all- but dont be down
hearted- you shant stop on my account.- Ill give you two
days to consider of it!

This sailor is dressed pretty well with two watch fobs and a tobacco case - perhaps that's why he needs some money!

Jack wears pointed-toe shoes with big yellow metal buckles and blue stockings, with the strap on his left foot appearing to be trained. His white trousers are loose. Gold watch fobs hang from watch pockets on both sides - an ostentatious sailor style that shows off his wealth. His single-breasted blue jacket has lots of small cloth-covered buttons up the front, and five small cloth-covered buttons on the sleeve worn unbuttoned. A white shirt is glimpsed at his wrist. In the one visible welted jacket pocket he has a yellow metal tobacco case.

His waistcoat is yellow with small yellow buttons, and he wears a red handkerchief loosely tied around his neck with the end draping onto the back. Under his arm he carries a stick, though it is small and thin instead of the sailor's usual cudgel. His brown hair is short and curly, and in one hand he holds a black round hat.

The Flowing Can, 1791

"The Flowing Can"
Robert Sawyer, London, 1791.
The Lewis Walpole Library

Today's image is a mezzotint from 1791 and a great example of sailors making merry ashore. Several sailors are gathered in a tavern for dancing, drinking, and lively conversation, offering an intriguing collection of men in their best shore-going rig.

Trained straps again?

The sailor at the center of the image has on a tall-crowned broad-brimmed hat with an unusual decoration - what looks to be white tape bound around the edge. He also sports a thin black queue bound in tape or ribbon. The mariner's cuffs on his dark jacket are worn unbuttoned with a white shirt peeking out underneath, and a big black neck-handkerchief puffs out on his chest. His striped tight-legged trousers end at the ankle, and his pointed-toe shoes have large buckles and loose straps - possibly another example of trained straps?


Two men in the background who may also be sailors sport black round hats and dark-colored jackets.

On the right side of the print sit two more sailors. The man in the back with a round hat and curly hair is kissing a female inhabitant of the tavern, while the man in front holds up a very large mug. He wears a black round hat with light colored string or tape wrapped around the base and curly hair peeping out underneath, a light colored double breasted waistcoat, a spotted handkerchief, a blue jacket, white trousers, and buckled shoes with large oval buckles. Against one leg rests a stick, and he is smoking a white clay pipe.

Straps in Training, Part 3: A Practical Guide

This is part three of a guest post by Buzz Mooney. Please visit British Tars: 1740-1790 for Part One, and this post for Part Two.

There appear to be two variations on the "sailors' fashion" of shoes: one features one strap hanging loosely over the forward edge of the buckle frame. Illustrations seem to indicate that this was the more common style. The second style has the straps crossed and fed under the forward side of the buckle frame, as seen in "Watson and the Shark."

Here are some images of one of my own shoes, with the straps buckled and trained in various manners:

The buckle attached to the chape strap in the usual fashion:

The shoe buckled in the usual fashion:

The shoe buckled in the usual manner, but with the straps pulled forward:

The buckles installed on the chape strap in the conjectural “quick-release” fashion:

The tongue strap buckled:

The “quick-release” method, with both straps loose:

A possible arrangement of the straps, from the “quick-release”. (Note: this would no longer be a quick release, but may be a way to secure the shoe better, while maintaining the overall style):

“Quick release” with both straps fed under the frame:

Thanks to Mr Mooney for sharing his research with me and British Tars!

Straps in Training, Part 2: 1794-1813

Today's post is a continuation of the October 6th, 2016 article Straps in Training: Wearing Shoes "Sailor Fashion" in the Age of Sail at British Tars: 1740-1790. The author is Buzz Mooney, a longtime reenactor, maritime history enthusiast, and friend.

Straps in Training:
Wearing Shoes "Sailor Fashion" in the Age of Sail

Part II: 1794-1813

In Bill Sullivan’s recent article on MakingHistory.com, I found this intriguing little gem: “Sailors wore their shoes 'sailor fashion,' swaggering around with one buckle strap flapping out of the buckle and tugged to the front; others in the backcountry and German-speaking areas turned both buckle straps outward to flap up and down like mule ears, tying them with a string—kind of like wearing your cap backwards or loose-lacing your Timberland work boots.”

I decided to see what I could find, to illustrate or verify the notion of shoes worn “sailor fashion”. Were there period sources that mentioned this, and was it shown in period illustrations? When did sailors wear their shoes in this manner, if at all? The article didn’t cite any sources, so I had to explore this notion on my own... Tom Apple told me that the cordwainer at Colonial Williamsburg had told him that this practice was called “training the strap”, and both he and Steve Rayner directed me to Bennett Cuthbertson’s A System for the Complete Interior Management and Oeconomy of a Battalion of Infantry... (London, 1768:135)

"XVI. It should be particularly observed, that the Men do not wear their Shoes, on the same feet, but that they change them day about, to prevent their running crooked; nor should they be permitted to have their Shoe straps pulled toward the toe, like Sailors: but are to be accustomed to tuck the ends of them, under the rim of the buckle.”

So here was a direct, period reference to the style, with a description that told me what to look for. The next step was to see what illustrations I could find, to show this “in action”, and, I hoped, to give me an idea whether this was a brief fad, or a long-running fashion. My particular hope was to show whether it ran throughout the periods cited in Dalton and Bartgis’s blogs, which cover the range of periods I re-enact, as a sailor. I was pleased to find that artists of the period often showed some variation of “training.”

The Cuthbertson book told me the style was commonly recognized as a sailors’ fashion in 1768, which suggests that it had been common for some years, so that at least gave me a fairly early confirmation, and the images I found showed that the style continued into the 19th century.

For the entirety of Part 1, including a definition of the parts of a buckle and images of the fashion in art from 1778-1790, please continue reading the article at British Tars: Straps in Training: Wearing Shoes "Sailor Fashion" in the Age of Sail.



Part II: 1794-1813

We now turn to “British Plenty”, by Henry Singleton (1794).

"British Plenty"
Henry Singleton, London, 1794. Original at Royal Museums Greenwich



This shows a strap on the left shoe, hanging over the frame.

Next is a satirical print from 1799.

“The Spanish Dollars makes the English Merry”
Viera Portuense, London, 1799.In the collection of the British Museum.



This etching shows the right shoe with a strap over the frame,
but the left with it under.

1806’s Jack and Poll at Portsmouth, by Argus (Charles Williams) shows the fashion continuing into the 19th century, almost 40 years after the date of Cuthbertson’s comment. This brings us not only into the era of “Nelson’s Navy” but past it, as Jack and his faithful Poll mourn the death of His Lordship.

"Jack and Poll at Portsmouth"
Charles Williams, London, 1806.
Royal Museums Greenwich

Though it this is harder to make out, it appears all four of Jack’s straps
are trained forward, with one on the right shoe passing over the frame,
and the rest passing under.

In this caricature from 1809 we see the shoes of three sailors, but only one trained strap is shown with any clarity.

"Saturday Night at Sea, or Nautical Notions of Honor"
S.W. Fores, London: 1809.
Royal Museum Greenwich.



The strap on the right shoe of the man in the red jacket is hanging out over the frame.

[I noticed a trained strap in the 1813 caricature "The Yankee Torpedo", which is the latest date for a print that I've yet found featuring the trained strap fashion. - B. Bartgis]

"The Yankee torpedo" Thomas Tegg, London, November 1, 1813.
In the collection of the Library of Congress.

Both shoes show the trained strap.

There appear to be two variations on the style: one features one strap hanging loosely over the forward edge of the buckle frame, and the other has the straps crossed and fed under the forward side of the buckle frame, as seen in "Watson and the Shark" (1778). The one-strap-forward style is more common in illustrations.

In conclusion, this fashion seems to have existed from at least the mid-1760s to the 1810s. Further research may reveal if the trained strap fashion went earlier than 1768, or if it continued as long as buckle shoes were still worn.

Stay tuned next week for some photographs of Mr Mooney's shoes with the straps buckled and trained in various manners to demonstrate what the fashion looks in real life!