Jul
Summer always brings out the bandana in us! Turkey Red, the most recognizable color of all, is a close tie to Blue Jeans Blue ~ just my opinion. For as long as I can remember, the colorful bandana, with its distinct paisley design, has been a summertime outfit staple. Even today, it continues to be a stylish accessory. But…I did not know about its exotic beginnings and how it came to colonial America!
Before the bandana made its mark on the American West and cowboys on the range, 18th century European snuff users needed a more discrete solution to blowing their noses into a white handkerchief! They found their solution in India, where a traditional tie-dying technique called bandhani, was used to create colorful silk and cotton kerchiefs in decorative patterns. Imported by the Dutch and English East India companies to England, and wholeheartedly embraced there, the name was anglicized to “bandana.”
By the early 19th century, Europe produced its own bandanas, where dye producers in France developed a version of Turkey red, the color most often associated with today’s bandanas, and the famous paisley pattern imitated Kashmir shawls.
Fun Fact: In colonial America, bandanas were sometimes printed with maps, as guides for travel.
In 1775, when George Washington became commander of the Continental Army, Martha Washington commissioned a cotton bandana, in the likeness of her husband on horseback surrounded by cannons, with Philadelphia textile maker, John Hewson. It was Hewson who became the designer of this first bandana during the American Revolution. And thus the bandana was born in the American colonies!
As we celebrate our cherished freedoms here in America on the 4th of July, we can now also celebrate the birth of the ever-versatile, stylish bandana. Three cheers for the red, white, & blue…bandanas!
Happy Fourth of July everyone!
Robin Ann