Creepy, but Cool Find,

This video gives me the creep, for some reason. I can't imagine finding that! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPzvHdK5vU0&NR=1

No one else thinks this is creepy or anything?

Kind of interesting[]

Only creepy to me if the guy who was wearing it was still in it...

That's what it looked like to me at first, Jim.

Hey Lauren,

I'm having trouble believing that to be a Civil War Poncho. aquachigger may have found some cool Civil War finds, but I'm having a hard time believing that piece is one. I don't believe it could have survived that long. Could be a cold war era tarpaulin for all the information that aquachigger provided. I think he's taking a great leap of faith on this one.

I did wonder about that, Surface. I'll have to do some research on them. Did you watch some of his other videos? When he said it was made from rubber, I thought, well, maybe it could survive.

I'm not that familiar with civil war artifacts; I know about mini balls, muskets and the typical stuff. I did see a video where they were digging up Burnsides. I wonder how these differ from the mini balls. I know the mini balls were like some of the bullets today (I forget what they're called), that mushroom when enter someone. They were a very effective new bullet for the war. The bacteria they held made them even more deadly.

This one looks like a lot more fun. I couldn't stop laughing, he's lucky there wasn't a big boom. [8D]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CEnlJ3nmgw&feature=related

LOL. I couldn't watch! Even though it didn't go off, it made me tense up. I just would not go near that thing! I don't like finding shells or bullets (later ones). I'm afraid of things going off. There was a news story of a guy, not too long ago, who was keeping a cannon ball in his yard or something. It went off and killed him.

When he said it was made from rubber, I thought, well, maybe it could survive.

Click to expand...

Hey Lauren,

I didn't hear him mention rubber. Was that in another vid?

This one was only 57 seconds. I cannot believe it would have been just laying on the surface of that "hole" for the last 150+ years.

The early vulcanized cloth, I believe would have deteriorated massively. I have found a few, but very badly degraded fabrics in dumps and privies. Very badly degraded.

Here's a little info from the wiki-poncho folk: "The Aaron Fletcher poncho
The poncho was first used on a regular basis in the 1850s by Aaron Fletcher in the Great Plains.[4] These early military ponchos were made of gutta percha muslin, a latex-coated, waterproof cloth.[5] Ponchos made of gutta-percha or India rubber coated cloth were officially adopted during the American Civil War, both as rain clothing and as a ground sheet for sleeping. While originally intended for cavalry forces, they were widely used by infantry as well; General Sherman's Union troops, lightly equipped and living off procurement demand from the local populace, wore ponchos during wet weather encountered during the march through Confederate Georgia to the sea..."

A bit more on Charles Mackintosh:

"Charles Macintosh invented the process that allowed the nearly eponymous garment (nobody can explain where the additional ‘k’ came from) to be manufactured. His family firm in Glasgow produced textile dyestuffs, some of which involved the use of naphtha, a tar by-product. It was while looking to find higher value-added applications for naphtha that Macintosh developed in effect a laminating process, squeezing rubber made soluble with the chemical between two layers of cloth, originally wool, which waterproofed that material.

Charles Macintosh obtained patent 4804 in June 1823 to cover his discovery. He initially produced just the cloth, which was converted into coats by local tailors in Glasgow and soon in London , though it was not a raging success at first as the early versions were stiff and uncomfortable, if fully waterproof. The entrepreneurial Macintosh eventually moved into making finished waterproof clothing, setting up a plant in Manchester .

It has to be acknowledged that the date for the first sale of a coat or cloak made from the material is open to some dispute, the sources being unclear on the matter, but it is suggested that the garment was sold in Glasgow on October 12 1823 just months after the inventor obtained his patent." From.