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This blanket was
purchased in 1930-31 when my mother was a small child and the family traveled
to Los Angeles from Tulsa OK on Old Route 66 in a Buick, stopping in Arizona to buy the
blanket.
It measures
approximately 56 x 76 inches and weighs almost 4 pounds. My mother inherited it
in 1961 and has had it stored ever since. I don’t know how it was used by my
Grandparents. It does have damage which I have carefully documented and can be
located on the master photographs.
The expert of American
Indian blankets confirmed it was made by Pendleton Woolen Mills of Pendleton, OR. American Indians did not produce their own blankets.
The wool weave is called
a sheared or hard finish and most of Pendleton’s striped wool blankets have
this type of weave with is similar to men's heavy wool suiting material. Since
1961, it has never been washed/used or out of storage.
The trim around the
perimeter is wool felt and has worn through in many areas (although it is still
securely attached) and not loose. The corner image of the wool felt trim shows the stitching where the Blue Beaver State, Robes and Shawls, Pendleton Woolen Mills, Pendleton, Oregon tag was. There are tears and stains that are clearly
photographed. The colors are bright and accurate in my photos.
Pendleton Woolen Mills
Pendleton has been a family-owned
business for 140 years in Oregon
that has ideal conditions for raising sheep and built a textile mill. By 1895,
Pendleton made jacquard bed blankets, shawls and robes that were
highly prized by the Native Americans and the tradition of Pendleton Woolen
Mills blankets began.
Trade expanded from the Nez Perce nation near
Pendleton to the Navajo, Hopi and Zuni nations. These Pendleton blankets were
used as basic wearing apparel and as a standard of value for trading and credit
among Native Americans.
Most of the earlier trading blankets
were plaids and block designs like the traditional Hudson's Bay blankets. Jacquard loomed Pendleton
Indian blankets with their brilliant colors and sharp details became very
popular after their introduction into what was known as the "Indian
trade".
Car loads of blankets traveled from Pendleton,
Oregon to the Southwest tribes to
be exchanged for silver jewelry, wool or other items of value. The colorful
blankets were integrated into everyday and ceremonial uses; part of a dowry,
weddings, gift giving, pow wows, dance prizes, naming ceremonies, funerals and
memorials (sometimes blankets are packed in a coffin or a coffin is lined with
a blanket to keep the loved one warm on his journey).
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