Pendleton Mill Tribute Series: J. Capps and Sons – 1892 to 1917
Tribute to J. Capps
The last mill in our series of blankets paying tribute to the Golden Age of the Trade blanket is the J. Capps and Sons Woolen Mill of Jacksonville, Illinois.
Our friend Barry Friedman, the foremost historian and venerable scholar of Trade blankets, has concluded that the very first blankets manufactured for the Native trade were manufactured by J. Capps and Sons in 1892. Barry has come to this conclusion through painstaking research that only a truly obsessed person would perform, so we trust his findings.
The J. Capps & Sons Woolen Mill in 1865
J Capps History
Joseph Capps arrived in Jacksonville, Illinois in 1839, only 21 years after Illinois became a state. He opened a wool-carding business, to which he would add spinning machines, looms and other weaving machines to become a fully operational weaving mill. As his business grew, so did his family; sons Stephen, William and Joseph would become partners in the firm, and carried on the business after Joseph’s death in 1872.
The Capps & Sons mill produced plain bed blankets, men’s suitings and other woolen goods throughout its years of operation. They also produced blanket overcoats.
Production of the Trade blanket ceased in 1917, when the mill’s production was diverted to the needs of WWI.
The first sales records of trade blankets appears in Capps’ business records in 1892. In 1893, the blankets are first mentioned in their marketing materials. The company apparently operated under three names: J. Capps & Sons, Ltd., the Jacksonville Woolen Mills, the American Indian Blanket Mills. To be clear, at no time were Native Americans involved in the design or weaving of these blankets. The patterns were mostly designed by Portuguese weavers who worked at the mill.
The Tribute Series
For our Mill Tribute series, we reproduced seven J. Capps & Sons, Ltd. designs. Capps designs remain much the same through their decades of production, and they produced surprisingly few patterns over that time. The designs make little use of the curvilinear abilities of the jacquard loom, keeping to “straight-line" patterns. To quote Barry: “With no other company that produced…blankets over so long a time do we see the continuity of design and pattern…A Capps blanket from 1915 looks very much like a Capps blanket from the 1890s."
And again, we wish to make it clear that while Native Americans were enthusiastic customers for these elegant blankets, they were not involved in the design or manufacture of these patterns. The Capps names are listed for reference only.
Capps 1 – retired
We chose a rarity for our very first Capps tribute blanket. It is unnamed and uncatalogued in the Capps literature, but was sold in at least three color combinations. The original of this bold and beautiful version was produced circa 1910.
Capps 2 – retired
Capps referred to this as the “Cheyenne Basket pattern, a Riot of Color.” You can see it over the arm of the woman in the ad above.
Capps 3 – retired
Capps called this the “Shoshone” pattern, and the orginal version is a favorite among collectors.
Capps 4 – retired
This bright design was called “A Typical Moqui” by Capps.
Capps 5 – retired
An exciting pattern done in traditional colors, this was a consumer favorite in our Mill Tribute series. In the Capps catalog, it is called the “Kiowa Rattlesnake” pattern.
Capps 6 – available here
Another rarity provided this pattern, called “Navajo” in the Capps literature.
Capps 7 – Available here
For our final Capps tribute, we chose the pattern they called “Papago.” The original Capps version is a favorite among collectors of vintage trade blankets for its graphic boldness and overall symmetry.
Learn More
Our thanks to Barry Friedman for his research and writing. You can learn so much more about the Trade Blanket from Barry’s books:
