Shirt Tales and the Family Quilt
Pendleton shirts and an Idaho family
A collection of well-worn Pendleton wool shirts finds new life as a quilt that pieces together the life of an Idaho family in this short film that celebrates a Century of Shirtmaking with Pendleton Woolen Mills.
The Inspiration
The following letter from Joshua Drake inspired this film.
Dear Pendleton,
My name is Joshua Drake, and I recently commissioned a quilt out of 12 Pendleton shirts going back three generations of my family, over 100 years of Fathers, Grandfathers, and Great Grandfathers. I wanted to share their stories with you.
Michael Drake
My father, Michael Drake, was a former US Coast Guard electrician going to college for his engineering degree. He wore a Pendleton to insulate him from the cold while working outside to help pay for his newborn son (me) and tuition.
Colonel Edwin Hudson
One grandfather, Colonel Edwin Hudson, retired as a US Airforce Colonel who started as a farmer in southern Idaho. He was stationed on a base in Thule, Greenland where his Pendleton shirts were the envy of all personnel and locals on base for its warmth.
Richard Drake
Another grandfather, Richard Drake, was a handyman who had many jobs from harvesting and selling Christmas Trees, to antique restoration. He always wore Pendleton shirts because they lasted longer than anything else and sustained the abuse of the many jobs it took to feed his family of five.
Charles Kramer
A great-grandfather, Charlie Kramer, was the trapper, prospector, and inventor who homesteaded in Fairfield, Idaho. He built his house by hand and delivered mail to local residents through 30ft drifts of snow in a custom “snow machine" well before snowmobiles had been invented. He almost always wore a Pendleton shirt, especially when he and some fellow sportsmen relocated a herd of elk from Yellowstone into the Smokey Mountain range of Idaho!
Earl Hudson
The other great grandfather, Earl Hudson, was a sharecropper who came west from Arkansas on a covered wagon to eventually settle in Castleport, Idaho. He was a ditch digger who would save the town through dynamite He also worked with sheep herders to drive the sheep across the southern Idaho plains toward Oregon and Washington to supply one of your early wool mills. A Pendleton shirt was the only clothing that could be worn for a hard day’s labor, and still be sharp enough for the next Sunday Church Service.
These shirts and the men who wore them worked incredibly hard and sacrificed much to give their children and grandchildren the opportunity to live better. Each of these men passed their shirts onto their sons until 12 beautiful shirts were passed unto me. Unfortunately, not a single one fit… I was crushed.
However, I was determined to keep with tradition so I commissioned this quilt.
The goal was to make something as tough as those men. Something that could weather it all; cross country drives, picnics, dogs, children, cold winters, camping, hunting trips, pillow forts, and anything else that could be thrown at it. And what better material for a quilt? I know that with Pendleton wool, this quilt will last another 100 years and more.
I hope that future generations of my family recognize this quilt for its humble beginnings and that it reminds them that ones legacy is only as great as the opportunities they create for their children.
Sincerely,
Joshua T. Drake
Cascade Idaho
Thank you, Joshua, for sharing your quilt, your family, and your time with us.
More memories, more shirts
Read about another family quilt project: Wally Heaven Shirt Quilts
Another family story with Pendleton wool shirts: Happy Birthday to the Officer in the Pendleton
Fathers and Pendleton: Matt Raven
Three Generations: Pendleton Wool Shirts
The Storks: A Wayback with Pendleton Shirts
See our wool shirts here: Pendleton Wool Shirts
