Mackinaw jacket

[4] The origin of the mackinaw jacket is owed to the British Army Captain Charles Roberts,[5] while commanding Fort St. Joseph along the St. Mary's River near Sault Ste.

[7][8] The date was November 20, 1811, and Captain Roberts, wrote a letter by candlelight to the then Captain Thomas Evans,[9] adjutant general in Montreal, Quebec, making a requisition, written as follows: "All hopes having now ceased of the arrival of the schooner Hunter or any other vessel from Amherstburg with the clothing of the detachment, I am this day obtaining, upon my requisition to the storekeeper of the Indian Department, a consignment of heavy blankets, to make their greatcoats, a measure the severity of the climate strongly demands and one, I trust, the commander of the forces will not disapprove of when he is informed that not a remnant remains of the coats served out to them in the year 1807 and that they have received none since."

[7][8][18] "In regard to clothing for the body, I will say right here that the man who invented the mackinaw jacket or coat should have a medal if alive and if dead a monument; for in no other garment is there so much all-around common sense for outdoor work in cold weather."

– A. F. Wallace[19]The mackinaw jacket, created as a child of grim necessity for cold weather conditions, had a short rhyme written about it, adapted from Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade: When can its glory fade?

[18][7] In modern times, the mackinaw jacket has proven to be effective as cold weather workwear and popular among the blue-collar working class including farmers, fishermen, lumberjacks, longshoremen, trappers and outdoorsmen.