Excerpt from: From a Wooden Canoe
Published by St. Martin Press
by Jerry Dennis
All Hail the Union Suit
According To Legend, Old-Time Prospectors, Cowboys,
and Lumberjacks wore the same pair of long underwear from
autumn until spring because of an aversion to bathwater. I
know better. After wearing a red union suit during a wet and
unseasonably cold October in the Upper Peninsula, I'm
convinced there's another reason: because they're warm,
comfortable, and comforting, like the one-piece bunny pajamas
or Dr. Denton's you wore when you were three.
I've been a fan of red union suits since a night many years
ago in Yellowstone Park when my wife and I heard a sudden racket
of shouting and banging pots and pans from the campsite next to ours.
We turned a spotlight in that direction and watched a large black
bear insert its claws into the door of our neighbor's pickup
camper, rip it off its hingers, and climb inside. After a pause
of exquisite duration - about anough time to draw a long breath - a
man dived headfirst out the tiny side window of the camper. He
landed rolling, came up running, and headed straight for our camp in
impressive bounding strides. He was wearing nothing but a red union
suit, and I remember thinking I had to get one just like it.
The one-piece construction of a union suit seals in body heat and
prevents those back-chilling gaps that occur when you bend over
while wearing two-piece underwear. The idea's been around at
least since the cowboy days of the nineteenth century, though the
origin of the name "union suit" remains veiled in mystery. It might
refer to the unifying of a top with a bottom, or perhaps to the labor
unions that organized the textile industry in the late nineteenth century.
A garment similar to our "long johns"was worn in the ring by John L.
Sullivan, the bare-knuckles boxer of the 1880s and 1890s, but the
name goes back further, to 1840, when a German exercise guru
named Friederich Ludwig Jahn became the father of modern
gymnastics by inventing horizontal and parallel bars, balance beams,
and side horses. Jahn also designed a full-body workout costume
that became the rage of gymnasts all over the world. It didn't take
long for "long Jahns" to become "long johns."
With Duofold's patenting in 1906 of two-layer
insulated underwear, the traditional wool union suit was
transformed forever. Wool has long been a favorite
choice of fabrics for people who spend much time
outside in cold weather, but if you've ever worn a
scratchy wool shirt against bare skin you can sympathize
with old-timers who were reluctant to put on a fresh one.
The Duofold system worked so well it's still around. The
union suit I wore those cold nights in October has an
outer layer of 40 percent wool, 50 percent cotton, and
10 percent nylon, covering an inner layer of 100 percent
cotton. The combination is warm and easy on the skin,
and still contains enough wool to qualify as a classic and
to insulate in the event of a soaking.
Not everyone is as enthusiastic as I am. Critics
of one-piece long underwear note that they're inconvenient
to wash, are a haven for ticks and fleas, and if you get your
legs wet wading a stream, they force you to strip from head
to toe to dry. A less delicate matter involves bodily functions.
It requires an adventurous spirit to negotiate a union suits's
famous buttoned seat while squatting against a tree. And
there's also the real possibility that the efficient insulation of
a union suit will make it too warm for many outdoor
activities.
Personally, I'm willing to accept the disadvantages. If I expect
to work up a sweat I wear polypropylene underwear. But if the
weather's cold and I plan mostly sedate activities like trolling in
Lake Michigan, drifting slowly downstream in a canoe, or
hunting in a blind, I prefer the union suit. Red, of course -
the color of emergencies. I don't look for trouble, but if
trouble should come lumbering after me some night when I'm
half-dressed I plan to land running, with the same style and
grace as that guy in Yellowstone. ~ Jerry Dennis
You Might Be A Fly Fisherman If...|
River Home, Part 1
River Home, Part 2 |
Creative Counting
Best By Test|
E Pluribus Unum
All About Entomology|
Fly Tying Types
Brook Trout
Going crazy; the World's Smartest Fishing Dog (#1)
Crazy Man|
My Jacket |
"OYES OYES" |
Fresh Look at Catch & Release
A Fly Fisher's Ten Commandments
Waders
Local Fishing
"How To Swipe A Trout"
Chicken Fish'n
Bryce Crowing on Chicken Fishing
Darnit, Santa and Rudolph
When Bad Rods Happen to Good People
Flyfishing for Squirrels
Sparing the Rod, Part 1
Sparing the Rod, Part 2
Sparing the Rod, conclusion
Crime Doesn't Pay Whom?
Answering Technical Questions
Here Rover
Getting the Boot
Shuttle Cars
Birds Along The River
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