ORIGINAL, RARE & VERY GOOD+ Condition M1917 COTTON Enlisted Man's Shirt (40)

Description

ORIGINAL, RARE & VERY GOOD+ Condition M1917 COTTON Enlisted Man's Shirt (40)
ORIGINAL, RARE & VERY GOOD+ Condition M1917 COTTON Enlisted Man's Shirt (40)
Click images to enlarge
Description
?
Well, the time has come to start selling my WWI uniform collection and the next item to be listed is an ORIGINAL M1917 light OD (aka "khaki")
COTTON
shirt with oval elbow patches.  I'm using some of the terminology used by the unparalleled WWI clothing expert "WWI Nerd" (Brian), who has done a series of superb postings on the US Militaria Forum on uniform items from the turn of the century to WWI.  This shirt is described and depicted in his posting entitled "U.S. Army Shirts 1900-1919", dated May 14, 2014 at pages 1 and 2. I purchased this shirt on Sept. 3, 1990 at the late, great Manion's International Auction.   WWI Nerd describes the shirt in the posting, as follows in pertinent part:
"
Common traits of the M1916/1917 OD Shirt
: Made from 8 ½ ounce olive drab shirting flannel composed of 80% wool and 20% cotton.
Pullover style with a three button placket front.
Rolling Collar.
Olive drab or brown buttons.
Two breast patch pockets with a straight (not curved) bottom.
Now each pocket now has a separate pencil/pen pocket.
Each straight pocket flap is secured by a single button.
Oval shaped elbow patch on each sleeve.
The reinforced sleeve opening was shortened to accommodate the oval elbow patch whose terminus was flat, not pointed."
Aside from the cotton fabric, this shirt has all of the foregoing features.
On page 2 of the post, Brian has this to say about what he terms the "
Khaki Cotton Shirt
":
"I know that by the late 1890?s the Quartermaster Department was experimenting with khaki cotton shirts for use in the tropics. Presumably, sometime between 1902 and 1917 some of the regulation shirts were also made from khaki cotton. Unfortunately, I have no information to back this up. I do know that the 1912 Uniform Specifications only listed the olive drab flannel shirt for enlisted men. But by the time the 1917 Uniform Specifications were published, there were two
different regulation shirts available:
130. Shirts, Olive-drab flannel ? As issued.
131. Shirts, Olive-drab cotton ? As issued. [
Regulations and Notes for the Uniform of the United States: Enlisted Men, 1917]
Prior to WW I Regular Army soldiers were allowed to choose between cotton and wool stockings, both of which were issued by the Quartermaster Department. Cotton stockings were available for any soldier who was allergic to wool. It?s entirely possible, for the same reason that an olive drab or khaki cotton shirt was available instead of the flannel shirt that consisted of 80% wool. Nevertheless, due to the sudden shortage of olive drab and khaki military clothing by the summer of 1917, caused by the unexpected expansion of the American Army, the Quartermaster Corps wasted no time in abolishing the Olive Drab Cotton Shirt as an article of equipment."
Brian goes onto state with reference to the three soldiers pictured in Photo No. 27, that two of them could have been private purchase shirts, while the third (the soldier shown behind an unidentified machine gun during the Punitive Expedition in Mexico) could have been wearing such an issue shirt.  So, you be the judge.  In either case, the shirt is VERY RARE.
The shirt is in VERY GOOD used condition, with no defects.  There is no size tag in the neck, just a remnant of the tag under the collar seam (See last image below). The size is approximately 40, with the actual measurements as follows: Neck 15-15.5"; Chest 22"; Sleeves 23"; and Overall 33".
Here's a rare opportunity for the advanced WWI collector to obtain an equally rare COTTON shirt in very good+ condition. The buyer will have my usual unconditional guarantee of authenticity and a five-day (
not the 14-days that eBay inserts in my listings without my consent
) and a return/refund privilege, excluding postage.
PLEASE SCROLL FURTHER DOWN IN THE LISTING TO SEE ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF THE SHIRT (I COULDN'T ELIMINATE THE DEAD SPACE BELOW THIS TEXT)!
Condition:
Used
Payment
Paypal
Paypal:
PayPal is gladly accepted and is accommodated through the checkout or may be made directly from PayPal's website at www.paypal.com. Your item will be mailed the next business/mailing day after your Payapl payment is received, unless I happen to be out of my office.
Payment Policy:
PayPal: PayPal is gladly accepted and is accommodated through the checkout or may be made directly from PayPal's website at www.paypal.com. Your item will be mailed the next business/mailing day after your Payapl payment is received, unless I happen to be out of my office.
Shipping
Domestic shipping: Weight based Shipping Charges.
Domestic Carriers are: Usps Priority
International shipping: Weight based Shipping Charges.
International Carriers are: Usps Priority Intl
I will ship to:
United States, Worldwide
Weight:
2 lbs.
Shipping and Handling:
Please check eBay's Shipping & Payment tab
Hello! I'm a militaria collector like you and I do this as a sideline to my own collecting.  Nonetheless, I'll handle your order in a business-like and professional manner.  Thanks for your business!
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