Definitions
Sorry, no definitions found. Check out and contribute to the discussion of this word!
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word negro cloth.
Examples
Sorry, no example sentences found.
chained_bear commented on the word negro cloth
"'Negro cloth' was a coarse blend of wool and cotton that slaves were given for garments, a fabric manufactured in Europe and distributed by American slave owners. Whites did not wear Negro cloth, whose name and texture separated servers from served. The fabric sometimes took another, more poetic name, 'oznaburgs,' from Osnabrück, a town in northern Germany known for its textiles. The rough blue or sometimes white cloth was the standard uniform on the Ball plantations from the earliest colonial days until well into the 1800s."
—Edward Ball, Slaves in the Family (NY: Ballantine Books, 1998), 97
See also oznabrig, which is/was variously spelled osnabrig, oznaburg, etc.
September 26, 2009
chained_bear commented on the word negro cloth
"'Negro cloth' was a coarse blend of wool and cotton that slaves were given for garments, a fabric manufactured in Europe and distributed by American slave owners. Whites did not wear Negro cloth, whose name and texture separated servers from served. The fabric sometimes took another, more poetic name, 'oznaburgs,' from Osnabrück, a town in northern Germany known for its textiles. The rough blue or sometimes white cloth was the standard uniform on the Ball plantations from the earliest colonial days until well into the 1800s."
—Edward Ball, Slaves in the Family (NY: Ballantine Books, 1998), 97
See also oznabrig, which is/was variously spelled osnabrig, oznaburg, etc.
September 26, 2009