JT
of Owyhee,
Nevada is a true blue (okay, red) Union Suit Fan!
Recently,
I received an email from JT, a new viewer of my blogs, Union Suit
Fan and Union Suit Fans in the Limelight. He said: “Great
blogs, very interesting and entertaining. I have read all of
your postings and I wanted to add to your 'Cowboys in Union Suits'
section...”
JT tells me that he has
worn union suits since high school. “Being raised and working full
time on our ranch in northern Nevada, I looked up to the other
cowboys. I noticed they all wore red union suits as I could always
see them under their collars and when their sleeves were rolled up exposing
the comfortable red layer. It was then I realized I needed a pair.”
JT purchased his first union suit from a local ranch store and
experienced the “warmth, comfort and practicality for himself!”
Of
course, he admits he couldn’t have just one and soon had a pair
“for every day of the week.” He discovered they were great not
only for cowboying but for skiing, hunting, feeding cows and, later,
working in the shop as a mechanic.”
JT
tells me that he
too was the brunt of many jokes but that he wasn’t the one freezing
on those cold Nevada high-country winter days. “It was all in good
fun and soon my buddies were asking where I got my union suit! Any
good, hard working man should wear a union suit. Now many of my buds,
well, it’s all they wear and red is the most popular color. It’s
more common than one would think among guys in my thirty-something
age group even though they are an old fashioned style. I have my own
style and a union suit is part of that!”
JT
and the boys
come in from work at the end of the day and gather in the bunkhouse
in the evening for a meal, good conversation, and sometimes music and
cowboy poetry. "Some of us would remove our shirts and some would just
be lounging in their union suits and boots, some with hats still on
and a wild rag around their neck! It was the time of day for relaxing
around the old wood stove and passing the whiskey around.”
According to JT, they
wear their long underwear well into spring as snow and frost are
common as late as June in northern Nevada.
“My
favorite union suits are JE Morgan Arctex, Carhartt and Duofold in
red, of course. The Arctex union suit is no longer made but can still
be purchased new if you keep your eye out for them. That one is very
warm, fleeced on the inside and yet is not bulky or heavy. Yes, I
tuck my union suits into my socks and no, I do not wear boxers
underneath, it’s the cowboy way!”
“Thank
you for considering my story as I too am a 'Union Suit Fan.' Keep
the stories and photos coming, we all look forward to reading about
it. Keep the spirit of the Wild West alive! … Regards and
YeeeHaaw!! ...JT, Owyhee, NV”
 |
JT has been known to wear not only
Red Union Suits but
Heather Oatmeal ones too! |
JT:
It's always fun and meaningful hearing from Union Suit Fans across
the USA and the world actually. For example, I heard from Scott of
Melbourne, Australia this week. With winter coming on “down
under,” he's looking for a drop seat union suit to purchase and
wear.
So,
thanks pal. I much appreciate you taking the time to email me your
story with union suit photos to share. Yours and others help make
this site the “premier family entertainment go
to”
union suit blog that it has become.
On
a personal note, I have to admit being envious of your Cowboy Life.
Since I was a little boy I wished to be a real cowboy. My little
friends and I would run around all over the neighborhood playing
“cowboys” wearing guns in holsters, chaps and, of course, cowboy
hats. I couldn't wait to get my first pair of Wrangler jeans. I had a play pump-action rifle with which I shot many a bad
guy. I come from a long line of farmers but it was a wild west, bronc
riding cowboy that I wanted to be! But twas not in the cards. You could
count on one hand the times I have ridden a horse although my wife is
a big horse fan, rider and trainer.
As
a young boy, I wore two piece thermal long underwear but not union suits. I
didn't get my first one until I was fourteen years old and then I was a
little old to be playing “cowboy.” Now, like you, I wear only
long one-piece button-down underwear and then for most of the year.
Although
I remain a kid at heart, since becoming an adult, I have come to know
that being a real cowboy is HARD work! Again, JT, thanks to you for
being a viewer of and contributor to Union
Suit Fan!
Give my best to the boys in the bunkhouse ...Chris
