Recently I toured a woollen mill in Tasmania that specialises in making blankets, all it off cuts waste bits etc are re worked and made in Blankets for the Salvation Army and OS aid organisations, disaster relief etc. The material these blankets are made of is what would be what is referred to as Shoddy. I can quite imagine it was used to make army uniforms Elizabeth -----Original Message----- From: Helen Ross [mailto:helenross@internode.on.net] Sent: Saturday, 10 June 2006 6:39 PM To: ENG-WILTSHIRE-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [ENG-WIL] A shoddy merchant Thanks Mike. I also heard that the shoddy was used to make uniforms for Queen Victoria's Armies in Europe. Cheers Helen ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike W" <casofilia@xtra.co.nz> To: <ENG-WILTSHIRE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, June 10, 2006 9:01 AM Subject: Re: [ENG-WIL] A shoddy merchant > Hello Helen. > > My first inclination was a "rag and bone" man. Then I looked in the > dictionary and wasn't really too far out!! Shoddy is "an inferior textile > material made up from woollen waste or from discarded woollen cloths and > rags that have been pulled to shreds by a shoddy-machine". > > Mike > ______________________________