A mackinaw is a heavy dense water-repellent woolen cloth, such as Melton cloth. It was used to make a short coat of the same name, sometimes with a doubled shoulder. Mackinaw jackets were invented by Metis women in 1811, when John Askin, an early trader on the upper Great Lakes, asked them to design and sew woolen jackets for the army. They were all to be blue, but when this colour ran out they used red and then the black-on-red plaid cloth that we associate with the jackets of today. Askin was fulfilling a contract he received from Captain Charles Roberts at Fort St. Joseph. These jackets were later made famous by American loggers in the northern part of the Midwest in the mid-19th century logging boom. The term later spread to be universal, and in Canada the "Mac" is regarded as a marker of national identity and working-class values. Such jackets featured in Canadian comedy shows such as Great White North and This Hour has 22 Minutes. The name Mackinaw likely originates from the Straits of Mackinac in present day Michigan, USA. This area was an important trade artery during the 1700s and 1800s. Heavy woolen cloth traded through this area may have been described as Mackinaw cloth.
In popular culture
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References to the term "mackinaw" in popular culture:
- The Music Man in the song, Wells Fargo Wagon. A character sings that a "mackinaw" was delivered to him by the Wells Fargo Wagon.
- Canadian folk musician Stan Rogers' song 'Canol Road' contains the lyric, "Now he's a bear in a blood-red mackinaw with hungry dogs at bay."
- The Frozen Logger forgets his mackinaw in the song of the same name.
- Laura Veirs' song "Cool Water" contains the lyric "Now my mackinaw feels too tight".
- Johnny Cash refers to a mackinaw in the song "Country Trash."
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