Chilean Ponchos
The poncho is an important article of male clothing in this country. It consists of a piece of woollen cloth, measuring from 5 to 7 feet long, and from 3…
From: Unknown To: 1847 C.E.
From Travels in Peru, During the Years 1838-1842 by Johann Jakob von Tschudi, 1847.
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
The poncho is an important article of male clothing in this country. It consists of a piece of woollen cloth, measuring from 5 to 7 feet long, and from 3 to 4 feet broad. In the middle there is a slit, from 12 to 14 inches long; through this slit the wearer passes his head. The poncho thus rests on the shoulders, and hangs down in front and behind as low as the knees. At the sides, it reaches to the elbow, or middle of the forearm, and thus covers the whole of the body.The carters and waggoners in Swabia, wear, in rainy weather, a covering somewhat resembling the poncho, which they make out of their woollen horse-coverings.
When a Chiloe boat is on its passage on the coast, and a sail happens to be wanted, the men give up their ponchos and the women their mantillas. The slits in the ponchos are stitched up, and both ponchos and mantillas being sewed together, are fixed to a pole or bar of wood, which is hoisted to a proper position on the mast. This patchwork sail can only be serviceable when the wind is fresh. At night-fall, when the boat runs into one of the creeks for shelter, the sail is lowered, and the sewing being unpicked, the ponchos and mantillas are returned to their respective owners, who wrap themselves in them, and go to sleep.
Tschudi, Johann Jakob von. Travels in Peru, During the Years 1838-1842, translated by Thomasina Ross. David Bogue, 1847.
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