The Look of the Old West: A Fully Illustrated Guide

by William Foster-Harris, Evelyn Curro (Illustrator)

Illustrated with images of sabers, steamboats, handguns, hats, saddles, and more, this is a valuable resource for historians, re-enactors, costumers, and others. With encyclopedic knowledge and an extensive collection of Old West memorabilia handed down to him from Civil War veterans, cowboys, frontiersmen, and Native Americans, William Foster-Harris truly understood what the days of cowboys and trail drivers looked and felt like. His book offers the fashions and feel of the Old West from the end of the Civil War through the 1890s by detailing the styles of the period; military dress for the Union and Confederate armies; weaponry of the time; and more. Illustrated with clear, precise drawings to assist the descriptions, few books present a better idea of how the West really looked.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Reference, Westerns

320 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2007

Reviews

[Clay Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great information, illustrations not the best in quality. Mentioned Custer and Injuns in every chapter.

[Beth Cato · Rating 4 out of 5]

An author-friend recommended this book as a resource for writing about the Old West, and dang, she was right. This is a treasure trove of minutia on Civil War flags and equipment (I was surprised at the wealth of Civil War information and particularly recommend this to writers in that period), how cowboys actually operated on the range from chuck wagons to cattle drives to gear, and what guns they used and why. The book is fully illustrated, too. Foster-Harris writes of this minor details in a way that is fully engaging... but he also writes from a certain viewpoint and time period. This book was first published in the 1950s. It tightly focuses on the experience of the white male in the west. Mexicans and Native Americans are only noted as contributors of styles and equipment; the word Negroes is utilized; and women are scarcely present at all, literally getting a few pages on fashion in the last few pages.

That said, this book is still a solid resource. Foster-Harris writes as a man who grew up around Civil War veterans. He speaks of western settlement from a perspective of immediate hearsay and his own life experience in Ohlahoma, and it is absolutely intriguing. Just be aware of the context of the time it was written and that it is not representative of the full western experience.

[Eric Oppen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my go-to book for information on what the real Old West looked like. It seems a bit dated now, but when it first came out, most people thought that the Old West looked like the sanitized, clean-shaven, barbered version they saw on their TVs or at the movies. Deadwood would have shocked them senseless even without the "bad language."

If I were writing a Western historical novel, or even just a crank 'em out oater, I'd want this book by my side so I could get the period details as right as I could.

Some people have complained that the illustrations aren't all they could be---ISTR someone or other wanted actual period photographs. Well, in the first place, when this book was published a lot of those might still have been under someone's copyright, and in the second place, it's often not very easy making out details on old photographs, particularly when reproduced.

[Edward Erdelac · Rating 5 out of 5]

An indispensible, highly readable resource. Wonderfully detailed illustrations and bits of trivia, all related in pleasant, conversational style.

[Mckinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice; covers soldiers, civilians, weapons, transport, horses and cattle. Just a lot more text than I was expecting.

[Zoe Blake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding resource for any writer of western fiction. This book covers everything! Weapons, housing, money, clothing. Highly recommend!