# Harris Tweed information



## Joe Tradly (Jan 21, 2006)

Gents,

Regular disclaimer: Sorry if we've discussed this before.

I've long been interested by the reference number stamped on the official Harris Tweed label inside our jackets. I went online to see if I could locate some database of the numbers. Instead, I found the Harris Tweed official website: . If you're anything like me [and, since you read this forum, you must be] you will be interested to read the official act of Parliament that defines and protects Harris Tweed. You can read the text here:

By chance, I clicked on the enquiry link and filled out the question form asking if they could tell me about the code on the label. Here was the response:



> Dear Mr. [Tradly]
> Thank you for your email. On the harris tweed label on the inside of the your jacket there should be a set of numbers in a box and a letter on outside. If you let me have both I can tell you when and who for the tweed was woven. Some US labels did not have a letter - if this is so can you send me a photo of the label.
> Regards
> Mary Macdonald


Ok, pretty cool. So I sent her the numbers, but the label in question doesn't have the letter she references, so she has come back and asked me for a photo of the label, which I have sent her by email.

I'm waiting to hear back from her, but I thought this was pretty cool, especially for inherited or thrifted Harris Tweeds (whereby one would not know the date or other details of the jacket).

Also, who doesn't dig the fact her name is Mary MacDonald...

Anyhoo, she's been emailing me from: [email protected]. I suspect you could drop her a line if you were interested in tracking one of your Harris Tweeds.

Enjoy.

JB


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## Tom Buchanan (Nov 7, 2005)

Let us know what you find out. It being Friday afternoon, your post reminds me of a good Pub song:

Mary Mac's father's making Mary Mac marry me 
My father's making me marry Mary Mac 
And I'm going to marry Mary 
To get married and take care of me 
We'll all be making merry when I marry Mary Mac


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## Laxplayer (Apr 26, 2006)

Tom Buchanan said:


> Let us know what you find out. It being Friday afternoon, your post reminds me of a good Pub song:
> 
> Mary Mac's father's making Mary Mac marry me
> My father's making me marry Mary Mac
> ...


Very nice. I'll have a black and tan.


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## mcarthur (Jul 18, 2005)

*Joy*



Laxplayer said:


> Very nice. I'll have a black and tan.


LX-
For this happy event I would celebrate with some Balvenie (wink)


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## Tom Buchanan (Nov 7, 2005)

Laxplayer said:


> Very nice. I'll have a black and tan.


Coming right up! Although you might have to man-up and have a straight Guiness, or three


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## stfu (Apr 30, 2008)

Granted this was near two years ago, but ... Joe, what was the answer!?

I have what I believe is an older HT, and I'd be curious to know if it can be dated.


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## Joe Tradly (Jan 21, 2006)

She never wrote back. Try the email I linked above.

JB


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## stfu (Apr 30, 2008)

Joe Tradly said:


> She never wrote back. Try the email I linked above.
> 
> JB


I'll probably pursue it. Also some other HT label info:

https://www.vintagefashionguild.org...section,6/cat,59/task,view/id,251/Itemid,100/


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

stfu said:


> Granted this was near two years ago, but ... Joe, what was the answer!?
> 
> I have what I believe is an older HT, and I'd be curious to know if it can be dated.


Thanks for resuscitating this thread Stfu, because yesterday in the September Acquisitions thread I mentioned the serial number on the secondhand HT that I bought yesterday.
I would really like to know if HTs can be dated from their serial numbers.

However, I'm not 100% sure which serial number refers to what.

The stamped number on the Harris Tweed label is. 0851106 W

The serial number on the makers label ("The British Tailor") is: B2010578
But I suspect that might just be a model designation.
Perhaps B = blue and perhaps the 78 refers to 1978.

James


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Well, I've just sent off my serial number on an enquiry form to see what happens


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## stfu (Apr 30, 2008)

Earl of Ormonde said:


> Thanks for resuscitating this thread Stfu, because yesterday in the September Acquisitions thread I mentioned the serial number on the secondhand HT that I bought yesterday.
> I would really like to know if HTs can be dated from their serial numbers.
> James


Your post helped prompt me for a search. Let us know what you find.


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## stfu (Apr 30, 2008)

My own update:

The HT I was interested in dating is apparently not "datable". I checked it today and the HT label is like none I have ever seen. It is smaller than they usually are, and there is no spot for a serial number, so therefore, no serial number.


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## ROI (Aug 1, 2004)

*Some is, some ain't. Which is which?*

Just out of college, I worked as a buyer for a chain of clothing stores. (I've been out of the business for a couple decades now, though I maintain an avocational interest in retailing and clothing.) It was the time when anything from Great Britain was cheap because of the relative weakness of the pound. One of our strategies was to import Harris Tweed directly, then, distribute it to American manufacturers to make into various garments. One of the pleasures of the business was spending a day with Harris' agent in New York flipping through books of every tweed ever conceived and selecting obscure specimens to order woven.

As long as we were going to the effort and expense of importing Harris, it was important to us from a marketing standpoint to make sure every Harris garment carried the the registered cross and orb label. But, as in any manufacturing arrangement, there were logistical bumps. Our import agent walked the tweed through customs and transhipped it to the makers without our seeing it, so there was always a concern about whether the finished tweed resembled the sometimes ancient flats we'd chosen in New York and whether the correct patterns were being sent to the correct makers. Most of the assurances had to come through the makers.

Once a cap maker in New York phoned to tell me the Harris Tweed had been delivered and matched the reference swatches we'd supplied him. Everything was on schedule. I asked whether the Harris labels has arrived with the cloth. He dismissed my concern, "The labels are always late, but we've got plenty on hand. All your hats will have Harris labels, don't worry."


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