Puff wings

[major bill]

I had never seen this term and had no idea "puff wings" was a Civil War era uniform term. Had I seen a letter from a soldier saying his uniform had "puff wings" I would have been clueless to what they were talking about. Well I got my money's worth out of the latest issue of Military Images. If I encounter "puff wings" in the future,I will know what the author is talking about.

 

[JOHN42768]

So you are going to leave us in Limbo guessing.

 

[pamc153PA]

Puff wings?? C'mon, we wanna know!

 

[UCVRelics]

I believe the Puff Wings you are referring to are the pads that were inserted or made into the shoulders of early US uniforms that had the big weighty epaulets.

 

[major bill]

I was waiting to see if anyone knew or had a great guess.

Puff wings were apparently type of epaulettes. They consisted of a wing shaped padding on the edge of the shoulders and usually had fringe and a strap that buttoned at the neck. Or if one will, a cloth strap running to the neck with this odd piece of padding at the shoulders with fringe. In the photo in Military Images the strap is not used and the fringe is very short. The little wing shaped pads in this image looks like what some European Armies wore in the World War I to World War Two time frame to keep straps from slipping over the shoulders and were also used to designate musicians or flag bearers. .

This is a scan of part of a photo from Military Images. Note how without the strap it is similar in look to some World War Two German Army musician wings.

These puff wings were said to be occasionally seen in pre Civil War militia uniforms. This image is said to be a Virginian.

 

[major bill]

All in all this is an interesting term I have never seen.

 

[mofederal]

www.emersoninsignia.net/files/Download/11Epaulettes%20and%20wings,%20pre%201872.pdf

This pdf also has some information on Epaulettes and wings.