The Newbury Coat

1811: Sir John Throckmorton bet one thousand guineas that a woolen coat could be made in its entirety, starting with the shearing of the sheep, between sunrise and sunset. He believed that the wool could be "A Sheep's Coat at Sunrise, A Man's Coat at Sunset." The experiment took place on June 25, 1811, in the town of Newbury, England, and Throckmorton won his bet.

The 'Newbury Coat' maintained the record for the fastest coat ever made until Sep 21, 1991, when an identical coat was made, in the same manner, but an hour faster.

More details: Berkshire History

Liverpool Mercury - July 26, 1811

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Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over forty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. Contact Us

Posted By: Alex - Sun Jan 24, 2021
Category: Fashion | World Records | Industry, Factories and Manufacturing | Nineteenth Century

Comments

A guinea is 21 shillings, IIRC, or 1.05 pounds. A thousand guineas is a massive amount of money. According to the Bank of England's inflation calculator, 1050 pounds in 1811 is equivalent to £86,730 today, which is more than $118,000.

Posted by ges on 01/24/21 at 09:33 AM

Sheep-to-shawl competitions usually have a three hour time limit. I've heard of a sheep-to-sweater competition being done is less than five hours.

Posted by Phideaux on 01/24/21 at 03:10 PM

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