Welcome to E. J. Thomas Mercantile!

    Your home for finely crafted, authentic 19th century military and civilian goods. We strive to bring you the finest wares at a fair price.

    We specialize in handsewn leather accoutrements and they are all hand-made by myself (Bill Lomas) and my brother-in-law Joe Zilley. Joe and I spent a lot of time driving to Red Bank, NJ to apprentice with Hank Kluin of F. Burgess & Co. For those of you who don't know anything about Hank, well... let's just say he was ahead of his time. The leather goods Hank made were top of the line. His reproductions have been mistaken for originals. Unfortunately, his health has declined over the years leading to the partial loss of his sight. He is no longer able to sew, but he was gracious enough to spend alot of his time with us and pass on this trade.

    Along with our leather goods, we offer other items by extremely talented people who we look up to. Among these pages you will find shirts and other notions from Ross Lamoreaux, tinware from Axel Ulrich, caps by Greg Starbuck, clothing from Nic Clark, and more to come.

    Enjoy your stay and be sure to stop back soon!

Website Updated On 8/28/08: The long awaited canteen book from Mike O'Donnell is HERE!!! It's chock full of original specimens!!! We also have these other new items (and a few more to come):

-New Shirts Added

-Quilted Jean Hats

-US Army Mexican War Knapsack

-Civilian/CS Laborer Jackets

-Fatigue Blouse from Wambaugh, White & Co.

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