Ambulance Blankets

Nicholas Studer

PCS Elected Director 2022-2025
What have folks found as the best source for wool blankets that closely match what would've been carried in the 1960s-1970s. A lot of what's out there today is poor quality "synthetic blend" that falls apart right out of the package and is paper thin. I've also seen fleece-type blankets, anything similar out there today?

I'm having a hard time deciding the color of the blankets in the photo sitting on the cot? I have vacillated between green, red, and gray... Ferno 11 cot is black, red cross on the truck is red, MSA air pack tanks are yellow, Porta-Power is red.

By the way - is it mean or is the forum compressing photos to a higher degree now...
 

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Ambulances quite often had red blankets, in Canada we had Hudson Bay blankets, red with a black stripe,many rescue squads had grey blankets available at any army surplus store.if that helps.
 
I found the red blankets for my rig on ebay. Mine are made of a synthetic, but could pass a quick visual for wool.
 
Harbor Freight

Bought my red blanket at Harbor Freight....perfect match to what we had at Acadian in the early years, but I no longer see them online...
 
army-nave surplus store is one source. now we just use what ever we could steal from the hospital. if you could find one with the medical symbol on it grab it. army is od green, navy is gray. I missed getting the army cream and red striped one my grandfather picked up during his tour in the 20's. man you can tell that one was run by the fire department.
 
I'll see about checking out Harbor Freight. Unfortunately, a lot of what I saw in the surplus stores and even online was more "recycled fiber" than wool, is thin, and leaving plenty of fiber in its wake... I picked up a Stansport blanket that wasn't bad, but it's smaller than the ones pictured with the NFD Rescue.

The red cross on that ambulance is well, red obviously and seems pretty close to the blanket color... I've been trying to decide what color those blankets are and they could be dark gray, OD green, or perhaps the red. Anyone better than me at guessing colors from B&W?

If OD - I'm in luck as I already have more than a few actual issue OD Green with medical US caduceus wool blankets. If anyone wants one - I could probably help.
 
Ambulance blankets

Try Faribault Woolen Mill Co located in Faribault Minnesota. In business for 147 years. Recently visited their retail store, and a possible vendor to have them contract a batch custom made to order.
 
Antique shops/flea markets always seem to have the twin bed sized military real wool blankets around. Stick with the vintage of your rig, which would have been wool.
 
Gentlemen - thanks for all the help/ideas. I'm tending towards biting the bullet and getting gray or red vintage wool blankets if needed. The case of fleece blankets might be cool too.

Gray was what the Pinner-Chrysler had and that's too easy. What color are we imaging the ones pictured above sitting on the Model 54 cot? I've never been good and guessing color out of B&W.
 
small town volunteer squad. i'm guessing military surplus. most lily OD green I don't think I have ever see a red one.. look that truck over will with just the red cross on it it vary will could have been military surplus also.
 
Thanks Ed - it's so hard to tell color in B&W. Green sounds indeed like a winner (any dissenting thoughts) - in which case there's 15 of those things in my closet...

Norfolk FD has been a paid service since well prior to their purchase of this vehicle though.
 
In he old days, in one corner of the blanket, there was hand embroidered by special sewing machines the department name, so the blankets never went missing, if left behind in the ER. This is the same type of embroidering that was done on the backs of bowling shirts. Today, it is almost a lost art, along with the machines that did this type of chain stitching.
Starting in the 1960's, when the cotton "thermal" blankets started being used by the hospitals, we retired all of our woolen blankets, and just used the cotton blankets that were always clean and plentiful in the ER linen closet.
 
In he old days, in one corner of the blanket, there was hand embroidered by special sewing machines the department name, so the blankets never went missing, if left behind in the ER. This is the same type of embroidering that was done on the backs of bowling shirts. Today, it is almost a lost art, along with the machines that did this type of chain stitching.

You mean like this? There's places that still do this if you want. We even know of a place that makes the sewn-on letters for jackets/jumpsuits like the old "bowling shirt" style. We got two pseudo-replicas (thinner material with zipper was our choice) made of the RCFD Rescue Squad jacket you kindly included with the car.
 

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they now have home sewing machines that you program in and they do it for you. and lady in the quilt club has access to one of them.
 
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