c. 1910s

Mens Wolf & Dessauer Smoking Jacket

Local men followed a popular trend by donning smoking jackets. Pipe and cigar smoking was common and Fort Wayne boasted a booming cigar industry. The smoking jacket was a marriage of form and function and a useful part of a stylish gentleman's wardrobe. Its purpose was to protect apparel from the residual odors of smoking and to decrease the chances of damaged clothes due to falling ash. After din-ing, a gentleman would retire to a den or smoking room and don a smoking jacket. Not only did it provide protection from clothing damage, it also was worn so that men wouldn't smell like smoke when returning to the women. This blue wool smoking jacket with a plaid collar is from the Wolf and Dessauer depart-ment store around the 1910s.