Puttees: The Leg Wraps Park Rangers Wore for Almost 30 Years

Leggings were part of National Park Service (NPS) uniforms for decades, though not the kind worn today; the post compares them to the leg warmers popular in the 1980s. They have gone by many names across history and cultures: leggings, leg wraps, puttees, spiral puttees, wickelbanders, leg bindings, winingas and gaiters. Designs and materials changed, but the purpose stayed the same: warmth, support and protection for the wearer’s legs. NPS uniform regulations called them leggings or puttees.

A ranger at Yosemite National Park, 1918. The horizontal lines on the leg above the shoes suggest spiral puttees. NPS History Collection.

What puttees were

Spiral wrap puttees date back to ancient Greece; the word “puttee” comes from the Hindi “patti,” meaning bandage or strip of cloth. They were wound around the leg from the ankle to the knee, fitting closely and giving even pressure. They were cheaper than knee-high boots, kept dirt and objects out of shoes or boots, and dried faster than boots when wet.

Puttees were common in military uniforms through World War I and in general use by the early 1900s. Fox Brothers and Company marketed spiral puttees as early as 1903, claiming that “no leg covering has ever been invented equal to the puttee,” and by 1914 its advertisements recommended them for motoring, cycling, winter sports, hunting, riding and walking by men, women and children. The ads also touted benefits for rheumatism and varicose veins, since a tightly wrapped puttee could act as a compression stocking. The 1917 military catalog from Sears, Roebuck & Company offered several kinds, from U.S. Army-regulation canvas puttees to cowhide leather and knit ones.

Ranger wraps

Given how popular puttees were, it is not surprising that rangers in the western parks wore them or that they featured prominently in early NPS uniforms. The wish for a uniform came from the field, not the Washington office. The first documented request, in 1907, came from Walter Fry, the “ranger in charge” at Sequoia and General Grant national parks, who asked the Department of the Interior to approve one. Albert R. Greene, superintendent of Platt National Park (now Chickasaw National Recreation Area), had created a uniform for his rangers several years earlier.

Composite illustration of the uniforms authorized in 1911, 1912, 1914 and 1917, together with the first official uniform of 1920. Note the varying styles of leg wraps. NPS History Collection photo.

The man on the right wears the first authorized NPS uniform at Glacier National Park, ca. June 1911, with leather puttees that appear to have at least two buckles on each legging. The man on the left wears the 1910 U.S. Army uniform without insignia. NPS History Collection.

The regulations were updated in 1923, 1925, 1926 and 1928, and puttees stayed a consistent requirement with the riding breeches. Spiral puttees were permitted but seem to have been unpopular with rangers; most photographs show leather ones. A notable exception was Fry, by then superintendent at Sequoia, photographed in June 1920 wearing spiral puttees.

Sequoia National Park’s superintendent, June 1920. Note the leg wraps, or spiral puttees. NPS History Collection.

Wrapping it up

In 1928 the regulations allowed trousers instead of breeches for policemen at Hot Springs National Park and members of the “clerical forces,” who did not ride horses, and army field boots, which made puttees unnecessary for those who chose them, became an option. In the 1930s more parks were created in the East, where summers were hot and humid and the regulation wool uniform with breeches and puttees was unsuitable. Requests for exemptions began as early as 1931, and most agreed that long trousers, cotton shirts and lightweight headgear would suit better. In February 1932 Director Horace M. Albright authorized a summer uniform with trousers that did not require puttees, and the regulations of June 1932 extended trousers to employees in the eastern parks and at Colonial and George Washington Birthplace national monuments, though breeches were still required when giving addresses to the public.

Despite almost 30 years in NPS uniforms, the NPS History Collection holds only one pair of puttees, worn by a ranger at Mount Rainier National Park in 1926. The post reads their disappearance as more than a quaint footnote to the “ranger look”: it reflects dramatic changes in operations, workforce and technology. The 1920s brought greater emphasis on education and interpretation in the frontcountry, more and better roads, visitors arriving in private cars and rangers keeping up with motorized patrols, which significantly reduced the number of employees riding horses. The rapid expansion of the National Park System in the 1930s and 1940s then brought parks in the East and Southwest, where the climates made the early uniform designed for western parks impractical and puttees, even knee-high boots, unnecessary. The NPS had changed, and the uniform along with it.

Leather puttees from the NPS History Collection, worn by a ranger at Mount Rainier National Park in 1926.

Sources

• National Park Service, 50 Nifty Finds #22: It’s a Wrap!, from the NPS History Collection series; rewritten in hubnx's own words.