Somerton Man: Keane Tie, Trousers & Laundry Marks

Keane Tie With Laundry Marks?

I first posted on this subject 3.5 years ago whilst involved with an Adelaide University Facebook page. What you read here is a summation of the post and additional work done since that time.

In this post we'll look at the Keane Tie, the difference between laundry marks and dry cleaning marks, evidence that suggests that the marks have been written over, view more evidence that supports the Somerton Man was indeed right handed and show the brand name on the man's trousers.

More than a few people have been searching to find a T. Keane, the name and initial actually came from this tie, From my perspective that is not a letter T, it is more likely to be a number 7.

Let's go through the logic:

1. The other items bearing the name are two singlets and a white laundry bag, one with a spelling KEANE and the other apparently with the name spelt without the 'E' at the end. Having said that I would agree with Professor Abbot when he suggests that the 'E' may have washed or worn off, quite possible.

2. The image at the head of this post is a tie which looks to have been of a coarse material, but possibly man made, we do not know the kind of material from which the other garments were made. The laundry bag I believe was linen or similar.

The image to the right is a set of US Army Officer's ties with the 2nd in from the left being similar in texture to the Keane tie.

3.  The fact that it's a laundry bag is our clue, underwear would normally be laundered and not dry cleaned. The practice at the time to my best understanding was put them in a bag with a name on it then to identify each item to be laundered and place them in the bag.

4. Having said that it was quite common in those days for both dry cleaning and laundry to be processed on the same premises, the owner would bag everything up and hand their items in. 

5. Here's one view, the number '7' I referred to earlier could represent the 7th. item in the bag, singlets, underpants perhaps a shirt/collar  and a pair of trousers? That would make up the 7 items.

The image to the below is of a shirt with the owners name written on the collar, I found this some 3 or 4 years ago when first looking at the Keane issue. You will note that the band arund the shirt is actually from a dry cleaners but the shirt has been laundered indicating that it's one of those dual purpose shops that did both laundry and dry cleaning.

 




Dry Cleaning & Laundry Marks

I differentiate between Laundry Marks and Dry Cleaning marks, here's a close up of the Dry Cleaning marks found written on the rear pocket of the man's trousers:

Dry cleaning marks have numbers and apparently the last number represents the number of items in this particular order for dry cleaning. So, in the above you can see 3 sets of numbers, the first interestingly has 7 items, the next set has 3 items and the last set has just one item.

Laundry marks, to all accounts, were quite different often with a name being written directly onto the fabric. There are some very well experienced people including Byron Deveson who have carried out extensive research into this specific issue. If you are viewing this Byron, your contribution would be greatly appreciated.

The practice at the time was to write directly on to the items being cleaned. My understanding is that it was quite common to have both laundry and dry cleaning carried out in the same premises so a joint laundry/dry cleaning order was likely.

This being the case then the first number set of 1171/7 could be the same order which the tie formed a part of and hence the number 7 ahead of Keane.

Now let's look a little closer. Did you notice anything different or odd about the tie marking and the dry cleaning marks?

They're all quite dark, let's illustrate that, here's a picture of the trousers with a Detective pointing out the dry cleaning marks:

Notice how in the image to the right, the markings look to be quite faint, one reason for that is that the trousers had been cleaned of course and thus the numbers would have faded. In fact three sets of numbers suggests 3 separate cleaning events over a period of time which in turn means that one set would be relatively new and the other two progressively older and therefore more faded. At least they should be but they're not. Why is that?

I think this is due to the numbers and the marking on the tie and the trousers being overwritten by the Police to make them more readily visible.

In the image to the left you  may notice that the forward pocket has been folded over, you can see that to the right of pocket being pointed out. If you download this image and enlarge it you will be able to see where the right hand trouser pocket was repaired purportedly using the Barbour's thread found in the suitcase. The fact that it's the right hand pocket that needed repair supports the notion that the Somerton Man was indeed right handed.

The reason why a dry cleaning number wasn't placed on the tie is because it wasn't dry cleaned, it was laundered. Some items were simply not suitable for dry cleaning dependent on the nature of the fabric so the logic says that the items that can be dry cleaned will have numbers written on them that will with stand the harsh chemicals used in dry cleaning. However those items that are not able to be dry cleaned according to their type will need to be put through the laundry which requires a different kind of marking.

If this theory is correct then the initial 'T' never actually existed. The name KEANE is what everyone should be looking for.

For the record, if you look carefully at the image of the pocket with the laundry marks, you should be able to make out the brand name on the trousers, which I make out to be 'Elasta Strap'.  This is mentioned in the Gerry Feltus book, The Unknown Man, well worth reading and you can see the link to the right of this post.

To view the wording on the label you will need to rotate the image 180 degrees.You will also see that the material near to the seam is quite rough, apparently that was a method used at the time to provide a level of re-enforcing seams. Many garments similar to these trousers were made on a contract out sourced basis where women would take this kind of work into their homes and make the make the garment up.

Of note is that according to legend, laundry and dry cleaning marks were used by espionage agents as were handkerchiefs. There is no record of the SA Police having subjected any of the clothing to tests that would have revealed anything unusual or suspicious.

There is as always more research that can yet be done including finding out more  about dry cleaning and laundry methods of the time and how common it was for dry cleaning and laundry establishments to be combined. Maybe Byron will see this and lend a hand. I know we have a number of schools and colleges that follow this blog and I hope this makes an interesting part of your projects.

Please feel free to comment on this post, your contributions and thoughts are always welcome and valued.

Useful Links:

Popular Science June 1940, Laundry Marks

Searching Librarian, a mention of John Ruffles who did an enormous amount of research on this subject. I was privileged to be on a Facebook group with John, a very knowledgeable man who appears in one or two of the documentaries.

Modern Mechanix 1936