• Redding Connecticut Cotton Canvas Tote Bag, Putnam Camp Gate, View 1
  • Redding Connecticut Cotton Canvas Tote Bag, Putnam Camp Gate, View 2
  • Redding Connecticut Cotton Canvas Tote Bag, Putnam Camp Gate, View 3
  • Redding Connecticut Cotton Canvas Tote Bag, Putnam Camp Gate, View 4
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Redding Connecticut Vintage Retro Cotton Canvas Tote Bag - Putnam Camp Gate

Redding Connecticut Vintage Retro Cotton Canvas Tote Bag - Putnam Camp Gate

$30.00 USD
$30.00 USD
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The Putnam Camp gate on a canvas tote, for anyone who has walked the loop at the park. Two blockhouses, two cannons and the obelisk up the lane, drawn like an 1880s wood engraving and printed on heavy natural cotton canvas.

The tote is the Redding piece that gets used daily: groceries, books, the farmers' market on Saturday. It is flat to mail, so it is also the simplest Redding gift to send to someone out of state.

In the winter of 1778 to 1779 Major General Israel Putnam's division of the Continental Army went into winter quarters in Redding, placed to guard the Danbury supply depot and back up West Point. The main camp filled the valley with 116 log huts in a double row nearly a quarter mile long, twelve men to a hut. Short of bread, blankets and shoes, one private summed up the season as starving and freezing. Connecticut still calls it its Valley Forge.

The chimneys fell, the woods came back, and for a century the camp was nearly forgotten. In 1887 the state made the ground its first state park and raised the granite monument the next summer. In the years that followed it built this entrance: two log blockhouses, a pair of surplus Civil War cannons and a plain wooden gate, arranged so that you look up the lane to the obelisk.

Durable tote in heavy 12 oz (407 g/m²) 100% cotton canvas, one size at 15 by 16 inches, with 20-inch self-fabric handles for shoulder carry and a sewn-in label.


QUICK FACTS — REDDING CANVAS TOTE — PUTNAM CAMP GATE

Series: Redding Collection

Design: Putnam Camp Gate — the Putnam Camp gateway with its two log blockhouses, cannons and the granite obelisk beyond, drawn in the manner of an 1880s wood engraving in spruce-green ink with one cranberry bow on the gatepost; original Merlin Classics art, printed

Blank: cotton canvas tote, 15" × 16", 20" self-fabric handles

Fabric: heavy 12 oz (407 g/m²) 100% cotton canvas

Made to order in the USA



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Wear Local. Feed Local. Stay Classic.

Product FAQs

How does your sizing work?

Every item is made to order, so please check the size chart on this page before you buy. Women's fitted tees run small; size up for a looser fit. Caps are one size with an adjustable strap.

How are items made and when will they arrive?

We make each item to order using premium blanks, embroidery and soft-hand prints. Production takes 2-5 business days (weekends and holidays excluded), then 4-10 days in transit via USPS, UPS or FedEx to U.S. addresses; most orders arrive within 6-15 business days. You'll get a tracking link the moment it ships. Any current shipping offer is shown in the bar at the top of every page and applies automatically at checkout, no code needed.

How do I send a gift?

Enter the recipient's address as the shipping address and your own as the billing address at checkout. Nothing ships with a price; the package includes a plain packing slip. Tracking goes to your email, not theirs. For birthdays and holidays, order two weeks ahead to be safe.

What's the return policy?

Made-to-order items can't be returned or exchanged for size or color, so please use the size chart and photos before ordering. If anything arrives defective, misprinted or damaged, send a photo and your order number within 30 days and we'll replace it or refund you.

How do I care for my item?

Apparel: wash cold, inside out, with like colors; no bleach; tumble dry low or hang dry. Embroidered pieces: iron inside out to protect the stitching. Caps: spot clean. Printed glasses and water bottles: hand wash only, no dishwasher, so the artwork lasts. Mugs and engraved glasses are dishwasher safe. Any item-specific care notes are in the description above.

Who makes this?

Merlin Classics is a small Connecticut brand making original retro designs for the towns people love. Every piece is printed, embroidered or engraved to order in the USA, and the business supports hunger relief in the communities our collections celebrate.

More From Redding Connecticut

All Redding Connecticut Items

On April 26, 1777, a British column bound for the Danbury supply depot halted on Redding Ridge; some 100 Redding men had already marched north in 1775 under Captain Zalmon Read.

A century later the town went back for it. In 1887, at the urging of Redding residents, the state took the main camp ground as a memorial, and in 1888 it raised the granite monument: Connecticut's first state park. The log blockhouses and cannon at the gate came after. The bronze of Putnam on horseback at the entrance is the work of Anna Hyatt Huntington, who lived a few miles up the road.

Why People Visit Redding

People come to Redding for what is not here: no highway, no strip, no crowd. They come for a Revolutionary War camp you can walk alone on a winter morning, for sixty miles of trails, and for the hills that drew Mark Twain, Charles Ives and Edward Steichen out of New York.

Redding Connecticut Merlin Classics Retro Vintage Logo Featuring an Old Oak and Connecticut Est. 1636