Bath Robes

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Big Daddy O'Reilly
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Bath Robes

Post by Big Daddy O'Reilly »

RJ, from time to time, will reference wearing bath robes, which a lot of the characters seemed to do quite often throughout the series; a looong time ago, we had a thread over at the BCA board about all the different Hawaiian shirts that were had in camp, so here's a thread for all the bath robes that were had.

And I'm just doing the main characters for starters, if anyone else wants to do the other recurring characters, go ahead.

Hawkeye, of course, had a floor-length, dark red robe, that apparently was issued to him, as one of the pockets is embroidered with "U.S.M.D.", though I think there were at least two different occasions where he's clearly wearing a civilian robe (though still red) instead.

Trapper had a couple, one was a dark-colored kimono that B.J. also wore later on, while the other was his signature yellow terry cloth robe.

Henry went through a few: one appeared to be a blue and yellow (I think) flannel robe he wore early on, but he also had a striped (which I think was brown and red) kimono which Leslie Scorch also had a matching one; afterwards, his robe was white with thin gray stripes, which Frank appeared to own after his death.

I've really only seen Margaret wear one actual bath robe, and hers was only occasionally, but as I recall, it was somewhere between royal blue and navy blue... other than that, she had a number of kimonos and other kinds of lingerie that Frank showered her with.

Frank, as I said, wore Henry's white robe with the thin gray stripes later on, but I remember in the earlier episodes, his was a red plaid robe.

Radar had his grease-stained blue and white striped robe.

B.J. went through two blue ones, one was a lighter blue that appeared to be terry cloth, while the other was a darker blue (though REALLY faded by the end of the series) and was textured... and, as mentioned earlier, that dark, oriental-patterned kimono previously worn by Trapper.

Potter had a few as well. He first would wear a khaki colored robe that was textured like B.J.'s dark blue robe, but he also had a more familiar faded red and white striped robe. Then, for a short period of time, he wore a magenta-colored robe.

I remember Klinger frequently wore a pink colored house coat, but I can't recall him ever wearing something of an actual bath robe with among all the wardobe he had.

Mulcahy had a brown checkered robe.

Charles had a couple, one that I really liked had a gradient design that went from sky blue down to royal blue, I can't quite remember what his other looked like, but I think it was dark colored (brown, dark red, something like that) and striped.

Then of course all patients on Post-Op were given robes like Hawkeye wore, only theirs were navy instead of red.
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RJ
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Re: Bath Robes

Post by RJ »

I was just wearing my bathrobe this morning, believe it or not. With the weather getting colder I will probably be wearing it more often these days.

I have been thinking about doing a new Prop Spotlight on the bath robes worn by characters on M*A*S*H. It looks like you have basically written one yourself.
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Re: Bath Robes

Post by Big Daddy O'Reilly »

It's still unseasonably warm where I am, so no such luck for me. :p

But that might make an interesting Prop Spotlight about the bathrobes, why can't we still have one? There's probably even more that I haven't thought of, considering there's also all the recurring characters in camp.
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Re: Bath Robes

Post by Sefton »

Dear All,

I used to own one of the dark red Hawkeye robes for many years. I was stupid enough to let my partner get rid of it as it was falling apart. I've spent the best of 15 years seeking a replacement with no success.
Part of it might be in the the translation of my British English into the right search terms but if anyone know of any militaria suppliers that might have one I would be eternally grateful!
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Re: Bath Robes

Post by Big Daddy O'Reilly »

You mean you actually had one of the actual robes that Hawkeye wore on the show? Wow... how could your partner just get rid of a piece of Hollywood memorabilia like that?

Not sure where you would go about looking for a replacement, though... I would guess that maybe eBay might be an option, I don't know...
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Re: Bath Robes

Post by kkt »

Margaret was wearing a yellow bathrobe in Hot Lips and Empty Arms. Was she borrowing Trapper's, when he and Hawkeye took her to the shower to sober her up? She kept it on for a while after they left the shower, which made me think it was Margaret's. Borrowing bathrobes would be a sign of greater intimacy than either of them would care to admit.
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Re: Bath Robes

Post by Sefton »

Yes I had the same gown - identical and came from a relative from Canada. It was certainly not a copy as it was military tagged and my relative had no idea that it had anything to do with the series.

It gradually fell apart and I it was replaced by matching material to replace the gaps. One minute it was there and the next it was considered worn out and was thrown out. This was 10 years ago and I have been searching ever since for a replacement. I wore it all through University and my formative years and miss it terribly.

Research on the Internet is not conclusive as there is a post on another mash forum saying it was never a normal issue and was a one off for the programme. Given how I randomly ended up with one I really hope this is not true! It was though linked to an auction of a gown at 4k usd!
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Re: Bath Robes

Post by RJ »

My beloved bath robe sustained a large rip the other day. I am going to attempt to sew it back together but I will probably have to replace it before the year is out. Perhaps the new one will be red or yellow.
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Re: Bath Robes

Post by Big Daddy O'Reilly »

Mine's blue, lol.

My only problem with bathrobes is their sizing convention. Usually, articles of clothing come in individual sizes that fit up to one size, but bathrobes, for some reason, come in sizes that fit up to two sizes, so it's like you get a robe that's either too little, or too big. Like instead of coming in individual S, M, L, XL, so on and so forth, you've got S-M, L-XL, etc. I don't know why they do that though.
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Re: Bath Robes

Post by Sefton »

Hi All,

I have finally decided I need to get a copy made of Hakeyes robe. Does anyone have any full pictures of it so I can some one to copy it?
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