In 1894, J. Barbour & Sons started selling outerwear made of oilcloth, a water-repellent material composed of repurposed linen sailcloth treated with linseed oil. Due to some undesirable physical properties, the original materials were updated with tightly woven cotton and paraffin wax, yielding the waxed cotton jackets that Barbour has been known for since the 1940s.
