Figure 1.-- These sweater patterns were published by the Mary Maxim company in Manitoba, Canada. Notice the moose design. This high collar andheavy knit certainly looks suitable for cold weather.

A Canadian reader tells us about India sweaters, although the ones seen here are not true Indian sweaters.

Terminology

My cousin emailed a bit more information about these sweaters.

Chronology

The sweaters were worn by boys and men especially, being most fashionable from the mid 1950's to about 1970 or so.

Countries

These sweaters originated in Canada, but were also quite popular throughout the northern United States. A reader writes, What are these sweaters called? My cousin just called them Mary Maxim sweaters, although many of her friends called them "Indian sweaters", probably after the west coast Cowichan Indian sweaters. They are certainly nothing like the real Indian sweaters, though, except in the shape."

Age

A reader writes, "I've attached a pic of a daddy and his two boys, all in Mary Maxim reindeer sweaters (the pic is from a 1961 issue of McCall's Needlework and Crafts) . I know that somewhere I have another pic of four little boys all lined up wearing these sweaters, each with a different picture. I'll send it when (if) I find it, because I think I noticed a category on your site for families wearing similar clothing." This reader tells us, "My cousin moved to Canada in 1952, and recently sent me a box of knitting books because she is moving into a flat. She always dressed her boys in these sweaters until they were in their teen years. As bigger sweaters were washed several times, they became thick and soft and were handed down to littler brothers. Mums would often knit matching sweaters for Daddy and all the boys in the family. I thought these might be useful to HBC.""

Material

The Mary Maxim patterns used spun wool, whereas my cousin says the Coast Salish Indians used raw handspun wool. Our canadian reader tells us that her friend, " ... lined them with flannellette so the wind wouldn't get through the wool.

Patterns

These sweater patterns were published by the Mary Maxim company in Manitoba, Canada. There were many designs for size 4 to adult, but my cousin said these were among the most popular.

White Buffalo Yarn Sweaters

White Buffalo yarn (pure wool, not buffalo) was especilly popular yarn for making Indian sweaters. White Buffalo was a company that made unspun bulky wool. In the late 1960's through to about 1980, these sweaters became very popular, and Mary Maxim sweaters seemed to decline a bit. These sweaters more closely imitate the style of the genuine Cowichan Indian sweaters. These sweaters are very nice, but prone to shrinking, so they have to be washed carefully in cold water and air dried. Younger brothers often found themselves put into a "new" hand me down sweater that no longer fit their bigger sibling. Then mom or granny had to get to work and make big brother a truly new sweater. Sweaters were often made a couple of sizes too big for this reason.

Created: February 4, 2003
Last updated: March 10, 2003