Figure 1.-- A boy John's age might have worn a waist suit, but a suspender waist was more likely and older boys would have definitely worn suspender waists. The suspebder waists holds up his long stockings, preventing them from sagging. John wears black long stockings. Blacl was still very common, although there were other colors.

American children wore a garment called a waist to hold up various other garments such as underpants or panties, skirts, short trousers, and long stockings. The waist (or sometimes a waist union suit) had multiple functions but, gradually, the principal function became the support of long stockings, although some of the later models still continued to provide waist buttons for other functions. We note a variety of different bodices or underwaists with more or less the same function. And they could look somewhat different from each other. For example, some models were like a sleeveless shirt with garters attached while others consisted of a belt with shoulder straps and attached garters. The terminology for waists and associated garments can be confusing and is rather flexible. We have tried to create categories but the terms are sometimes used loosely and a certain amount of overlap results. Younger children Tom's age wore underwaists (sometimes called panty-waists), probably up to the age of ten, to support additional underwear (such as bloomers or panties) or outer clothing (such as trousers or skirts). Underwaists were bodices made of stretchy knitted fabric (and therefore rather form-fitting) or bodices of cambric material and a bit looser. They nearly always were equipped with shoulder reinforcement straps, waist buttons, and garter tabs for attaching hose supporters (the popularity of underwaists declined in the later 1930s and early 1940s). Older boys might wear suspender waists. Garter waists could simply be an underwaist with garters or a skeleton waist worn under the outer clothing with shoulder straps, a belt, and hose supporters. They were worn by boys and girls alike.

Support Garments

American children wore a garment called a waist to hold up various other garments such as underpants or panties, skirts, short trousers, and long stockings. The waist (or sometimes a waist union suit) had multiple functions but, gradually, the principal function became the support of long stockings, although some of the later models still continued to provide waist buttons for other functions. We note a variety of different bodices or underwaists with more or less the same function. And they could look somewhat different from each other. For example, some models were like a sleeveless shirt with garters attached while others consisted of a belt with shoulder straps and attached garters. The terminology for waists and associated garments can be confusing and is rather flexible. We have tried to create categories but the terms are sometimes used loosely and a certain amount of overlap results. Younger children Tom's age wore underwaists (sometimes called panty-waists), probably up to the age of ten, to support additional underwear (such as bloomers or panties) or outer clothing (such as trousers or skirts). Underwaists were bodices made of stretchy knitted fabric (and therefore rather form-fitting) or bodices of cambric material and a bit looser. They nearly always were equipped with shoulder reinforcement straps, waist buttons, and garter tabs for attaching hose supporters (the popularity of underwaists declined in the later 1930s and early 1940s). Older school age children, John's age (up to 18 years) more commonly wore suspender waists to hold up stockings and other garments. So-called "suspender waists" were invented at the turn of the 20th century. The style did not last very long but was most popular during the 1910s and very early 1920s. They were called "suspender waists" because they combined trousers suspenders with hose supporters and had leather suspender attachments for holding up knee pants in addition to hose supporters for long stockings. Although some models of the suspender waist (such as the Kazoo) were manufactured in styles that could be worn also by girls, the main wearers of these waists were boys. Garter waists could simply be an underwaist with garters or a skeleton waist worn under the outer clothing with shoulder straps, a belt, and hose supporters. They were worn by boys and girls alike.

The Boys

Here is the informayion we have on our three brothers. There were several different types of support garments. Waist suits were quite common for younger children. Older boys were more likely to wear suspender waists.

Tom

Waist suits were very commonly worn by boys Tom's age, both to hold up long stockings and their pants as well. Tom wears a one-piece summer romper suit with white three-quarter socks. As he did wear pants or long stockings, there was no need for a upport garment. During the winter he undoubtedly would have worn long stockings and probably wore a waist or waist suit to support them.

Carl

Carl wears a short-sleeved, short-legged union suit with a drop seat in the rear. Over this he wears an underwaist made of jean matieral that buttons down the front. The underwaist has a reinforced section around the waistline with extra taped-on buttons for the attachment of trousers. There are two rows of these buttons so that if Carl grows a bit taller, Mother can use the lower set of buttons rather than the upper set. Just below the waist buttons in front are two garter tabs with pin tubes so that his black hose supporters can be pinned on for his long stockings. Carl prefers black supporters rather than white ones because they show the soil less readily. The elastic parts of the supporters (the upper part) have buckles so that they can be adjusted to the proper length. The bottom parts with the two clasps are called pendants and are non-elastic for sturdiness and longer wear. The clasps have rubber buttons that won't tear the tops of his black stockings.

John

John here wears a sleeveless, short-legged waist union suit with a drop seat fastened in the rear by three buttons. The suit has reinforcement straps over the shoulders that end in waist buttons for attaching knee pants or knickerbockers. There is also a reinforcement strap under each arm that ends in a tape loop for attaching the safety pin of his white hose supporters. Waist union suits were made for boys up to the age of 13 or sometimes 14 years of age. Boys older than 13 usually wore ordinary untaped union suits with separate suspender waists or skeleton waists with hose supporters attached for holding up long stockings. Older school age children, John's age (up to 18 years) commonly wore suspender waists to hold up stockings and other garments. So-called "suspender waists" were invented at the turn of the 20th century. The style did not last very long but was most popular during the 1910s and very early 1920s. They were called "suspender waists" because they combined trousers suspenders with hose supporters and had leather suspender attachments for holding up knee pants in addition to hose supporters for long stockings. Although some models of the suspender waist (such as the Kazoo) were manufactured in styles that could be worn also by girls, the main wearers of these waists were boys John wears black cotton stockings. Black was the most common color, but there were others colors. He would not have worn socks. Knee socks were worn in Britain, but were not very common in America yet. He would not have worn shot socks.

Period Illustrations

In addition to the illustrations of the boys done especially for the project, we also note some HBC pages which show children in the morning before or in the process of getting dresses. The pages offer some useful insights. We note illustrations from the Ladies Home Journal of the children still in their waist union suits seeing dad off to work. We also notice what looks like a bed-time scene.

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Created: 11:21 PM 5/5/2007
Last updated: 8:58 PM 9/6/2007