American Stocking Supporters (1904)


Figure 1.--This Wolverine ad for a suspender waist appeared in 1904. Interestingly the term "suspender waist" isn't used, but of course that is what it is. The terminology is "Boys' Combination Suspender and Hose Supporter".

American boys commonly wore long stockings throughout the 1900s with both knee pants and knickers. Younger boys might wear socks, but most boys wore long stockings. This was a major differenve between Ameeica and Eutope where socks were much more common, especially during the summer. As long stockings were so widely worn in America, devices to hold them up were needed and a range of such devices were available in 1904. we note various types of stocking suppoters developed in the late-19th century. By the 1900s, a varirty of stocking supporters were available to mothers. We know a good bit about these items because they were not only offered in catalogs, but widely advertized in magazines and newspapers. We note a suspender waist in 1904. We are not sure precisely when suspender waists first appeared, but this is the earliest one we have found so far. We also notice advertisements for McKay's Common Sense Waists and Hose Supporters for boys and girls. We note advertisement for Ideal Waists in the magazines. We note features that we have not adequately addressed before such as removable elastic suspenders". We note a newspaper advertisement for the well-known M Waist (manufactured by Minneapolis Knitting Works).

Unbranded Suspender Garters for Boys

We note ads for boys's waists, both of which appeared on the same page of the Syracuse Post Standard (March 24, 1904, page 5). Stocking supporters were commonly advertised in local newspapers like the Syracuse paper. The first ad on the page and slightly more prominent is a support device referred to as "Suspender Garters for Boys". This is another term for a suspender waist that combines suspenders for knee trousers with hose supporters for long stockings. There are cast-offs with buttons for fastening to the trousers and double-pendant hose supporters that attach on the sides as would be the case with normal underwaists with garter tabs. The color of the susporters and side straps (non-elastic part) is black while the elastic webbing (for both the suspenders and the garters) appears to be a striped white or gray.

Nazareth Waist

Another waist ad was on thesame page with the unbranded suspender garters . It was on the same page, little smaller, but only slightly so. This is for a Nazareth Waist, a very well-known brand manufactured in Nazareth, Pa, and hence the name. This ad makes a big point about the health of children who wear various kinds of waists, suggesting that if a mother has "sickly" children, it may be because she isn't providing the proper kind of underclothing. The special points that make the Nazareth brand of waist healthful for children are the "porous, ventillating" material of which it is made. The child doesn't get overheated with a Nazareth waist. Also it is "elastic", i.e., knit in such a way as to give with the body of the child as he moves or plays in various athletic activities.

Wolverine Suspender Waist

As long stockings became widely worn, we note various types of stocking suppoters developed in the late-19th century. By the 1900s, a varirty of stocking supporters were available to mothers. We note a suspender waist in 1904. We are not sure precisely when suspender waists first appeared, but this is the earliest one we have found so far. It was a Wolverine waist. There were two versions, one for boys and the other for girls.

McKay's Common Sense Waists and Hose Supporters

We also notice advertisements for McKay's Common Sense waists and Hose Supporters for boys and girls. The paired images of waists--two different images in the same advertisement--appeared in 1904. One image shows the waist alone and another shows boys actually wearing the waist and playing ball to show how the waist held up their stckings. The boys are depicted in their underwear without their knee pants to show the McKay product. The boys are wearing long underwear in 1904, which must have been standard, at least for boys in Iowa during March. This ad appeared in the Iowa Recorder, a small town newspaper from Greene, Iowa (March 30, 1904, page 8). This ad was placed by the F. W. Boller & Sons dry goods store in Greene. This was a town in northeastern Iowa, a fairly rural area. Between the two images is the text of the ad: "All sizes [2 to 14] in McKay's Common Sense waists and Hose Supporters for boys and girls. Were 50 cents, now 20 cents each". The image of the waist has the additional notation: Patent June 2, 1896. and the words "For Boys in Knee Pants."

Ideal Waists

We note advertisement for Ideal Waists in the magazines. We note features that we have not adequately addressed before such as removable elastic suspenders". Ideal was an important brand. The manufacturer was the Lay & Way Co. on Bleecker St. in New York City. We note advertisements in the Ladies Home Journal that illustrated two different modeld of Ideal waists.

M Waist

We note a newspaper advertisement for the well-known M Waist (manufactured by Minneapolis Knitting Works). An advertisement for the well-known M Waist (manufactured by Minneapolis Knitting Works) appeared widely in American newspapers in 1904-05. One example shows up in the Moulton Weekly Tribune (in Iowa) in 1904 (June 3, 1904, page 3). The text is unusually explicit about the particular features of this underwaist, which was a unisex garment worn by both boys and girls from the age of 2 to 13 (or possibly 14). A diagram in the ad shows exactly where the buttons and garter tabs were placed and how the reinforcement straps function.

Worth Skeleton Waist

The Worth Skeleton Waist for girls and boys was widely sold all over the United States during the 1900s. There are numerous newspaper ads for this garment, made for both boys and girls from age 2 to 12. The waist was made by the Worth Manufacturing Company, 176-178 St. Clair St., Cleveland, Ohio. The advertisement shown here appeared in a weekly small-town newspaper called The Ireton Weekly Ledger published on June 3, 1904, page 5, in Ireton, Iowa. The dry goods store that sold the waist was the E. W. Black store of Ireton, Iowa. Among the many different brands of children's underwaists sold in America during the early decades of the 20th century, the Worth waist has an unusual design.







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Created: 12:22 AM 2/26/2011
Last updated: 2:08 AM 3/19/2011