Figure 1.--A HBC reader, Charles, tells us about his mother helping him adjust the buckle for length so that the supporters were neither too short (restrictive) or two long (making stockings look sloppy and wrinkled). Another Hickory ad from the same year (1921) features the boy commenting on how easy it is to adjust the buckle on his his supporters because the design makes it easy to open ("no more broken finger nails").

A HBC reader, Charles, tells us about his mother helping him adjust the buckle for length so that the supporters were neither too short (restrictive) or two long (making stockings look sloppy and wrinkled). Another Hickory ad from the same year (1921) features the boy commenting on how easy it is to adjust the buckle on his his supporters because the design makes it easy to open ("no more broken finger nails").

Charles

A HBC reader, Charles, tells us about his mother helping him adjust the buckle for length so that the supporters were neither too short (restrictive) or two long (making stockings look sloppy and wrinkled). HBC has a number of pages about the stocking supporters that boys wore to hold up long stockings. Most of these pages describe the advertisements and catalog offerings and ionclude information about age and construction. HBC has very few pages describing what boys wearing these gsarments actually thought abour these suporters. I wore long stockings as a boy and do have some recollections about the stocking supporters I wore to keep them up. Here are some random thoughts and imperfect memories as I was of course quite young. Modern readers may find some details on the process for attaching supporters to a waist with the safety-pin top and adjusting the buckle on the elastic strap.

Stein & Company

Of all the manufacturers of garter waists and hose supporters during the 1920s in America, the Hickory brand (manufactured by Stein & Company was the best known and most widely advertised. They had offices in both Chicago and New York. Hickory Garters were widely used by American children to hold up their long stockings. Hickory was a national brand name. They were sold all over the country in various stores and were widely advertised in magazines. They advertized extensively in Parents' Magazine. The fact that they were also sold by Sears doesn't rule them out. Stein also made garters for adukts. Their adukt male line was Paris Garters.

Local Newspapers

HBC has founnd advertisements in major magazines like The Ladies Home Journal and . These adverisements are easy to find as many libraries have collections of the magaazines. Clothing advertisements, however, were not just un magazines, but also local newsppers. These adverisements are much more difficult to find. The ad here for Hickory Garters was found in the Salt Lake City Tribune (April 4, 1921), page 5. We supect that the company placed this same ad as well as similar ads in many other newspapers around the country at this time. We have found these ads in quite a number of local newspapers.

Garters

Garter or gartier is of historic origins. It appears to have entered the English language from Old North French in the early 14th century. The word was derived for the French word describing the bend of the knee. It came to be the symbol for an English knightly order--the Order of the Garter. The garter is a device to hold up hosiery. They were worn by both adults and children. There are two basic types. One was an elastic band worn around the leg. This type was commonly used by children to hold up kneesocks. Scouts were noted for adding a colored tab to the garter. It was commonly used before kneesocks with elasticised tops became popular. Another type was an elastic strap suspended from an undergarment. These were worn by both boys and girls to hold up long stockings.

Gender

There was no gender distinction between Hickory garters and garter waists for boys and girls. Hickory therefore showed both boys and girls in their illustrations. Even when boys wore knickers rather than short trousers, they often wore long stockings underneath and thus required waists with hose supporters attached. Although hose supporters were almost universally worn by boys during the 1920s, the Hickory advertisements make a special appeal to the threatened masculinity of boys who didn't want to be associated with girls just because they wore the same kind of stockings and support garments. We have the boy (of about ten or eleven) remarking on how strong the pin is--a pin which doesn't bend or break under the pressure that an active lad puts on his garters by playing rough games. And the idiom is very boyish too: "Hey Mother" (says Bob) "--is this pin made or iron of sumpfin?" And Bob's mother replies that "the extra strong pin is one of the five famous Hickory Garter features". The others are of course listed in the ad copy below.

Age

Hickory Garters were made in sizes for children from two 2-14 years of age. Notice tht the particular garter show in the illustration was Size A. This was for children 12-13 years of age. The designation Siz A was presumably a sizing system destinctive to Stein's Hickory Garters.

Color

The ad reproduced here, interestingly, show boys--boys normally wearing black garters rather than the white supporters that became more usual during the 1930s and early 1940s. The ad also show boys wearing black stockings, so there was apparently some color coordination between the black stockings and the black hose supporters.

Ad Copy

Here is the transscription of the ad above with the illustration of the boy adjusting the buckle on his hose supporter, "Gee--this Hickry buckle slides bully! Children's Hickory Garters, Your Guarantee of Quality. No more broken finger nails since I wear Hickory. The buckle slides as easy as anythin'! Mother says that's one of the five famous Hickory features. Here are the other four: 1) The only children's garter made with the patented rubbed cushion clasp, which holds stockings firmly between rubber and rubber. Save stockings and darnings. 2) Extra strong pin--cannot bend or break. 3) Highest quality elastic and webbing, thoroughly tested, uniformly excellent. 4) Guarantee with every pair assures your complete satisfaction or your money back. Hickory Garters at your dealer: In Five Sizes [up to age 16]. Twenty-five cents and up depending upon style and size. [The more expensive supporters were entirely elastic in construction, including the strap and the double pendant while a cheaper and slightly more durable kind with non-elastic pendants but with elastic strap were a little less expensive.] A. Stein & Company. Makes of Paris Garters for men. Chicago, New York."

Reader Comments

Charles tells us Of course I don't remember what brand of supporters I wore as a boy or what kind my mother bought, There were several popular brands during the 1920s and 1930s that were widely advertised and sold. But I do recall that my mother preferred white supporters to black ones. I have no idea why, but I suspect it was because my underwear was white or off-white and white garters matched. Mothers tended to buy pin-on supporters for children in the same part of a store that sold girdle suppporters for women. These latter could be purchased separately to sew onto corsets or girdles when the originals had worn out or lost their elasticity. Children's and women's supporters are often advertised together since they were made by the same manufacturers.
> > Attachment: Hickory Garter ad (Salt Lake Tribune, 4 Apr 1921 p 5).jpg (458k bytes) Open

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Created: 6:11 PM 5/11/2010
Last updated: 6:12 PM 5/11/2010