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This R & J Waist came in two styles--one for girls and one for boys. The Sears ad appeared very prominently in the Fall and Winter catalog for 1925-26, p. 416. I do not know what the initials stand for and can't discover the origin of the name. The waist is made of muslin, and, in the boy's model, buttons down the front (which boys greatly preferred to the back-buttoning style). It has waist buttons around the middle for attaching short pants or knickers (knee pants weren't worn in America this late), and the hose supporters are attached to a strip of reinforced cloth that comes down over the hips to prevent the supporters from rubbing against the skin.
The Sears ad appeared very prominently in the Fall and Winter catalog for 1925-26, p. 416. The Sears, Roebuck and Co., huge merchandising firm centered in Chicago was founded by Richard W. Sears (1863-1914) and A.C. Roebuck (1864-1948). Sears had begun a career in mail-order business in Minnesota 1886. In Chicago he and Roebuck joined resources and formed a corporation in 1893 as a mail-order business under title Sears, Roebuck and Company. In 1895 Julius Rosenwald (1862-1932) bought Roebuck's interest in firm and became president on Sears's retirement 1908. A retail-store system was added 1925. The first foreign store added in Havana, Cuba during 1945 and became the first expropriated store in 1960. The Sears-Roebuck brought the production of industry to the fartherest corner of rural America, opening the cornucopia of the consumer age to rural America. All the new things that were changing American life danced across their pages. Through it, a huge Chicago warehouse offers to modernize the farms and small towns of the Midwest.
I do not know what the initials stand for and can't discover the origin of the name. Perhaps "R & J" is a brand name rather than a particular style.
This category applies to a broad variety of devices for holding up long stockings. Theoretically it would apply to any garment worn on the upper body used for this purpose (including underwaists, pantywaists, and suspender waists). But HBC uses the term to apply specifically to waists with hose supporters already attached, even though in some cases these supporters are detachable. Most of these garments are designed to have the strain of the garters carried by the child’s shoulders. Some have waistbands and some do not, but all are worn under the outer clothing and therefore as a species of children’s underwear. One of the first such garments we notice was in the Sears 1902 catalog Sears refers to a "combination belt and supporter, but the garment was essentially a garter waist. The use of different terms somewhat complicates the assessment if the garments. Interestingly, even when the wearing of long stockings was supposedly declining in the late 1930s and early 1940s, a proliferation of styles of garter waist became very prominent in the Sears and Wards catalogs of this period. We have more different styles for this period than for any other on HBC. A good example is the Sears 1939 garter waists.
The R & J Waist here was offered in the Sears 1925-26 catalog. The style seems to have gone out of fashion about 1928 or 1929, although the Dr. Parker style garter waist, which goes back to the beginnings of the century, seems to have persisted much longer--into the early 1940s.
This R & J Waist came in two styles--one for girls and one for boys.
The waist is made of muslin. The boys' and girls' models were simimilar, but there some differences in the construction.
The boy's model, buttoned down the front (which boys greatly preferred to the back-buttoning style). It has waist buttons around the middle for attaching short pants or knickers (knee pants weren't worn in America this late), and the hose supporters are attached to a strip of reinforced cloth that comes down over the hips to prevent the supporters from rubbing against the skin. The cloth strip is graduated and has adjustments for garter length, but the strip itself is so constructed that the pull of the supporters is entirely from the shoulders and not from the waist. This is supposed to have been much more comfortable for the child.
The girl's model was of similar construction but buttoned down the back instead of in front.
Sears in 1925 made these waists in both the boy's and the girl's style for children from 2 to 14 years of age. The fact that the boy's model goes up to size 14 suggests that boys wore these waists under both short pants and knickers. Fourteen was probably too young for a boy to wear long pants in the mid-1920s although there might have been a few exceptions. The children in the ad drawing,
however, seem to be about 8 years old.
The Sears R & J ad was captiobed, "The "R & J" Waist and Hose Supporters
For Girls and Boys".
The ad copy for the girls' model read, "Good grade white muslin with taped bone buttons. Garters are made of good quality elastic. A special feature of this waist is that it is so constructed that the garters draw directly from the shoulders. Buttons in back. Comes in sizes to fit ages 2 to 14 years. State age. Shipping weight, 4 oz. 25D5037 For girls 48 cents."
The ad copy for the girls' model read, "Good grade white muslin with taped bone buttons. Gaters of good quality elastic. This waist is constructed so that the garters draw from the shoulders, giving more comfort. Comes in sizes to fit ages 2 to 14 years. State age. Shipping weight, 4 oz. 25D5036. For boys, 48 cents."
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