Figure 1.--Here we have an English-style suit offered by DaPina, a New York retailer with a reputation for quality merchandice. They often carried clothes with a British influence. The English style referred to the short pants rather than the knickers more commonly worn by American boys. |
We have begun to collect some information on 1926 advertisements amd mail order listings at this time. Most boys wore knickers. We note a prestige retailer offering English style short pants suits. This was a style more common with well-to-do families. We have acquired a Wards catalog page for gater waists. There were garters for boys who had graduated to long trousers. We also notice ads from the Excelsior Shoe Company for Boy Scout shoes. There were three styles offered, including the still popular high-top style.
We notice both single and double-breasted suits. Most American boys wore knickers. We note a prestige up-scale retailer offering English style short pants suits. This was a style more common with well-to-do families. There were short pants suits for younger boys, but most older boys wore knicker suits.
We notice an ad for De Pinna boys' suits. DePina was one of the classier outfitters in New York City and patronized by eastern affluent families. The ad appeared in Parents' Magazine for October, 1926, p. 51. You can see the British influence on American boys' clothes quite distinctly. Note the dressy pocket
handkerchief, the peaked school cap carried in the boy's hand, the ribbed and cuffed knee socks, and the white shirt and neat tie. The hightop shoes are interesting also.
Kneesocks were becoming increasingly common in 1926, but long stockings were still widely worn in 1926. Boys wearing knickers wore them with both long stockings and kneesocks. Boys wearing short pants might still wear long stockings during the cooler month.
Underwear in 1926 still seems rather old fashioned. Modern less cumbersome styles were just beginning to appear in the late 1920s. Many styles of underwear included support features for both pants and long stockings. An important manufacturer was Nazareth.
A Ward's catalog (Spring and Summer catalogue for 1926, p. 131)
offered garter waists for boys in sizes 2-12 years of age which they label as "hose supporters". These garter waists were primarily to hold up long stockings. They were in essence a form of stocking supporters. Long stockings were still breing commonly worn by both boys and girls in 1936. They were, however, rapidly being replaced by kneesocks which did not require these gsarter waists.
This underwaist ad is from Ward's 1926 Spring and Summer catalog, p. 156. There are five models shown here--all but one suitable for both boys and girls. The puff waist is for girls only. Two of the waists are of knit design and fit the upper body closely. The other three are of cambric and don't stretch but are somewhat cooler to wear in summer. All of these
waists have additional buttons for attaching pants, skirts, bloomers, etc. All are equipped with tabs for hose supporters.
Here are five different styles of underwaists offered by Wards in
their Fall and Winter catalog (1926-27), p. 77. There is some variety we
haven't seen in other waist advertisements, and the choice of styles shows how
popular--or at least necessary--these garments were for younger children. All
of these waists are unisex--suitable for both boys and girls. The ages are
also uniform--from age 2 to 12. Boys and girls didn't necessarily abandon the
wearing of long stockings at age 12. Some continued to wearing full length
stockings into their mid-teens, but, if older children wore long stockings,
they usually switched to garter waists with the supporters already attached.
Two of the waists are of knitted material and were preferred by some mothers
because of the extra warmth they provided as underwear.
Here is an ad for Ward's Summer Waist Union Suits from the Wards Spring and Summer
catalog of 1926, p. 77. These summer-weight waist union suits are offered in
styles for a boy or a girl. These suits are for boys and girls from 2 to 12 years old. They were popular in the summer because they allowed children to dispense with an additional underwaist. Short trousers or skirts could be buttoned to the waistband of the waist union suit, and supporters for long stockings could be pinned to metal tubes attached to the waist.
The George Frost CompanyHere made garters for boys who had graduated to long trousers. We know very little about the George Frost Company which manufactured the Boston garter. They were located in Boston which perhaps ecplains why they were called the Boston garter. This ad appeared in The Youth's Companion for April 3, 1926, p. 559. This ad for boy's garters, appealing to boys who have just graduated to their first long trousers and want to wear the kind of garters their fathers wear to hold up calf-length socks. Before boys got their first long trousers, they wore garters of a different type--either (a) pin-on hose supporters for long stockings attached to underwaists or waist union suits or (b) round garters to be worn around the leg just below the knee to hold knee socks in place. Once they had abandoned knickers or short pants and had got their first "longies" (usually at about age 17 or 18), they could begin to wear garters like those of adult men.
Boys wore both high-top and low cut shoes. Sneakers (canvas shoes) were popular, especially for play during the summer.
We also notice ads from the Excelsior Shoe Company for Boy Scout shoes. There were three styles offered, including the still popular high-top style. We notice ads from the Excelsior Shoe Company
for Boy Scout shoes. There were three styles
offered, including the still popular high-top style.
This ad for 1926--Boy Scout shoes, appeared in
The Youth's Companion, October 14, 1926, p.
745.
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