American Mail Order Catalogs with Boys Clothings: 1926-27--Ward's Waists


Figure 1.--Here are three of the waist styles offerec in the Wards Fall and Winter catalog 1926-27 catalog.

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.

Montgomery Ward

This underwaist ad is from Ward's 1926 Spring and Summer catalog, p. 156. Although the word "consumerism" has a modern ring, it was personal concern for an early consumer movement, the "National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry," That inspired a young traveling salesman named Aaron Montgomery Ward to start the world's first general merchandise mail-order company in 1872.

UnderWaists

Ward's describes these garments as "waists". This is a kind of shorthand for underwaists. Underwaists were another type of support garment. Underwaists (sometimes called panty-waists) were worn by younger boys and girls to support additional underwear (such as bloomers or panties) or outer clothing (such as trousers or skirts). These bodices tended to be worn by boys only until about age 10, although some models came in ages for boys as old as 12. Some models were specifically for girls and others for boys, but the great majority of styles could be worn by both boys and girls. They tended to be made of elastic knitted fabric (and therefore rather form-fitting) or of cambric material and a bit looser. They nearly always were equipped with reinforcement straps, waist buttons, and garter tabs for attaching hose supporters. The popularity of underwaists declined in the later 1930s and early 1940s although they were still available, usually in the preferred knitted style, up until about 1945. When long stockings stopped being worn by school children, the main function of the underwaist ceased to exist.

Puposes

All five of the waists serve the dual purpose of providing support for button-on short trousers, skirts, or bloomers (in the case of girls) and of supplying tabs at the sides for fastening on supporters for long stockings. So these are essentially "garter waists" without the garters (which mothers would purchase separately). Interestingly, Wards' index at the back of the catalogue refers to these garments as "hose supporter waists."

Waist Styles

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 these waists were of course worn on top of other underwear, usually long-legged or short-legged union suits.

Jean Cloth Waist

The ad copy read, "39 c. 32 E 697. White only. Sizes 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 years. State size. Postage, each 2c extra. Durable jean cloth, open front Waist for boy or girl. Taped bone buttons and supporter tabs." These are probably metal pinning tubes but may simply be sturdy tape loops through which the pin of the garters could be fastened.

Fine Knit Cotton

Te ad copy read, "25 c. 32 E 700. White only. Sizes 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 years. State size. Postage, each. 2 c. extra. Soft knit combed cotton, with reinforced seams. Supporter tabs at sides [apparently metal pin tubes]. Bone buttons."

Simplicity Underwaist

The ad copy read, "47 c. 32 E 691. White only. Sizes 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 years. State size. Postage, each 2 c. extra. Slip-on Waist of good quality jean cloth for boy or girl. Taped bone buttons: supporter tabs." This waist is the most expensive of the five models offered, which is a bit surprising since it has no button-holes for closure. It is probably the strongest of the five in terms of durability. The buttons are "taped"--that is, fastened to the waist with a bit of tape rather than sewn on tight against the waist fabric so as to allow for greater flexibility and movement at the points where the short pants are buttoned on. This was a standard and very practical feature of waist buttons on underwaists. This waist would perhaps appeal more to boys because of the ease of putting it on. Children were encouraged to learn to dress themselves, and younger children had to learn quite early in their lives how to button on their trousers and skirts and to fasten and unfasten the safety pins and loops and rubber buttons of their supporters because waists were frequently laundered, which required fastening and unfastening garters to and from the waist.


Figure 2.--Here are the other to waist styles offerec in the Wards Fall and Winter catalog 1926-27 catalog.

White Cambric

The ad copy read, "29 c. 32 E 692. White only. Sizes 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 years. State size. Postage, each 2 c. extra. Puff Waist reinforced seams. Taped bone buttons, supporter tabs at sides. Fastens in back." "Puff Waists" had greater fullness in the upper chest than the other models. This was a somewhat "feminine" feature (like the back-buttoning), but puff waists were sometimes worn by boys, especially younger boys, as well as girls. Some puff waists were trimmed with lace to appeal to girls, but this model is plain so as to be suitable for either a boy or a girl.

Knit Cotton

The ad copy read, "39 c. 32 E 702. White only. Sizes 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 years. State size. Postage, each 2 c. extra. Fine knit combed cotton Waist with reinforced seams. Has supporter tabs at sides [i.e. metal pinning tubes]."

Gender

All of these waists are unisex--suitable for both boys and girls.

Age

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.

Material

Two of the waists are of knitted material and were preferred by some mothers because of the extra warmth they provided as underwear. Two other styles are made of jean cloth, a sturdy non-knitted material that didn't cling to the body in the way that the knitted waists did. The fifth waist is made of cambric, another non-knitted fabric with a certain sheen to it.

Buttons

One of the waists (the one at the extreme left) has adjustment buttons at the shoulders to allow for a boy's growth. These buttons could be let out as the boy grew taller. Four of these waists have button closures--three of them down the front and one in back. Back-fastening waists were often preferred by girls since these bodices were almost like a woman's bra in respect of their closure, but mothers sometimes bought them for little boys who, in any case, needed help in dressing. Older boys could manage front buttons quite easily but very young boys might have had a bit of trouble buttoning waists up their backs. One of the five waists solves the dressing problem by having no closure buttons at all. It simply slips over the child's head and shoulders and is the easiest of the five to put on. But it is also the loosest in fit and probably also the least warm.

Construction

Given the rough activity of boys and girls up to the age of 12, these garments had to be manufactured to stand a lot of punishment and strain. Four of the five models therefore have strong reinforcement straps over the shoulders to take the strain of buttoned- on clothing and to withstand the "garter pull" of the hose supporters when they were attached to the tops of long stockings.






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Created: 5:58 AM 2/20/20065
Last updated: 5:58 AM 2/20/2006