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Here we have images of three different styles of waist union suits made and advertised by the Nazareth Waist Co. These waist suits are gender-neutral--all three
styles worn by both boys and girls. The main line of waist union suits was intended for boys and girls between the ages of 2 and 13, but larger sizes for children
14-15 years old were available by special request.
Nazareth was one of the leading manufactuers of childrens underwear in the 1920s. The business offices of the Nazareth Waist Co. were located at 366 Broadway, Dept. C, in New York City. The mills where the underwear was manufactured were located in Nazareth, Pa. (near Bethlehem).
Nazareth often advertized in magazines like Parents magazine. This was a popular, wide circulation magazine. The advertizements in the magazine were targetted to parents with
young children. There were a lot of advertisements for children's clothing, especially underwear.
Another type of waist is the “waist suits” or “waist union suits”. These were union suits for children up to the age of about 13 or 14 (for both boys and girls) that came equipped with garter tabs and waist buttons for additional clothing, thus combining the function of the waist or hose supporter with that of traditional one-piece underwear. Good examples are the different styles of waist suits offered by Sexton in 1921, Nazareth in 1929, and Haines in 1933. Another example is the Sears 1938-39 Fall and Winter catalog Also see the HBC pages on Nazareth and Hanes waist suits (advertised in Parents Magazine).[Links here] Waists suits were made
in both winter and summer styles (nainsook, with short legs, for summer; cotton knit, with long legs or short legs, for winter).
Here we have images of three different styles of waist union suits made and advertised by the Nazareth Waist Co. These waist suits are gender-neutral--all three styles worn by both boys and girls. The main line of waist union suits was intended for boys and girls between the ages of 2 and 13, but larger sizes for children 14-15 years old were available by special request.
The two Nazareth fall and winter styles of waist suit has differing slleeve and leg lengths (figure 1). One had long sleeves and ankle length legs, the other had short sleeves and thigh-length legs. The ad appeared in Parents Magazine for November, 1927, p. 42 (the same reappeared in Parents Magazine, October, 1928, p. 44). While there were variations in the sleeve and leg length, the basic style of the suits are identical. The girl model is shown wearing the short-leg style, primarily because girls wore dresses, but boys also wear this style, especilly younger boys. The retail price of the winter styles is omitted.
A Nazareth spring and summer model (sleeveless
with thigh-length legs) was advertised in Parents Magazine for March, 1928, p. 46. It appears to be the same style seen in the 1927 ad. The shorter length was seen as more appropriate for the warmer weather. Presumably it was also worn by girls in colderwearer as wearing long underwear with dresses was seen as unsightly and was doine in omly the most extreme weather. The long-leg style, however was not promoted in the Sprin-Summer advertising. The same ad reappeared several times thereafter A girl is shown wearing the summer model, but the ad specifies that it was "for boy or girl". It retailed for 75 cents. The same exact style was worn by both boys and girls.
All three of these suits are "taped front, back and sides" and have "non-rusting pin tubes" and "pearl buttons". Notice that the front tapes reach much higher on the child than the side tapes. There were also tapes at the back that are not shown. I suspect the front and back tapes ended in buttons for trousers and skirts, etc. while the side tapes were for hose. All these waist suits have "flat seams" and a "drop seat" with binding "to prevent tearing". All have attractive binding at neck and arms. All three models of waist union suit have reinforcement straps over the shoulders knit into the garment with waist buttons for the support of trousers, skirts, or other outer clothing. They also are equipped with "non-rusting pin tubes" at each side under the arms at waist level so that hose supporters for long stockings can be attached by means of safety pins at the tops of the garters.
Boys wore these suits with both short pants and with knickers.
The Nazareth ad blurb reads: "Nazareth Children's Underwear. Consider their comfort. Active, growing
children need the king of underwear that doesn't bind--that allows the greatest comfort and yet is sturdy enough to stand the daily wear and tear. During the past forty-two years, millions of mothers have found Nazareth Underwear to be the ideal kind for infants, boys and girls. Young mothers can safely proft by the experience of older ones by asking for the right kind of children's underwear by name--insist on Nazareth."
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