Figure 1.--We have a Brooks Brothers back to school magazine ad. The ad was captioned,"Does 'back to school' mean 'back to Brooks Brothers'?" We do not know in what magazine the ad was placed. As it is a back-to-school ad, it was probably an August issue. Brooks Brothers was a high-end clothier that often emphasized traditional styling. The ad offered a variety of clothing for back to school. The ad primarily depicts the suit jackets, but the ad copy describes the shirts and pants to be worn with the jackets. They offered Eton suits and a Rugby-style jacket with short pants for younger boys. The shorts were done to 12 years of age.

We have a Brooks Brothers back to school magazine ad. The ad was captioned,"Does 'back to school' mean 'back to Brooks Brothers'?" We do not know in what magazine the ad was placed. As it is a back-to-school ad, it was probably an August issue. Brooks Brothers was a high-end clothier that often emphasized traditional styling. The ad offered a variety of clothing for back to school. The ad primarily depicts the suit jackets, but the ad copy describes the shirts and pants to be worn with the jackets. They offered Eton suits and a Rugby-style jacket with short pants for younger boys. The shorts were done to 12 years of age. The ad shows the targetted consumers. Younger boys did not commonly wear suits to school in 1941 unless they were from well-to-do families who often sent their children to private schools. Also short pants suits were not commonly worn beyond age 10 years. Here the Sears catalogs were a better indicator of popular trends. Older boys were offered a choice of single- or double-breasted jackets, waistcosts (vests) and long pnts. We also see a fedora hat and leather shoes. The ad copy of the different items illustrated read:

Headwear

The ad copy read, "Boys' felt hats in a good choice of colors and styles are $3.50 to 45. The hat illustrated is $3.50. Eton caps in grey or blue Flannel or $2.35, in blue Chinchilla with earflaps $3.25. Oxford caps (6 3/8 to 7 1/8), are 3.25." A fedora may not look like boy's heawear, but we notice boys wearing them. We had thought that they were a kind of middle-clss style, perhaps most common with second generation immigrant families. It is interesting thst they were offered by Brooks Brothers. The Eton cap offered was basically an English-styled peaked school cap. Note that some came with ear flsps. We are not sure what an Oxford cap was. It may have been a mortar board academic or graduation cap, but I don't see American boys wearing them even in private schools and graduation caps were not sold in August.

Rugby suit for younger boys (ages 7-12 years)

The ad copy read, "Jacket with collar and shorts (ages 7 to 12) in blue flannel, grey flnnel or tweed are $!7.50 in Glen????? plaids $20, and in other materoals up to $27. Collar attached shorts (sizes 8 to 14) in blue or white Cheviot, (pointed T??? or buttoned Polos), are $1.75." The jacket here is a standard single-breasted style, done with two buttons. The reference collar refers to the jacket lapels not the shirt. One of the principal differences with the other choice was the short pants in sizes to age 12 years. Long pants could be had for boys 11 and 12 years by choosimg the selection for older boys. For boys age 10 years and younger, only short pnts were avilable. This reflects the affluent Brooks Brothers clientelle, most American boys were wearing long pants suits at the time, including even younger boys. Notice knickers were no longer offered.

Eton suits (ages 5-9 years)

The ad copy read, "Collarless jacket and shorts (ages 5-9) -- Grey flanne, blue flannel ot tweeds in various patterns or colors -- are $12.50. Collar attached shirts (buttoning at the waist), with Eton collar, tennis coolar (slimmer? or open sports collar are $1.50. Neckties are $1." Collarless jackets refers to the standard Eton stle without lapels. Unlike the Rugby jackets, the Etons had three buttons. The reference to the shirts buttoning at the waist meant tyhat they were done in the button on style. There were button holes in the shorts. This was how they were held up rather than belts or attached susoenders. Many Eton suit shorts in the 1960s and 70s were dine as suspender shorts. We have no idea what a tennis collar was. The sports collar was the open collar thst was popular in the 1920s and 30s, but declined in popularity during the 40s.

Suits for older boys (ages 11-18)

The ad copy read, "Single breasted or double breasted jacket with a waistcoat and long trousers (ages 11 to 18) in plain grey or striped flannels ot tweed ????? are $25, and in blue Cheviot or Glen????? plaids up to $35. Boys' shirts (s???? sizes12 1/1 to 14 1/2) are $1.75 to $4.75." Here the double breasted jackets are just for the older boys. Sears in contrast offered both single- and double-breasted jackets for the younger boys. Parests could choose long pants for boys as young as 11 years, although shiers were available on the younger boys option through age 12 years.

Shoes

The ad copy read, "Boys' shoes in vzrious styles and leathes are $7 to $9 (sizes 2-11 -- ages 6 to 18). Rubber-soled elkelk hide shoes with tan or black leather saddles (sizes 6 to 11) are $10. The tan ca???? shoe illustrated, with either leather or De-Flex Rubber soles and heels, is $8 or $9." The shoe here has an older boy loook which is cofirmed by the ad copy. The boy's styles probably had a rounder look and were not note with the wing-tip styling. Note all the discussion of rubber soles. This ad was placed just a few months before Pearl Harbor and American entry into World War II (December 1941). A range of products were rationing during the War, although rationing was light compared to the situation in other combatant countries. One commodity that was almost impossdible to obtain was anything made of rubber. The Japanese occupied Malaya and Borneo where almost all the world's supply of natural rubber originated (February 1942).

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Created: 10:45 AM 10/19/2011
Last updated: 10:45 AM 10/19/2011