Figure 1.-- An important American manufacturer of underwear was Nazareth, named for the eastern Pennsylvania town where the factory was located. Nazareth underwear was popular with mothers who purchased children's school clothes (rather like Hickory garters manufactured by Stein). Here we have te top (shirt) part of a Nazareth waist union suit.

Vintage undewear is often the rarest type of vintage clothes, especilly before the 20th century. This is probably they were more soiled than other garments and had little sentimental value. Ironically the vintage underwear is particularly important because there is very little we can draw on from the public record. We note both underwear and support garments. We have only limited underwear items in our vintage clothing archive. Underwear were garments that were especially likely to be discarded. Underwear could be quite complicated in the late 19h and early 20th century. Images of actual vintage underwear adds to the informaton we have collected in the catalog section. We note what looks like an underwaist dating from the early 20th century. One readers has sent us an image of a nainsook suit which was worn by American children in the 1930s. We note short-leg long johns which look to date to the 1930s. We also note a German World War I paper-fabric Leibchen which was a kind of stocking supporter. We note a cloth Leibchen a few decades later in the 1940s or early 50s.

Importance Source of Information

Vintage undewear is often the rarest type of vintage clothes, especilly before the 20th century. This is probably they were more soiled than other garments and had lottle sentimental value. We have only limited underwear items in our vintage clothing archive. Underwear were garments that were especially likely to be discarded. Thuis is unfortunate because while photography provides a wealth of information on outer clothes, it tells us almost nothing about underwear. As a result, we tend to know relatively little about period underwear. Thus vintage underwear is important to understand how children were dressed. Underwear could be quite complicated in the late 19h- and early-20th century and different to modern underwear. Thus vintage underwear provides a great deal of useful information.

Underwear Garments

Underwear was garments worn for various purposes, including comfort, sanitation, clothing care, warmth, and modesty. There were three basic types of underwear" shirts (vests), pants, and union suits combining shrts and pants. Styles and conventions have changed considerably over the years. Actual vintage underwear adds to the informaton we have collected in the catalog section.

Underwear garments

Underwear was garments worn for various purposes, including comfort, sanitation, clothing care, warmth, and modesty. There were three basic types of underwear" shirts (vests), pants, and union suits combining shrts and pants. Styles and conventions have changed considerably over the years. Actual vintage underwear adds to the informaton we have collected in the catalog section--an especially important source of information on underwear which is not well represented in the photographic record. Thus vintage clothing is an important source of information. One of the earliet underwear garments archived on HBC is pantalettes. Plain versions were called drawers. We note a plain white pair worn in the 1860s. We have, however, been able to archive only a few vintage underwear garments. An important American manufacturer of underwear was Nazareth, named for the eastern Pennsylvania town where the factory was located. Nazareth underwear was popular with mothers who purchased children's school clothes (rather like Hickory garters manufactured by Stein). Here we have a Nazareth waist union suit (figure 1). We note short-leg long johns which look to date to the 1930s. We notice an American Pilgrim one-piece drop-seat underwear for younger children from the 1930s.

Garment Support Garments

We have found more support garments than underwear. This is important because these garments have disappeared and are thus so poorly understood by modern readers. There were several different types of support garments. These garments became very common in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They were used to both hold up long stockings and pants. They were also advertised as having value for posture. They garments were especially common in America. We note what looks like an underwaist dating from the early 20th century. One readers has sent us an image of a nainsook suit which was worn by American children in the 1930s. We also note a German World War I paper-fabric Leibchen which was a kind of stocking supporter. We note a cloth Leibchen a few decades later in the 1940s or early 50s.

Posture Garments

Of less importance are children's posture garments. They were less important for children than adult ladies. Some garment support garments, however, were marketed with claims of posture benefits.