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Here is on of the new styles of underwear that could be worn with short pants (figure 1). This Nazareth Children's Underwear ad appered in Parent's Magazine during October 1929, p. 53. This advertisement for Nazareth Children's Underwear advised parents, "While Nazareth undergarments retain the old-fashioned comfort which only knitted fabrics can give, Nazareth styles are thoroughly modern. Necks, sleeves and legs are cut to harmonize ith junior styles in outer garments." The illustration shows a boy of about 12 wearing the "heavyweight" Nazareth waist union suit with short legs and short sleeves. This is a style designed specifically for boys. Girls had the equivalent but in a slightly different style, usually with buttons that came only half-way down the front. It is "cream tinted", is "part wool" and has a "rayon stripe" knitted into the fabric.
This adverisement for Hanes children's underwear appeared in Parents Magazine, October 1929, p. 53. The magazine was founded in 1925 and became the leading American periodical providing nformation on children's clothing.
Here is on of the new styles of underwear that could be worn with short pants (figure 1). This Nazareth Children's Underwear ad appered in Parent's Magazine during October 1929, p. 53. . This advertisement for Nazareth Children's Underwear advised parents, "While Nazareth undergarments retain the old-fashioned comfort which only knitted fabrics can give, Nazareth styles are thoroughly modern. Necks, sleeves and legs are cut to harmonize ith junior styles in outer garments." The illustration shows a boy of about 12 wearing the "heavyweight" Nazareth waist union suit with short legs and short sleeves. This is a style designed specifically for boys. Girls had the equivalent but in a slightly different style, usually with buttons that came only half-way down the front. It is "cream tinted", is "part wool" and has a "rayon stripe" knitted into the fabric. The ad touts "the old-fashioned comfort which only knitted fabrics can give." It buttons down the front and has a drop seat at the back which buttons shut. The buttons are "pearl".
The underwear suit seen here has reinforcing straps over the shoulders which end at the waist level on either side where there are additional buttons for attaching outer clothing. A variety of shirts and pant, mostly short pants were made in the button-on style. In addition there were metal "pin tubes" for the fastening of hose supporters. The "pin tubes" were two small metal tubes sewn onto each side of a waist union suit for the attachment of hose supporters. The hose supporters
had safety pins at the top. A Hickory garter advertisement in Parents Magazine mentions and has an illustration of the pin. The pin was passed through the tube and then fastened shut so that it stayed on. The Sears 1939 page on boys' garter waists and suspenders advertises "pin-on garters" of the sort that were meant to be attached to the "pin tubes". The alternative was "tape loops" (made of sturdy tape) through which the pin of the hose supporter could pass and be fastened. Note that the Nazareth model has "pin tubes" (nickle or some other non-rusting metal, presumably, so that they would not corrode in the laundering process) while the Hanes model had "sturdy garter loops" made of cloth. The function was the same in both cases.
A HBC reader has described his experiences with waist union suits amd the items like stocking supporters and pin tubes--Charles. He remembers the underwear and stocking supporters he wore as a boy. See also the explanation in the text of the Minneapolis Knitting Works and Hanes pages.
This style is made from very young sizes (boys of 2-3 years) up to older sizes (boys of 12-13 years).
No price is specified, but the Nazareth brand was noted for being of very high quality, so the suit was probably at the high end of the underwear price scale although the advertisement claims that the suit is "moderately priced."
This suit, being part wool, would seem to have been principally designed for winter wear.
Note the company mentions "Dutch Neck". I'm not sure what that meant, but the neck is certinly cut very open. I'm not sure why this is called a " Dutch Neck ". A reader write, "I think the term " Dutch Neck " refers to the rounded neck cut fairly high up on these waist union suits as opposed to a V neck or lower-cut neck. I think the "Dutch Neck" might have been more popular for boys who wanted the additional coverage and were not worried (as some girls would have been) about their underwear showing under low-cut dresses or blouses. This is just a guess, however. I don't know what is particularly "Dutch" about a high neck. Perhaps certain Dutch styles of clothing were made with a high, rounded neck? " A Dutch reader writes, "It seems unlikely that fashions in Holland would have had any influence on the styling of boys' underwear in the United states in the 20th century. Rather the reverse I would think. Could it be that here Dutch is to be understood as
deutsch, i.e. German. Perhaps a referral to styles worn by the Amish people or the Pennsylvania Dutch?" HBC agrees that Dutch fashions were not all that influential in America. We believe, however, that clothing manufacturers often add foreign notations to give a garment or style a kind of stylish cachet. This not only occurred in America, but also in Europe. Sometimes the accuracy of these national descriptions was tenuous at best. In this case, the connection of the neck style seen here is not apparent even to our Dutch readers.
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