Figure 1.--Eatons offered this duffle coat in their 1975 catalog. The coat came in camel and navy. It was available for a wide age range, but only for boys.

We believe that the duffle coat was also widely worn in Canada. One reader tells us that the duffle coat was especially popular in Canada during the 1970s. It was worn by both boys and girls. The styles and colors seem similar to those worn by American children at about the same time. We notice the toggles as worn on the classic duffle coat were usually a feature of Canadian duffle coats. We notice mostly beige and dark blue duffle coats. Candian boys wore duffle coats throughout the 1960s and 70s, but they have have since declined in popularity. Most Canadian children today have zip-up winter jackets, called ski jackets. [Alcock] Interestingly, the duffle ciat was a style that was worn by a wide age range, from toddlers to highschool boys. The ad copy foir the duffle coat pictured here in the Eaton's catalog read, "Sturdy duffle coat of fleecy acrylic. Zip-off drawcord hood. Upper body is lined with cotton-backed acrylic pile. Lower body and sleeves have nylon lining quilted to polyester fibrefill. Toggles and jumbo zipper closing. Two flap pockets. Dry clean. Colours: camel, navy Sizes: 2,3,4,5,6X Price: $24.99" The children's clothing ads in the Eaton's catalogue are divided into Boys 2-6X, Girls 2-6X, Boys 8-16 and Girls 8-16. Thus here only the younger sizes are detailed. On other pages the duffle coat was also available in bigger sizes: 8, 10, 12 14, and 16. However, this particular ad is for the smaller sizes. The styling for all the duffle coats, refagdless of age, was basically the same. The duffle coats for the older boys were exactly the same as the ones for the younger boys. They had the the three toggles and the preferred colour for the bigger size range was navy blue, though camel was also offered. A Candian reader writes, " I do remember wearing a navy blue duffle coat with the three toggles when I was a teenager in the 1970's. A lot of the boys had them at my school." The girls' section of the Eaton's 1975 catalogue did not offer any duffle coats for girls. I believe that this style was a boy's coat. There were, however,However, pink and light blue coats offered for girls with three buttons on the front and a tie-up belt. A Canadian reader writes, "I think that Burbury in the U.K. still makes diffle coats. They are sold at Ogilvy in Montreal. This is THE British importer. I was near to get one last year in 2002. They are rather expensive, but useful for winters."

Sources

Alcock, James. E-mail message, August 6, 2003.

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Created: August 6, 2003
Last updated: August 9, 2003