Digure 1.--

Pajamas are a relatively recent innovation in boyswear. Pajamas are derived from a Hindi word. This is because they were introduced to Europe and America about 1880 from India for men to wear for sleeping instead of nightshirts. Pajamas consisted of a matching jacket and trousers--loose fitting trousers. There is a difference between the spelling in America and Britain. Pajamas, is spelled pyjamas in Britain, Canada and other British Commonwealth countries. Pajamas were not commonly worn in the late 19th and early 20th century, especially by boys. Nightshirts were still much more common well into the 20th century. There are several different types of pajamas worn by boys. Pajamas unlike nightshirts tend to be distinctive for boys and girls. Our information about pajamas is still very limited. We would be very interested in any information HBC readers may have.

Origins

Pajamas are a relatively recent innovation in boyswear. Pajamas are derived from a Hindi word. This is because they were introduced to Europe and America about 1880 from India for men to wear for sleeping instead of nightshirts.

Suits

Pajamas consist of a matching jacket and trousers--loose fitting trousers.

Terminology

There is a difference between the spelling in America and Britain. Pajamas, is spelled pyjamas in Britain, Canada and other British Commonwealth countries.

Chronology

Pajamas were not commonly worn in the late 19th and early 20th century, especially by boys. Nightshirts were still much more common well into the 20th century.

Material

Traditionally Summer underwear is done in cotton and Winter uinderwear in flannel.

Types

There are several different types of pajamas worn by boys. One popular style for voys were ski pajamas wiyj elastic cuffs at the ankles and wrists. Younger children might wear footed underwear, especially during the Winter. Regular underwear might come with cartoon or sports figures.

Gender

Pajamas unlike nightshirts tend to be distinctive for boys and girls.

Country Trends

We have only limited information on country trends at this time.

America

We notice boys and youths in the 19th century wearing nightshirts. An example here is the Holderness School. This was a private boarding school and thus the boys would have come from wealthy families. We have lass information on middleclass or poor fasmilies, but assume that nightshirts were common, at least in middleclass families. Wards and Sears catalogs will reveal when pajamas began replacing nightshirts. We have not yet had time to research this. A HBC reader tells us that in the 1940s there were social class differences concerning pajamas. He always wore pajamas at his home and at his boarding school. When he went into the Army, he found most youths slept in various types of underwear. He provides us an interesting personal account. Another reader reports a similar experience. "I have a friend, born in 1928, who joined the army shortly after World War II was over in order to qualify for the GI Bill before eligibility for that ran out. His mother was a Russian émigrée, and he was raised with old world ways. On the train to basic training, preparing for sleep he put on his nightshirt. He was amazed at the ribbing he got from the other recruits, and after that slept in his underwear like everyone else." I was born in 1943 and only remember boys wearing pajamas as a boy. When I became a teenager, however, I began sleeping in my underwear. Curiously I don't recall making this transition or any discussion with my mother about it.

Belgium

A reader attending a Cathlic boarding school in the 1970s mentioned to me that the boys wore nighjt shirts. If I remember correctly they were required as a part of the school uniform. He rembers because his got rather short as he grew and before his mother purchased a new one. School uniforms can become dated. I'm not sure about popular trends in Belgium. I suspect by this time pajamas were widely worn by Belgian boys.

Canada

England

An English reader growing up in the 1860s only remembers pajamas as a boy. He mentions the pajamas that he wore as a boy in the garments section of his personal experiences account.

France

Germany

The German word for nighshirt is "Nachthemden". A German reader writes, "As a child (born 1935), I can only remember wearing "Schlafanzüge" (Pyjamas, the German spelling). I think I had sent you a photo standing in front of my bed in a Schlafanzug with one of my dollies. An English reader who visited Germany in the 1960s was surprised to find that the German boy in his host family wore nightshirts rather than pajamas. Many adults in Germany apparently continued to wear night shirts. A German reader writes, "My grandfather born in 1872 had night shirts till his death in 1960."

Italy

An nItalian reader tells us, "My grandfather, born in 1898 and died 1975, always wore nightshirts. As a boy growing up near Milan in the 1960s Italy always wore pajamas. We boys never wore nightshirts. For warm summer night we were allowed sleep just in our underwear. My sister had both nightshirts and pajamas."

Created: 2:00 AM 12/25/2004
Last updated: 6:17 AM 12/26/2004