Figure 1.--Wards in 1936 offered four garter waists, one of which were the Dr. Prker waists. The Hickory waists were made by a company with that name. We are not sure who made the Dr. Parker waists.
|
Figure 1.--Wards in 1936 offered four garter waists, one of which were the Dr. Prker waists. The Hickory waists were made by a company with that name. We are not sure who made the Dr. Parker waists. |
One of the recurring terms in the American mail order catalogs is the “Dr. Parker” waist, a style of garter waist that persisted from the late 1890s until the mid-1940s. It consisted of suspender-like shoulder straps with a cross piece across the chest to hold the straps in place, a waist belt (sometimes with additional buttons for the attachment of trousers , skirts, or, in young children, panties), and two elastic hose supporters in a Y-shape hung from the waistband. We are not sure, however, just who Dr. Parker was and what company made them. We first notice them about 1910. They were offered in major mail order catalogs (Eatons, Sears, and Wards). We are not sure, but assume they were also sold in retail stores.
One of the recurring terms in the American mail order catalogs is the “Dr. Parker” waist, a style of garter waist that persisted from the late 1890s until the mid-1940s. It consisted of suspender-like shoulder straps with a cross piece across the chest to hold the straps in place, a waist belt (sometimes with additional buttons for the attachment of trousers , skirts, or, in young children, panties), and two elastic hose supporters in a Y-shape hung from the waistband. It seems to have been made exclusively in white although black hose supporters were popular during the period.
Garter waists were designed to hold up long stockings as well as other garments. Dr. Parker waists were often billed has having the dual purpose of serving as both a supporter for long stockings and as a shoulder brace to improve posture. This is presumably why the name of a doctor was used, to provide the image of a design endorsed by medical science. It seems to us that the latter claim seems of dubious truth because the shoulder straps had pretty much the same function as adult male suspenders for trousers.
The Dr. Parker style of garter waist was designed to distribute the pull of hose supporters to the child's shoulders. It consisted of a waistband with a button closure in front, often with additional buttons around the waist for the attachment of trousers, skirts,, underpants, etc. The waistband could sometimes be adjusted for the required tightness or looseness although usually the age-sizing of the waist (in even sizes 2 to 12 or 14) took care of this
problem. The waist band was usually made of muslin, sateen, or cotton webbing and was supported by suspender-like shoulder straps with a cross piece on the chest to keep the shoulder straps from slipping off the shoulders. The shoulder straps were usually made of non-elastic cotton tape and crossed in the back. Sometimes an elastic insert was added in back so that the shoulder straps would fit more snugly. Two Y-shaped hose supporters were then suspended from the waistband at the sides. In the later models the supporters were usually fastened to the waistband by safety pins and could therefore be detached. This was useful because the supporters could then be replaced if they wore out before the rest of the waist, which was washable. Black supporters were sometimes worn with the Dr. Parker style waist, but the most common color was white (like the rest of the waist). White waists, like most other underwear, were less visible through thin clothing sometimes worn in warmer climates. The supporters were usually constructed of an elastic upper part with a buckle for length adjustment and with two non-elastic pendants with clasps for attaching to the tops of the stockings. The most desirable and more expensive supporters such as the Hickory or Velvet Grip brands had rubber buttons at the clasp so as not to tear the stockings. Dr. Parker waists usually had the better quality of hose supporters. The Dr. Parker waist was
designed as an athletic garment for very active boys and girls to allow for the maximum amount of bodily freedom and to minimize restriction and discomfort. The tension of holding up long stockings was carried mostly by the shoulders and was supposed to be much more comfortable for boys and girls engaged in sports and active play."
As far as we can tell, the Dr. Parker waists did not have any features that were exclusive. The Dr. Parker waists seem quite similar to other garter waists that we have seen advertised, such as the Hickory waists and other brands. Dr. Parker waists seem more of a brand than an actual destinctive style.
We are not sure, however, just who Dr. Parker was. No one has yet identified the Dr. Parker who either invented this garment or lent his name to its commercial popularization. We are not even sure if indeed there was actually a real Dr. Parker. This may have been a name invented just to give a name which suggested that it hd been endirsed by a medical authority. One reader believes there actually was a Dr. Parker. He reports that Dr. Parker seems to have been a pediatrician from the American east coast (perhaps from Boston or New York City) who promoted a concern for health and good posture among American parents, particularly mothers. He appears to have devised or at least claims to have devised children's garments that were based on medical science. A reader writes, "I think the name Dr. Parker was just a marketing ploy (it could be used by any distributor) to imply that this style of garter waist had general scientific and medical approval." Some earlier waists (occasionally referred to as “corset waists”) tended to be too tightly restrictive or to cause the children who wore them to stoop over. Dr. Parker’s waist was designed to solve this problem scientifically by providing boys and girls with a means of holding up long stockings that distributed the pull of garters to the child’s shoulders, at the same time providing a waist band with buttons. The appeal was to mothers who wanted to dress their boys and girls in a way that was both more comfortable for the youngsters, less restrictive to active, developing young bodies, and that was healthy to wear while at the same time holding up long stockings tautly and neatly so that they did not sag or look wrinkled and untidy.
The style of garter waist known as the “Dr. Parker” waist became so common in America that it was often shown and advertised without Parker’s name. Parker does not seem to have patented it. We notice the label Dr. Parker’s being used in Canada (Eaton’s catalog) and in America (Montgomery Ward’s catalog). Sears sold exactly the same type of waist but never used the term, Dr. Parker’s. Sears often labeled the same style “Kern’s Child’s Waist” or “Kern’s Daisy Waist.” Ward's sold the Dr. Parker style waist throughout the 1930s and early 1940s, sometimes using the
label "Dr. Parker" and sometimes not.
We are unsure what company made them. We note ads in mailorder catalogs. They identify the waists as Dr. Parker waists, but do not indicate the name of the company tht manufactured them. A reader writes, "The "Dr. Parker Waist" is, I think, just a style, not a particular manufacturer. Eaton's and Ward's used the "Dr. Parker" label but I doubt that they were using the same manufacturer although it's possible. Sears sold the same style of waist under a different name ("Kern's Daisy" waist or "Kern's Child's waist") and almost certainly had a different manufacturer. Dr. Parker
was not a brand name. It was just a particular style of garter waist to which Dr. Parker gave an endorsement. Even Eaton's and Ward's sometimes sold the same style without labeling it Dr. Parker's. Or Parker may have actually modified slightly a style of waist that was already being sold as early as 1902 (by Sears--see "Combination Belt and Supporters", 1902)."
We are not sure when the Dr. Parker waists first appeared. We first notice them about 1910.
They were offered in major mail order catalogs (Eatons and and Wards). We are not sure, but assume they were also sold in retail stores. A reader writes, " I am sure you are correct to assume that the Dr. Parker style garter waists were also sold by many retail shops and department stores (maybe in some cases using the Dr. Parker label and in some cases not). The same style waist was sold by both Wards and Sears. But only Ward's used the "Dr. Parker" label. Of course Eaton's had also used it earlier. Sears's term was always "Kern's Daisy" or Kern's Child's Waist."
We do not know when Dr. Parker waists were first manufactured and marketed. We notice the Dr. Parker style waist as early as 1902, advertised by Sears as a “Combination Belt and Supporter.”
An early offering was in the Eaton's catalog (1910-18). Dr. Parker waists were very commonly featured in Montgomery Ward catalogs. We note Dr. Parker waists offered, for example in 1922 and 1936). Ward’s “Dr. Parkers Shoulder Brace Belt and Hose Supporter” (1922) Ward’s “Dr. Parker’s Garter Waist” (1936) are examples. These are just Ward's pages that we have archived. We believe that they were offered by Wards throughout the 1920s and 30s. They were sometimes referred to Kearn's Daisy waists. We note this in the 1939 Wards catalog. We are not sure if this name represented any actual modifications in the Dr. Parker waists. Sears also offered “Kern’s Daisy Waist” (1939) and Sears “Kern’s Child’s Waist” (1940). These look very similar to the Dr. Parker waists. Dr Parker waists also appeared during the 1940s, but were less prominently featured.
We note an ad for "Dr. Parker's Skeleton Waist". It appeared in an Eton's catalog. Earon's was the largest Canadian mailorder firm. As far as we can tell, it is the earliest that we can find "Dr. Parker's Skeleton Waist" mentioned. It was advertised by Eaton's in Canada in an early catalogue. Unfortunately the image we have is undated. We believe that it come from a catalog some time between 1910 and 1918. I think 1914 is a good guess. We're not sure why it was referred to as a "skeleton" waist.
We notice Dr. Parker waist offered by Montgomery Ward in 1922. They were referred to as Dr. Parker's Shoulder Brace Belt and Hose Supporter. Dr. Parker waists were an important type of garter waists, although often the term Dr. Parker's was not used. It is worth noticing that the model shown seems to be an older boy, perhaps 11 or 12, although it is hard to be sure of his age.
Wards in its 1936 catalog offered four styles of garter waists. They included Hickory and Dr. Parker waists--both popular styles. The major purpose of these waists was to hold up long stockings. They were also considered to be beneficial for posture. These were worn by both boys and girls. These four garter waists are arranged in the descending order of their price. The most expensive model, the Hickory Brand Garter Waist, seems to have detachable supporters. This ad, unlike most of the other garter waist ads in the Sears and Wards catalogs, has girl models predominating.
Notice that the supporters on these waists are relatively short, presumably because the stockings being worn by boys and girls in the 1930s were extra long to accommodate the short pants and skirts then in fashion.
Long stockings were standard wear for all children, both boys and girls, in the latter part of the nineteenth century and continued to be worn by both boys and girls until the late 1940s, although boys wore them less and less by the end of the 1930s and early 1940s. At first long stockings for all but very young boys were considered proper for any boy wearing knee pants. Exposed bare legs, irrespective of climate or temperature, were considered unseemly for boys older than five or six, and boys as old as 19 or 20 often wore long black stockings with knee pants up through their high school years at the turn of the century. Girls of nearly any age of course wore them also with their dresses. When knickers, usually buckled above the knee, began to replace knee pants in the 1910s, long stockings with supporters continued to be worn by boys. European-style short pants became popular for younger boys in the 1920s, and these were also often worn with long stockings, tan and brown stockings often replacing the older-style black. When below-the-knee knickers replaced the above-the knee bloomer-style knickers of the 1910s, patterned knee socks became more common for boys, but some mothers insisted on plain colored long stockings even with the new style knickers because of their greater formality and because long stockings, held up with supporters, didn’t fall down and look untidy like the knee socks. At first long stockings in the USA were worn by both genders for warmth as well as for formality. By the 1930s long stockings for children tended to be mainly a cold-weather option and were replaced by anklets or knee socks in summer. In the 1930s and 1940s boys wore long stockings mostly in the winter or for especially formal occasions with short pants. There is some suggestion that when older boys wore long stockings with shorts in America rather than the more common knickers with sporty knee socks, they did so in response to pressures of class, since the style was more common in Europe than in the USA. Some more upper-class parents tended to regard long stockings as more appropriate for dressy occasions such as church ceremonies (first communion, confirmation, funerals, etc.). This was also true in French Canada, where long stockings with short pants persisted longer than in the United States.
Hose supporters were obviously necessary to hold up the stockings as round garters above the knee were generally uncomfortable because of restriction of the blood vessels and were disapproved of by mothers because they tended to come off and get lost. Hose supporters were developed in the nineteenth century to hold up long stockings and were generally attached to a waist or bodice (often having shoulder straps to distribute the pull of the garters) or to especially equipped underwear with tabs or pinning tubes for garters (waist union suits). The Dr. Parker style waist was one of the most commonly adopted styles of hose supporters in both Canada and the USA. It was worn by both boys and girls and was generally available in sizes from 2 to 12 or 14 years of age. The mail order catalogs show boys wearing it just as often (or even more often) as girls.
The largest retailer in America for many years was Sears. We note that Sears never offered Dr. Parker waists. Sears offered a very similar waist, "Kern's Daisy" or Kern's Child's Waist". This was exclusively the Sears label for the same garment. I suspect that Kern's was the Sears manufacturer. Or perhaps it was just a brand name (like Pilgrim long stockings--the Sears brand name
for hosiery). The reason for mentioning Kern's on this page is to indicate that this was the term Sears used for several kinds of garter waists. But one little distinction needs to be kept in mind. Sears also applied the term "Kern's" to non-Dr. Parker style waists. For instance a different style of garter waist, advertised in 1939 (HBC has this as a separate image), is labeled "Sears Dandy". This one is not to be confused with the Dr. Parker style which appears in the same catalog and the same year as "Kern's Daisy" waist. Check the two different Sears loadings under 1939.
Both of these use the term Kerns, but only one (Suspenders and Stocking Supporters) shows the Dr. Parker style (here referred to as Sears Daisy Waist). We do not know who actually manufactured the Kern waists.
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main underwear garment list page]
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Satellite sites]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]