Figure 1.-- Long stockings were still worn in Canada during 1941 by both boys and girls. Eaton's offered long stockings and not only in the Spring-Summer catalog and in the Fall-Winter catalog. Here is a hosiery ad from the Eaton's Fall-Winter 1941-42 catalog. |
Eaton's offered long stockings and not only in the fall and winter catalog. We note an ad for long stockings in the Eaton's Spring-Summer 1940 catalog. It seems remarkable to me that Eaton's was advertising long stockings for both boys and girls for the Spring and Summer season of 1941 and in a mixture of cotton and wool. These stockings are "comfy" and "warm," reflecting, I suppose, the fact that spring in the northern regions of Canada such as Quebec, the Maritimes, and the Alberta mountains can be quite chilly. I suspect that climate was not the only consideration for the appeal of long stockings. Note that Eaton's stresses that the stockings are for both boys and girls.
This Canadian retailer began publishing mailorder catalogs in 1881, at least that is we
begin noticing them. We have catalogs from the 1970s, although we do not know about the company's current status. The 1970s catalgs were full of clothes which look like American styles. Timothy Eaton, founder of the huge all-Canadian department store chain bearing his name, was an Irish immigrant born on a tennant farm in northern Ireland. He was born in 1834 and followed his brothers to Canada in 1854. His brothers had opened a small dty goods store in St. Marys. Timothy Eaton began his business with a small dry goods business in Toronto during 1869. He built a giant retail store in Ontario’s capital city along with a country-wide mail-order business and a big new branch store in Winnipeg, by the time of his death in 1907. The Winnipeg branch was the first of many branches. Eaton Company business establishments eventually spread all across Canada when Timothy’s family successors extended the Eaton empire. Timothy masterminded the company during the crucial period of its early
development, spanning nearly 40 years. It was Timothy who implemented the concept of the "Department Store", in Canada, a concept which were already flourishing in London, Paris, and New York.
HBC has noted several images of Canadian boys wearing long stockings. This appears to have been quite similar to American patterns in the late 19th century. HBC has noted that some Canadian boys continued wearing long stockings in the 20th century when many American boys began wearing short socks and kneesocks. In particular Canadian boys appear to have worn longstockings for dress occasions. This appears to have been more prevalent among French Canadians than English Canadians.
Knickers rapidly disappeared in America during the early 1940s. This process was also ar work in Canada, but does not seem to have transpired as rapidly. The fact that knickers were worn longer in Canada is one reason that long stockings persisted longer there.
Here is a hosiery ad from the Eaton's Fall-Winter 1941-42 catalog. We notice two ads on page 75.
It seems remarkable to me that Eaton's was advertising long stockings for both boys and girls for the Spring and Summer season of 1941 and in a mixture of cotton and wool. These stockings are "comfy" and "warm," reflecting, I suppose, the fact
that spring in the northern regions of Canada such as Quebec, the
Maritimes, and the Alberta mountains can be quite chilly."
Eaton's published catalogs in both French and English. Thus we note both English and Frenc ads from the same company. The ad here is in an English catalog. We have archived some French-laguage ads on HBC, including ads from the same company. It is interesting to compare the ads in French and English-language catalogs. We re not sure if Eaton's just translated the text or actully gave some thought to appealing to the two coomunities.
I suspect that climate was not the only consideration for the appeal of
long stockings. Many mothers in conservative areas wanted their sons
to wear short trousers (the Canadians continued to refer to them as
"knee pants" long after this term had disappeared in the United States)
throughout the year. We notice, for instance, that "knee pants" (i.e.
shorts) continued to be advertised in Canada for boys up through the
age of 12 even in the winter catalogs, which was not the case in the
U.S. Long stockings were considered to be dressier than ankle or knee
socks and thus especially appropriate for church, school, and other
somewhat formal situations. Older boys sometimes wore knickers or the
more form-fitting breeches during this period and may, perhaps, have
worn them with long stockings although the catalogs advertised knee
socks as appropriate for below-the-knee trousers.
Here long stockings are advertised even more
prominently with eight different styles to choose from.
The colors are
interesting as well: Cream, Cubantan (Tanny Beige), Frivolity (Dark
Fawn), Medium Fawn, Plain Fawn, Black, White, and Mid Fawn. The Fawn
shades, which obviously dominate, are of course all shades of tan or
light brown.
Another interesting feature of the 1941-42 ad is the
sizing. One of the choices in long stockings, designated as
specifically "for boys," comes in sizes up to 10 1/2--large enough to
fit a boy about 15 or 16.
The first ad copy for the long stockings ads 1941-42 Eaton’s Fall and Winter 1941-42 appeared on p. 75. It shows two school children in a Canadian schoolroom, a boy and a girl,
working together at a desk. The girl is sitting and the boy is standing up beside her. Both children are wearing very light colored long stockings--beige (or Cubantan) in the case of the girl and what looks like "medium fawn" in the case of the boy. Another interesting point is the length of the boy's stockings which have to be extremely long to cover his legs since he is
wearing very short shorts. Eaton's catalog seems to suggest that light-colored long stockings were fairly standard for Canadian school children in the early 1940s in the early years of World War II. Warmth would of course be a factor here, but I suspect that more than warmth is involved because the Spring catalog for 1942 (p. 102) also features boys wearing long stockings with short pants. The main heading read, "[Long Stockings for] Tots and School-Agers"
The first sub-heasing read, "Warm Ribbed Union Hose--An Eaton Thrift Value". The ad copy read, "One of the most popular Stockings we have ever offered for Children. They're so practical and there's so much value packed into them. Made from soft textured Wool Cashmere and Cotton mixture with legs in a neat 1 and 1 rib and feet plain knit. They're dressy looking, warm and very serviceable.
Colors: Cream; Cubantan (Tanny Beige); Frivolity (Dark Fawn). Be sure to state size and color when ordering. Sizes 5, 5 1/2, 6, 6 1/2 ... Price 35 c. Sizes 7, 7 1/2, 8, 8 1/2 ... Price 45 c. Sizes 9, 9 1/2, 10 ,,, Price 55 c. 420-231 Eaton Thrift Value. [HBC note: the rather fancy colors seem to be aimed at mothers and girls rather than at boys, but two of the colors, beige and dark fawn, would be worn by both boys and girls. We are unsure what "union" means here. Our first thought was that it referred to the stockings being manufactured by union workers, but this may be a bit of a stretch. We do not notice a similsr allusion to union workers anywhere in the Canadian catalog section. We think it might refer to the knitting process in some way--maybe a union of materials such as cotton anad wool. But we have never seen the term used like this before in either Canadian or American catalogs. Maybe Canadian readers can help explain it.]
The second sub-heading read, "Ribbed Cotton and Wool--A Star Special Value". The ad copy reads, "Practical Hose for infants and children at Star Special prices! Serviceable for everyday wear. Knit from Cotton and Wool yarns with legs in a neat fitting clinging 1 and 1 rib and plain knit seamless feet. Durable cotton heels and toes. These stockings are priced so moderately you have an opportunity to stock up with several pairs. Colors: Medium Fawn; Dark Fawn Be sure to state color and size wanted when ordering. Sizes: 4, 4 1/2, 5, 5 1/2 Price 25 c. Sizes 6, 6 1/2, 7, 7 1/2 Price 30 c. Sizes 8, 8 1/2, 9, 9 1/2, 10 Price 33 c. 420-228 Star Special Value.
Figure 2.-- Here are six additional types of long stockings offered in the Eastons 1941-42 Fall-Wintr catalog. |
Here there is no overall heading, only headings for each individual stocking type.
The ad copy read, "Practical hose for everyday wear. Knit with legs in a fine rib from soft textured carded Cotton. Plain knit seamless feet. Heels and toes reinforced. Colors: White, Mid Fawn, Dark Fawn. Be sure to state color when ordering. Sizes 4, 4 ½, 5, 5 ½, 19 c. Sizes 6, 6 ½, 7, 7 ½ ... 22 c. Sizes 8, 8 ½, 9, 9 ½ , 10 ... 25 c. State size.
The ad copy read, "Brushed on the inside these Hose will give you a lot of comfort. Knit from heavy Cotton yarns with legs in a neat rib and plain knit seamless feet. Color: Mid Fawn. Moderately priced hose that should give satisfaction. Sizes 6, 6 ½, 7, 7 ½ ... 29 c. Sizes 8, 8 ½, 9, 9 ½, 10 35 c. State size.
The ad copy read, "Dressy looking, serviceable hose for infants or children. Knit from Rayon plated over a Cotton and Wool mixture with legs knit in a fine 1 and 1 rib. Feet are plain knit and seamless. Colors: Medium Fawn or Cream. Sizes 4, 4 ½, 5, 5 ½ 25 c.
Sizes 6, 6 ½, 7, 7 ½ ... 35 c. Sizes 8, 8 ½, 9, 9 ½ ... 39c. State size.
The ad copy read, "Sturdy Stockings for boys knit from 1 ply Wool yarn plated on 1-ply Cotton yarn. Ribbed to the toe. Neat fitting and of good weight. Colors: Black or Fawn. Be sure to state color. Sizes 6, 6 ½, 7, 7 ½ ... 49 c. Sizes 8, 8 ½, 9, 9 ½ ... 59 c. Sizes 10, 10 ½ ... 69 c. 420-214 State size. [Note that these stockings are specifically for boys and that they come in sizes up to 10 ½, which is large enough for a mid-teenager. Some Canadian older boys continued to wear long stockings with shorts for dressy occasions, but these stockings, especially the older sizes, would have been worn with knickers. Some parents didn’t like the sporty look of cuffed golf/knee socks with knickers, especially since they tended constantly to fall down. Long stockings worn with knickers would presumably be held up neatly by supporters.]
The ad copy read, "Mothers! Here is a splendid value in dressing looking Hose for everyday wear. Knit from cosy Wool Casshmere yarns in a neat rib that extends right to the toe. Heels and toes reinforced. Color Medium Fawn. Be sure to state size. Sizes 6, 6 ½, 7, 7 ½, 8,. 8 ½, 9, 9 ½ ... Price 49 c."
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