Figure 1.--This was the ad for camp shorts in the Eaton's 1974 catalog.
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Figure 1.--This was the ad for camp shorts in the Eaton's 1974 catalog. |
A HBC rerader reports that an Eaton catalog in 1974 offered camp shorts. He recalls wearing the same brand of camp shorts in the United States. The shorts were made by the Merit company.
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. Marrys. 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.
Camp shorts began to appear in America in the 1960s. They were one of the more popular styles in America at a time when American boys wre just beginning to more commonly wear casual short pants. For some boys it was the first pair of short pamts that they erver wore. I first remember seeing them in 1961, but they may have appeared
earlier. They continued to be worn through the 1980s. All the major mail order companies offered them, including Pennys, Sears, and Wards. They were so named because they were a handy style to wear at camp. The large pockets provide ample space for a boy to squirle away rocks, leaves, and even a spare frog he might come across. This was one factor in their popularity with boys.
These camp shorts were made by the Merit company. We know nothing about the company at this time. We know that they marketed in both America and Canada. The company had a insdie tag on the back elastic waist band. Our reader tells us, "I have done some web searching on the merit company and i cant find anything about them,i dont know if this was a overseas company or if it was located in the U.S. or Canada."
These camp shorts had many of the popular features of camp shorts. We note plentu of pockets including a zip front pocket. They also had the clip for a pocket knife.
Here we see the ad from the Eaton catalog in 1974 for camp shorts. TYhe model wears olive green camp shorts. They were also available in navy blue. A HBC reader writes, "These camp shorts are the same type that was sold by the Joseph Hornes Department Store in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. My mother bought my camp shorts there at about the same time. The Hornes Department Store sold these camp shorts in student waist sizes 30 to 34 plus the little boys sizes 6 to 20. They came in the colors green, khaki, navy blue, and charcoal grey." The Eaton's ad is only for the smaller sizes. The ad copy reads, "Camp shorts can rough it; stay neat without ironing. Permanent Press twill camp shorts are tough cotton/polyester blend. Sip front pockets, self-belt, buckle, elastic band waist, handy clip. Machine wash, tumble dry; no ironing. Colours: 63-olive green; 45 navy blue. Boys' sizes: 7, 8, 10, 12. 32-F 4706B--Each.....3.99; 2 for 7.50."
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