Figure 1.--Here we have a page from the Grand magasins Jelmoli in 1938. This page offered a variety of outfits for younger boys. A reader writes, "This is interesting how the Swiss store here provides closeup images of the fabric samples." Another page had outfits for older boys. |
We note several >outfits for younger boys in the Jelmoli 1938 catalog. Some seem like play clothes. Other outfits may have been suitavle for dressier occassions, although I don't think they would have been a boy's best outfit. The Jelmoli ad copy describes the design and material, but provides no indication of the suitability for various activities. They are for boys 1 1/2 - 6 years of age, this varied from garment to garment. All but the overalls are done in short pants. The sailor suit outfit had buttons at the leg hem, suggesting that this might be an outfit suitable for dressy occassions.
We note a catalog form the Grand magasins Jelmoli. Grand magasins Jelmoli has for many years been the flagship department store chain of Switzerland. Johann Peter Jelmoli-Ciolina founded founded the store in 1838 by . Ciolina must have been the maiden name of his wife. He was from the Swiss-italian section of Switerland. The company has always been headquartered in Zurich where the flag-ship department store was opened. It opened branches throughout Switrzerland, but a few years back it sold or closed all its branches and only kept the large store in Zurich. I would say it was always an "up-scale" department store. The catalog-department was a very small part of their operations and the catalogs carried a very small amount of merchandise, compared to what was available in their stores. The catalog-department was added in 1899.
We note several outfits for younger boys in the Jelmoli 1938 catalog. Some seem like play clothes. Other outfits may have been suitable for dressier occassions, although I don't think they would have been a boy's best outfit. The Jelmoli ad copy describes the design and material, but provides no indication of the suitability for various activities. They are for boys 1 1/2 - 6 years of age, this varied from garment to garment. All but the overalls are done in short pants. Stylistically, it is not real clear wht made the various outfits suitable for younger or older boys. Some of the outfits were made for just todler boys while others were made for both todlers and boys just beginning school. This reflects the age group and I think these were mostly for summer wear. The sailor suit outfit had buttons at the leg hem, suggesting that this might be an outfit suitable for dressy occassions. Here we have information on the various outfits offered on this page. Jelmoli had nine different outfits for younger boys. And the ad copy provides some interesting information about the different styles.
One of the benefits of adding the ad copy to these pages. It provides us insight into contemprary clothing terms. Some of these terms are difficult to translate as usages change over time. We have attemoted the translations, but are not entirely sure about some of the terms. Hopefully our German readers will provide us some insight here.
We think Waschanzug here means wash suit, a term commomly used in America at the time. But we are not entirely sure that this is an accurate translation. I'm not certain what a Waschanzug is. Googling it shows that it's a term that's no longer used. I found it used in a German translation of a story by Guy De Maupassant: "Es war ein kleiner, magerer Mann, in weißem Waschanzug mit großem Strohhut."
The original French: "C'était un petit maigre, en coutil blanc, avec un grand chapeau de paille."
And an English translation: "He was a little thin man, in white linen coat and waistcoat, and with a large straw hat." So, French "coutil" gets translated into German as "Waschanzug", or English "linen coat and waistcoat". A reader writes, "This word was commonly used when speaking about garments. It meant clothes that can be easily washed. This term is no longer commonly used because modern fabrics give no problem in washmachines. In earlier times a garment could significantly shrink when washed.
Elsewhere I found this definition of coutil: "Coutil is a tightly woven twill cloth with a herringbone pattern. It is sleek looking and has a smooth finish. It is woven tightly to inhibit penetration of bones/stays and is not inclined to stretch. This dense, strong material is used in the manufacture of corsets." A French-English dictionary translates coutil as 'drill', as in "a strong, durable cotton fabric with a strong bias (diagonal) in the weave." In other words, a twill.
A reader wrires, "Coutil was a strong, durable coton material that was easy to wash. It was commonly used for sheet, men and teenagers summer clothes, and also ordinary work-garments. Coutil was not used to make stylish children's garments such as suits , dresses, shirts, baby-clothes, rompers, ect."
I made my best guess as to what Anknöpfer means, based on Knopf meaning button. It might mean button-on, but most of the shorts on that page are button-on style, and there's no mention of that in their descriptions. I found only one instance of the word when I googled it, and couldn't figure out what was being said from its context. A reader tells us, "This word means simply buttoning. The current German word for buttoning is das Knöpfen. It has the same sense as Knöpfen , but it not commonly used in everyday speech. It seems to ne more of a technical clothing industry term. In German , as well as in French, there is no word to say ' button-on '."
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