Figure 1.-- We note a wide range of short amf long leg underwear being offered in the 1947 Jelmoli Winter catalog. There were both separate pieces and union (combination) suit. Most of a page were devoted to the various styles and varying materials.
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Figure 1.-- We note a wide range of short amf long leg underwear being offered in the 1947 Jelmoli Winter catalog. There were both separate pieces and union (combination) suit. Most of a page were devoted to the various styles and varying materials. |
We note a wide range of short, knivker, and long leg underwear being offered in the 1947 Jelmoli Winter catalog. There were both separate pieces and union (combination) suit. Most of a page were devoted to the various styles and varying materials. They all seem styled very similarly. This was page 61 of the catalog.
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.
Jelmoli offered nine different types of underwear in its 1947 Winter catalog. They are all fairly similar. The major differences were 1)separate garments or union construction, 2) long, knicker, or short pants, and three material. There were other detal differences. The suits are arranged at the top and bottom of the page. We do not see any substantial difference as to the two groups. We believe there just was ot enough room at the top for all nine suits. The headline at the top reads, "Warme Knabenwaesche in der gewohnt voteilhaften Jelmoli-Qualitaet". The heaing over the bottom row reads, "Die praktische Knaben-Waesche, wie sie gerne getragen wird". I think this was a heading mean for all the underwear suits and not just the bottom row. A Swiss reader writes, "From my memory and now looking at the 1938 and 1947 catalogs, it is safe to assume that in Summer and Winter Unionsuits (Combinaisons) were the prevailing piece of underwear for boys. Other then for small babies, tights were not available, not even for girls, only stockings and socks. Union-suits were my constant companions until I was about 12 year old. Besides that stockings and waist. I think that changed in the early 1950s. Will see when I get the catalogs from that time-period."
There are two suits done as separate pieces. Both are located at the upper left of the page.
This looks like a two-piece set with the top a different color than the bottom. The top has a rugby front. The short pants bottom has an elasticized waist and legs. The ad copy reads," Solide Kanben-Kniehose Aus Halbwolle mit Spickel, beige, NO 3024,808, Laenge 35cm Fr.3.90, Laenge 40cm Fr. 4.50, Laenge 45cm Fr. 4.90."
This suit looks to be very similar to the previous suit, except with long legs that have ski closures. Note that unlike the other selections hre, there is no knickes-length option. The ad copy reads, "Die warme, kraeftige Kanben-Unterhose aus Baumwolle innen geraut, roh, No. 3024,081, Laenge 65 cm Fr. 4.90, Laenge 75 cm Fr. 5.50, Laenge 85 cm Fr. 5.90, Laenge 95 cm Fr. 6.50."
Most of the underwear suits were done as union (combination) suits and were located at the top of the page.
This combination suit is done with short legs with elasticized leg openings. The buttoning is all the way to the waist. The ad copy reads, "The ad copy reads, "Vorteilhaftes Kanben-Combinaison aus Wolle, in elastischer waremer Qualitaet, mit kurzen Beinen und langen Aermeln, beige, No. 3024,082, Laenge 45cm Fr. 4.50, Laenge 50cm Fr. 4.90, Laenge 55cm Fr. 5.25, Laenge 60cm Fr. 5.50, Laenge 65cm Fr. 5.90, Laenge 70cm Fr. 6.50."
This is another short pants suit. The basic difference with the previous item is that the top buttons seem to be done differently. The buttoning is, however, all the way to the waist. The ad copy reads, "Das schoene Interlock-Knaben-Combinaison Aus gutter Baum-Wolle, roh No. 3024,083, Laenge 50cm Fr. 5.25, Laenge 55cm Fr. 5.75, Laenge 60cm Fr. 6.25, Laenge 65cm Fr. 6.50, Laenge 70cm Fr. 6.90.
This combination suit seems to nave back buttons, but I am not sure. It is done with knicker-length legs. The ad copy reads, "Innen warm auf-gerauhtes Knaben-Combinaison aus kraeftiger Baumwolle in schwerer Qualitaet, mit langen Aermeln und langen Beinen, roh No. 3024,084, Laenge 45cm Fr. 4.90, Laenge 50cm Fr. 5.75, Laenge 55cm Fr. 6.50, Laenge 60cm Fr. 7.25, Laenge 65cm Fr. 7.90, Laenge 70cm Fr. 8.50."
This knickers-length combination suit looks identical to one of the short-pants length combination suits, except for the pants length. It buttons to the waist. The ad copy reads, "Fuer die kalten Tage ein warmes Henkel-pluesch–Knaben-
Combinaison in solider Baumwoll Qualitaet; roh, No. 3014,085, Laenge 45cm Fr.5.90, Laenge 50cm Fr.6.75, Laenge 55cm Fr.7.50, Laenge 60cm Fr.8.25, Laenge 65cm Fr.8.90, Laenge 70cm Fr.9.50."
This combination suit is located at the left of the bottom row. It is a short pants suit and looks similar to the other short pants suit. The ad copy read, "Das kraeftige, warme Combinaison aus schoener Halb-Wolle, mit langen Aermeln Und kurzen Beinen; beige No. 3024,086, Laenge 45 cm Fr. 6.50, Laenge 50 cm Fr. 6.90, Laenge 60 cm Fr. 7.90, Laenge 65 cm Fr. 8.50, Laenge 70 cm Fr. 8.90."
There were two union suits thsat offered an option as to the pants length. They were available in short pants, knicker, and long pants lengths. I thought at first there was an optional pair of pants, but I think that these were one piece suits and the second paint of pants is shown separate just to lilustrate the length.
The union suits here are done with a rughy-style front. The ad copy read, "Fuer Ihren Knaben eine drei-teilige tur aus schoener Baumwolle; Henkelpluesch–Garni-roh 1. Leibchen 3024,087 (Laenge 49cm Fr. 4.75, Laenge 53cm Fr. 4.90, Laenge 60cm Fr. 5.50, Laenge 63cm Fr. 5.75) 2. Kniehose No. 3024,088 (Laenge 26cm Fr. 3.75, Laenge 28cm Fr. 3.90, Laenge 30cm Fr. 4.25, Laenge 32cm Fr. 4.50, Laenge 34cm Fr. 4.75) Lange Hose No 3024,089 (Laenge 77cm Fr. 4.25, Laenge 84cm Fr. 4.50, Laenge 90cm Fr. 4.75, Laenge 95cm Fr. 4.90).
The union suits here look very similar to the previous offering. The rugby front looks slightly longer and the waistband wider, but we do not see much difference. The ad copy read, " Innen warm aufge-rauhte dreiteilige
Knaben-Garnitur aus Baumwolle in schoener, starker Qualitaet; rohfarbig. 1. Leibchen No. 3024,090 (Laenge 50cm Fr4.50, Laenge 55cm Fr5.25, Laenge 60cm Fr5.75) 2. Kniehose No.3024,091 (Laenge 35cm Fr3.90, Laenge 40cm Fr4.25,
Laenge 45cm Fr4.75) Lange Hose No. 3024,092 (Laenge 65cm Fr4.90, Laenge 75cm Fr5.25, Laenge 85cm Fr5.75).
The underwear here was sized in centimeters (cm). A diagram explains how to take the measure, it was from the shoudr diagonally to the crotch. The text read, "Masse fuer Combinaisons Leiblaenge wird von Mitte Achsel bis Schritt gemessen. Siehe Zeichnung."
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