Figure 1.-- Here are two support garments offered by Sers in 1916. Many support garments could be worn for both boys and guirls, but this one was specifically for boys. It was made for boys up to an including 16 years of age. There was also a garter waist, a "Combination Belt and Hose Supporters". |
The Sears Fall and Winter catalog for 1916 had an ad on p. 571 for support garments. There were two styles. One was a suspender waist, the "Progress Suspender and Hose Supporter for Boys". Many support garments could be worn for both boys and guirls, but this one was specifically for boys. There was also a garter waist, a "Combination Belt and Hose Supporters".
These two support garments came from the Sears Fall and Winter catalog for 1916, p. 571. The Sears, Roebuck and Co., huge merchandising firm centered in Chicago was founded by Richard W. Sears (1863-1914) and A.C. Roebuck (1864-1948). Sears had begun a career in mail-order business in Minnesota 1886. In Chicago he and Roebuck joined resources and formed a corporation in 1893 as a mail-order business under title Sears, Roebuck and Company. In 1895 Julius Rosenwald (1862-1932) bought Roebuck's interest in firm and became president on Sears's retirement 1908. A retail-store system was added 1925. The first foreign store added in Havana, Cuba during 1945 and becane te first expropriated store in 1960. The Sears-Roebuck brought the production of industry to the fartherest corner of rural America, opening the cornucopia of the consumer age to rural America. All the new things that were changing American life danced across their pages. Through it, a huge Chicago warehouse offers to modernize the farms and small towns of the Midwest.
Suspender waists were a support garment to hold up other garments. So-called “suspender waists” were invented at the turn of the 20th century and were popular mainly with boys who wore knee pants and needed a way of supporting their long stockings—almost always black. Although some models of the suspender waist (such as Kazoo) were manufactured in styles that could be worn also by girls, the main wearers of these waists were boys. They were called “suspender waists” because they combined trousers suspenders with hose supporters and had leather suspender attachments for holding up knee pants in addition to hose supporters for long stockings. The style did not last very long and was most popular during the 1910s. N.B. Suspender waists are not to be confused with the older style of garter waists (such as the Dr. Parker waist) which also had suspender-like straps over the shoulders, a waist belt (sometimes with waist buttons for outer clothing), and hose supporters. With true suspender waists only the garter part of the waist can be classified as underwear because the shoulder straps would be visible (like ordinary modern suspenders) on top of a shirt.
The first item is called a "Progress Suspender and Hose Supporter for Boys,"
prsumably because the suspender straps "progress" downwards to become hose
supporters at their lower extension. This garment is somewhat like the Kazoo
suspender waist although that brand name is not mentioned. The suspender
straps are made of non-elastic striped material--probably of some neutral
color such as grey or tan. These would be worn on top of a boy's shirt and
would therefore be visible if he were not wearing a jacket. But the
supporters are black elastic and would of course be concealed underneath the
boy's knee pants (or possibly knickers). The size range is from 4 to 16.
When boys turned 17, they usually began wearing long trousers in 1916.
The ad copy reads: "Progress Suspender and Hose Supporter for Boys" No. 25 F
5056. 1 1/2 -- inch striped non-elastic suspender webbing with lisle elastic
hose supporters and heavy trouser fasteners. Sizes 4 to 16. Shpg. wt. 5 oz.
Price, each 43 cents." Notice that the sizes go up to age 16. Our general impression for some of these garments is that the larger sizes were for girls, but note that this is a boys' garment and thus indicates that they were made for boys as old as age 16. Of course we do not know how many of the older sizes were actually sold. Note that the garter waist below was not made in larger sizes. Apparently the suspender waists were seen as more suitable for teenagers.
This category applies to a broad variety of devices for holding up long stockings. Theoretically it would apply to any garment worn on the upper body used for this purpose (including underwaists, pantywaists, and suspender waists). But HBC uses the term to apply specifically to waists with hose supporters already attached, even though in some cases these supporters are detachable. Most of these garments are designed to have the strain of the garters carried by the child’s shoulders. Some have waistbands and some do not, but all are worn under the outer clothing and therefore as a species of children’s underwear. One of the first such garments we notice was in the Sears 1902 catalog Sears refers to a "combination belt and supporter, but the garment was essentially a garter waist. The use of different terms somewhat complicates the assessment if the garments. Interestingly, even when the wearing of long stockings was supposedly declining in the late 1930s and early 1940s, a proliferation of styles of garter waist became very prominent in the Sears and Wards catalogs of this period. We have more different styles for this period than for any other on HBC. A good example is the Sears 1939 garter waists.
The second item is called a "Combination Belt and Hose Supporters". It was for both boys and girls. It is essentially a garter waist similar to the well-known Dr. Parker garter waist
although this brand name is not used here. The main difference is that there
is no strap across the chest to keep the shoulder straps in place. The waist
band is made of sateen and has eight buttons taped to it so that additional
underwear or outer clothing such as knee pants and skirts can be buttoned
on. The supporters have adjustable buckles for length and are fastened to the
waist band at the sides (unlike the Progress Suspender, which has the
supporters in front). This garment is white throughout and does not show
under a boy or girl's clothes.
Here is the ad copy: "Combination Belt and Hose Supporters. No 25 F 5054.
Good quality sateen, adjustable elastic side hose suppoerts. Eight tape
buttons on band for adjusting. Even sizes from 2 to 12 years. Give age.
White only. Shpg wt. 5 ounces. Price, each 23 cents."
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