Figure 1.--The Sears Spring and Summer catalog also offered these short sets in a wide variety of styles. The age range varies, but most were available in sizes 2-8 years. A few were availanle to size 10. |
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Sears offered a whole page of boys wearing outfits with casual shorts. There were many styles of these casual outfits than the few suits offered for younger boys.
Here is the page of more casual clothing for boys in a variety of styles. Most of the boys under the age of 8 wear short pants with knee socks (or
three-quarter socks as many are not shown pulled up to the knee) and washable waists, although there are a couple of knicker suits at the extreme right left. Also
there a few other choices such as one-piece sun suits and sailor suits.
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.
These suits were offered in the 1930 Sears catalog (Spring and Summer), p. 290.
Sears offered a whole page of boys wearing outfits with casual shorts. There were many styles of these casual outfits than the few suits offered for younger boys.
Here is the page of more casual clothing for boys (p. 290) in a variety of styles. Most of the boys under the age of 8 wear short pants with knee socks (or
three-quarter socks as many are not shown pulled up to the knee) and washable waists, although there are a couple of knicker suits at the extreme right left. Also
there a few other choices such as one-piece sun suits and sailor suits.
The Sears ad copy read, "Pepperell" fabrics are well known and widely advertised throughout the country. We have tested them out in our own laboratory and know that they are all that is claimed for them. They are guaranteed fast color and will
launder exceptionally well. They also come up to a very high standard as
to wearing qualities. Suits A, B, C, D, E, F, G listed below and illustrated on the opposite page are made from these guaranteed fabrics and each suit carries the "Pepperell" label." HBC has no other information on Pepperell at this time and its relationship if any with Sears.
Sears offered three types of short pants they were offered separately. They were suitable for a range of occassions. Notice the self belts on the first two pairs. Many of these are meant to be play outfits, but some are picture with ties suggesting that they may be worn for dressy occassions as well. Not how common self-belts were.
The ad copy read, "Each Postpaid
$1.00. Sturdy neat looking suits for the little fellow of Fast Color
"Pepperell" fabrics at a price we believe is lower than ever asked for a
suit of this high quality. Made in three practical styles and unusually
attractive color combinations. The leg and shoulder seams are overcast to
prevent ravelling. Strongly bar tacked. Pants button to waist and have
side pockets and belt. SIZES--2 to 8 years. State age size. 40 V 3670
(Style A) Fancy Figured "Pepperell" Broadcloth Waist with Plain Blue
"Pepperell" Peggy Cloth Pants. Postpaid $1.00. 40 V 3668 (Style B) Fancy
Tan Figured "Pepperell" Broadcloth Waist and Plain Brown "Pepperell"
Broadcloth Pants. Postpaid. $1.00. 40 V 3666 (Style C) Fancy Figured
"Pepperell" Broadcloth Waist With Plain Blue "Pepperell" Peggy Cloth
Pants. Postpaid. $1.00."
The ad copy read, "Each Postpaid. $1.48. Made from fast color "Pepperell" Broadcloth, Jean and fine yarn dyed Suitings in the season's newest and best styles and in color combinations that are most attractive. We have finished off these suits
and built up the make to a standard that is used in much higher priced
garments. The leg and shoulder seams are double stitched and other seams
are overcast so there are no raw edges. Cut full size. Pants button to
waist and have belt loops and side pockets. Detachable belt with buckle.
SIZES 2 to 8 years. State age size. 40 V 3654 (Style D) Tan Color
"Pepperell" Jean with Blue Trimmings. Postpaid $1.48. 40 V 3652 (Style E)
Vestee Style Waist and Pants of Plain Blue "Pepperell" Suiting. Postpaid
$1.48. 40 V 3650 (Style F) Waist of Figured "Pepperell" Broadcloth and
Pants of Plain Green "Pepperell" Suiting. Postpaid. $1.48. 40 V
3672--(Style G) Waist of Fancy Doby Weave "Pepperell" Broadcloth With
Pants of Plain Blue "Pepperell" Suiting. Postpaid. $1.48."
The ad copy read, " There's nothing neater than this trim looking fast color novelty suit.
Pants are oyster color with neat checks and the waist is plain oyster
color. Made from a special cotton wash fabric which looks like real linen
and wears very well. Fast color. Pants button to waist with good quality
buttons. Have two pockets and detachable belt with buckle. Waist has two
pockets with buttons. 40 V 3658--Sizes 3 to 8 years. State age size.
Postpaid $1.65." For some reson the boy here was shown wearing formal patent leather shoes. I'm not sure why. The age range here is about the same as the other outfits and the illustrations shows the boy with an open collar. Nor are we sure why Sears believes "particular mothers" will like this suit. These Sears headings have we think to be taken with some reservation. In some instance, probaly like the outfit here, the hrading was just meaningless text to make i sound good.
The ad copy read, "Built sturdily for play, yet neat enough for dress. Double stitched
shoulder seams and leg seams. All points of strain bar tacked. Both
waist and pants are of famous plain blue fast color yarn dyed Lad-Lassie
cloth, a strong cotton fabric, famous for its long wearing qualities.
Fast color red trimming down the side of the athletic style pants which
button to waist under a belt of same material with metal bnuckle and
eyelets. Two breast pockets. Will launder well. 40 V 3682--Sizes 3 to 8
years. State age size. Postpaid $1.09."
The ad copy read, "For warm days this little two-piece suit is cool and comfortable as well
as very dressy and good looking. Made of well known Indian Head suiting (a
durable cotton fabric), guaranteed fast color. Waist of fancy color
suiting. Sports collar and cuffs are of plain white to match the straight
pants which button to the waist. Belt with buckle. Pockets in pants. 40
V 3660--Sizes, 2 to 8 years. State age size. Postpaid $1.59." Note the collar This was a collar style we have seen used extensively on boys; collars in the 1920s and 30s. Sears calls it a "sports collar".
The ad copy read, "The cadet blue pants and the fancy blue and white waist with blue collar
and cuffs make a very pleasing combination. Made of the well known Indian
Head suiting, fast color and longwearing. Pants have slash pockets and
self belt with buckle and eyelets. Comfortable sports style collar. A
suit of unusual durability and good looks. Will stand many washings.
State age size. 40 V 3664--Sizes 2 to 8 years. Post paid. $1.79."
The ad copy read, "Because of their fresh and crisp appearance combined with superior
laundering qualities, many mothers prefer linen suits for the youngster.
This two-piece suit is an especially favored syle. Plain oyster color
linen waist with two pockets with imitation flap and button. Long sleeves
have open cuffs that button. Mercerized four-in-hand tie. Oyster color
checked linen pants with side pockets. Detachable belt of same material.
Pants button to waist. 40 V 3656--Sizes, 3 to 8 years. State age size.
Postpaid $1.89."
The ad copy read, "Sun suits have become very popular and these two attractive suits in "sun"style will delight both the boy and his mother. Materials are dainty blue or green mercerized cotton broadcloth. Both fast color and easily washed.
Comfortable low cut neck and back--no sleeves. Detachable white belt with
buckle and eyelets. White piping at shoulders. Sizes--2 to 7 years. State
age size. 40 V 3674--Blue Broadcloth. Postpaid $1.09. 40 V 3680--Green
Broadcloth. Postpaid $1.09"
The ad copy read, "Every mother knows how much hard wear and real service there is in a linen suit. So easy to launder, too. Attractive tan linen pants with brown and blue stripes. Detachable belt of same material with metal buckle. Plain
tan linen waist. Short sleeves and sports collar for cool comfort.
Price very low for a fast color linen suit. 40 V 3685--Sizes 2 to 8 years.
State age size. Postpaid $1.15."
The ad copy read, "There's a boyish air about this combination suit that will please mothers who like simplicity in their little lad's clothes. The Rayon striped tan broadcloath waist with shirt style cuffs harmonizes well with the full
lined all wool and silk brown cassimere with Rayon decorations pants which
button on. Self belt passes through strongly sewed belt loops.
Mercerized four-in-hand tie. Waist and pants may be worn separately if
desired. 40 V 3302--Sizes 3 to 8 years. State age size. Postpaid $1.85."
The ad copy read, "Every little boy's wardrobe should include at least one of these practical
suits. He'll be delighted with his little pull-over sweater of all wool
navy blue worsted with red and white trimming at collar, cuffs and
bottoms. Combines perfectly with the full lined all wool navy blue
cheviot shorts which have belt loop and inside waistband with button
holes. Separate belt with buckle. A high grade suit at a very modest
price. 40 V 3301--Sizes 3 to 8 years. State age size. Postpaid $3.19."
The sailorvsuit was no longer a major boys' style, but it had not yet disappered. The sailor suit offered here by Sears was a traditionally styled sailor suit. It is a little out of place in the illustration. The suit is a standard blue, even though it was a summer suit. Often white suits were nore common in the summer. The ad copy read, "Yarn dyed fast color blue Palmer linen finish suiting or plain color blue
Peggy cloth. Popular sailor fashion which all youngsters desire. Real
values. White broad stripe on collar, cuffs, and big mercerized sleeve
emblem. Cord and whistle. Pockets at sides. Sizes 4 to 8 years. State age
size. 40 V 3676--Blue Palmer suiting. Postpaid. $1.98. 40 V 3662--Blue Peggy
Cloth. Postpaid. $1.98." Interestingly many of the other suits were made for 2 and 3 year olds. The sailor suit began at 4, but ran to the same age eight which was the cut-off point for the other outfits seen here.
Pne of the items here is a colorful stripped blazer, item T. It looks rather like an English school blazer, although the boy is shown wearing what looks like khaki but were rather "oyster" linnen shorts and not gray shorts. There were no actual short pants suits offered on this page. Sears called the blazer a "Noveltry Beach Coat" The ad copy red, "Attractive looking coat for general sports wear. Made of all wool flannel in attractive blue, white and orange stripes. Two-button style with
notched lapels and two large patch pockets. 40 V 3300--Sizes 4 to 10 years. State age size. Postpaid $2.98" Imported Linen Shorts Made of oyster color imported linen with self belt and side pockets. Washable, cool and comfortable. State age size. 40 V 3415--Sizes 4 to 10 years. Postpaid 69c."
Sears offered one short pants suits in the Spring-Summer catalog. It was for a boy from 4-9 years of age. On the page a knickers suits were also offered for this age group. There were many other knickers suits offered in large sizes. The rest of the page was devoted to individual pairs of shorts, some called "English shorts" and a button-on short for boys up to 10 years. It is interesting that only three suits were offered for younger children. This is an indication of the increasingly popular convention of dressing younger boys in casual styles.
Here with the shorts sets are two knicker suits, items U and V. I'm not sure why Sears placed them here, I assume just because the age range was similar. Sears also put knicker suits for younger boys with with the short pants suits. They are all quite similar. The two suits here were done in sizes 4/5-9 years. The placement of knickers suits here rsather than short pants suits suggests that knickers suits were chosen by mothers more than short pants suits, even for the younger boys.
A British reader wrote, "The Sears catalogues are very interesting. The shorts in the illustration look quite smart. I have a question, were these shorts fully
lined? I always think that lined shorts look far smarter than unlined ones." HBC is not sure. We believed that if they were lined that Sears would have mentioned it in the ad copy. Also as most of the shorts here are inexpensive garments men for summerwear, we do not think that they re lined. The one exception is the knickers which werew lined.
Most of the outfits here are $1.00 or close to $1.00, with the exception of the outfits with sweaters and jackets. A few of the outfits including the sailor suit are closer to $2.00. One reader writes, "I can't believe the price even for 1930. In those days the exchange rate of dollars to British pounds was four dollars to the pound, which means the shorts would have cost around five-shillings,
what we would have called a dollar in slang terms." Yes it does sound inexpensive, but compare this to what people were earning at the time. Low income workers at the time in America worked for $0.20-0.25 an hour--many farm workers earned even less. Skilled workers earned more. So some workers had to work 4 hours to earn even the money for one of the $1.00 suits.
Underwear waists also had buttons, however, for the purpose of attaching outer clothing such as short pants as well as pin tubes to allow for the fastening of hose supporters. The use of the term "waist" for both boys' outer shirts and for underwear with waist buttons is a bit confusing for modern readers. Waists were very similar to modern shirts, but were not called waists because there were no shirt tails. Tails were not needed as the waists securely buttoned on to under-wear waists or the pants directly. They were presumably included on the page with short pants because they were most commonly worn with shorts pants. They were, however, not exclusively worn with shorts. Almost all of the shorts here are specified as being done in the button-on style even though belts are shown. The ones not specififically stated as being button-on may also have been done in the button-on style, we are not sure about this. A reader writes, "Almost all of the the pants indicate they have buttons. These buttons would be on the inside of the waists. Presumably the shirts (waists) are made with button holes for the pants. So the belts were primarily for decorative purposes. They might be useful, however, if the shorts are not worn with the tops shown here."
We believe that short pants suits were somewhat more common in America than suggested by te Sears catlog. This is because the Sears catalog primarily appealed to rural, middle-class, and bargain concious consumers. Affluent Americans especially those in the upper-middle class and upper class would not normally buy from sears. Especially for a suit, they woukld go to a men's wear store. We believe that such families were more likely to buy short pants suits than the average American family.
One reader writes, "I like the way the artist has colour co-ordinated the shorts with the shirts. I thnk this is a very smart look." An English reader writes, "More generally these pages are very interesting as they are not what I'd imagined American boys wearing in the 1930's - only having old films to go on I thought the colours were more "sober". Certainly from what I know this was the case in England in that
period - clothes being in greys and browns ( khaki) even for casual wear. The exception for a minority at that period would be school uniforms - blazers in particular - but these didn't really take off until after World War II for most of the population. Brighter coloured clothes (and even patterned rather than plain) only seemed to come out here in the 60s. The wearing of the formal shoes you mention here may mean that this outfit was being offered as as a best outfit - maybe in the
summer. I only really know about what I observed from the 60s on but I'm pretty sure these sort of clothes would be rare in England at that period - which means there was an American style being developed rather than looking to Europe, as HBC seems to hint
some families did. I suppose because many of the parents had emigrated at the turn of the century).Anyway - just speculation but these pages are very interesting." [HBC note: Our assessment is that European styles were very important in America during the 1th century. This declined in the 20th century, especially after World War I. English styles continued to be important, but more for the upper-class than main-stream America.]
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