Penny's Jackets: Slipovers and Jackets (1936)


Figure 1.-- Here iswere a garment that Penny's called a slip-over. It seems that it was a sweater-type jacket with a partial front opening, a style that does not seem to have been very succesful in America. A similar garment with a zioper closing is called a jacket.

Here we have items from a Penney's Store, in the Mason City Globe-Gazette, Mason City, Iowa (August 11, 1936), page 9. I thought it was a bit unusual to have ads for boys' and girls' school clothes as early as the August 11. But the ad says "Mothers! Choose what your Boy or Girl will need for School, EARlY, when the stocks are new. Only 28 Days til School". Indicative of the Great Depression, Penney's offers even relatively inexpensive items on its "Penney's Lay-Away Plan." One of the most prominent items on a page too complicated to reproduce entirely (page 9 of the Mason City Globe Gazette) were a garment that Penny's called a slip-over. It seems that it was a sweater-type jacket with a partial front opening, a style that does not seem to have been very succesful in America. A similar garment with a zipper closing is called a jacket.

Penny's

Penny's came to have a major catalog business, but in the 1930s it was primarily a chain store. JC Penney was founded by James Cash Penney. He called his first stores Golden Rule Store. He opened the first one in 1902. It was located in Kemmerer, Wyoming. The company grew to be one of the most important retailer in America. Penny had a major impact on American retailing. Merchants in the19th century did not commonly stand behind their merchandise. Penney called his store, the Golden Rule Store to emphasize his approach to retailing. He offered innovations such as money-back returns, standardized pricing, high quality merchandise, and friendly customer service. These were approached that were not very common at the time. Penney began with stores, but eventually began catalog sales, competing with Montgomery Ward and Sears. Penny now offers American consumers three different shopping channels (stores, catalogs, and internet channels). JC Penney in 2003 operated 1,050 JCPenney department stores in all the U.S. states (except Hawaii) and in Puerto Rico. In addition Penney operates 50 Renner department stores in Brazil.

Newspaper Advertisements

Newspaper and magazine advertisments like mail order catalogs are very useful fashion items because they are dates. This is something that available photographs are often not. Thus these ads are very helpful in devekoping information on chronological fashion trends. They also provide information on conventioins, ages, gender, material, color, and other topics associated with clothing and fashion. Penney's Store, in the Mason City Globe-Gazette, Mason City, Iowa (August 11, 1936), page 9. I thought it was a bit unusual to have ads for boys' and girls' school clothes as early as the August 11. But the ad says "Mothers! Choose what your Boy or Girl will need for School, EARlY, when the stocks are new. Only 28 Days til School". Indicative of the Great Depression, Penney's offers even relatively inexpensive items on its "Penney's Lay-Away Plan."

Penny's Offerings

Panny offered two items here a sweater abd aacket. Only the sweater which they called a slipover. The ad copy for the slipover read, "Brushed or Unbrushed Action-Back Slipovers $1.49. New action-back slipovers. Slide fasteners. Wool worsted, plaited on cotton to insure long wear. Plain or patterned. Sizes 8 to 16." These seem to be jackets worn like pullover sweaters. Notice that the illustrations show the boys wearing a shirt and necktie underneath. At first I thought it had a zipper front, but now I am not sure. There is apartial opening, but I an not sure how it fastened. The ad copy for the jacket read, "Boys' Jackets. Navy, Blue $2.69. Heavy, 32 oz. wool for warmth. Popular Talon fastener front. Men's $2.98. These jackets would be popular with boys since the same jacket could be bought by adult men in larger sizes for a slightly higher price. The jacket had a partial front opoening which closed with a zipper. Note the term zipper is not used, but Talon was a brandname gor zipper.






HBC






Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing catalog/magazine pages:
[Return to the Main 1936 stocking supporter garment page]
[Return to the Main American mail order 1930s page]
[Main photo/publishing page] [Store catalogs] [Fashion magazines]



Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Main U.S. page]
[Main U.S. 1930s page]
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Cloth and textiles] [Clothing styles] [Countries] [Topics]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]



Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Sailor suits] [Sailor hats] [Buster Brown suits] [Knickers] [Short pants]
[Eton suits] [Rompers] [Tunics] [Smocks] [Tights] [Long stockings] [Stocking supporters] [Underwear]




Created: 9:13 PM 6/15/2009
Last updated: 9:13 PM 6/15/2009