Figure 1.--Sears in the Fall and Winter catalog (p. 302) offered garter waists in sizes 2 to 12. I think the sizes were expressed in chrnological ages. The ads were fairly prominently placed, suggesting that a substantial number of children were still wearing long stockings. There was a choice of two styles. |
Sears in the Fall and Winter catalog (p. 302) offered garter waists in sizes 2 to 12. I think the sizes were expressed in chrnological ages. The ads were fairly prominently placed, suggesting that a substantial number of children were still wearing long stockings. There was a choice of two styles. There were both Child's and Kern'a garter waists. The ads stressed that the garter waists helped the children to look neat. The ad copy sressed that they were wasy to wear, comfortable and made for active wear. The ad stresses that they were appropriate for both boys and girls.
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.
The ad shows these garter waists were worn by both boys and girls. Strangely three models are used for the two different garter waists, we are not sure why this was (figure 1). A reader writes, "In response to your observation that only two models of garter waist are illustrated but that for one model, both a
girl and a boy are shown wearing it. It may be too obvious to mention, but I think the point here is simply that this kind of garter waist is equally appropriate for both genders." Yes I supose that is the reason. It is curious to me that this is done for the Kern's model and not the child's model, perhaps the use of "child" in the name made this unecessary. It is worth noting, hoiwever, that it was necessary to show they both boys and girls worn the Kern's garter waist. This suggests that Sears though some people would not understand this. Sears or any other catalog couple hasd to be careful about how to use illustration on each page. It is also worth noting that all the children wearing garter waists in this advertisement are wearing them over very briefly cut union suits rather than over long johns. Remember that this is the Fall and Winter catalog. This cpold indicate that the main purpose of wearing long stockings in 1942 was for dressiness and formality rather than warmth. It could also mean that this was an illustration Sears already had in stock and just decided to reuse it as an economy measure.
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.
We notice ads in Sears for long stockings throught the 1940s. The ads in the early 40s are fairly prominent, but become less so as the decade goes on. This trensd also affected the ads for various kinfs of stocking supporters. By the end of the decade long stockings had not disappeared, but were no longer prominently featured in catalogs.
We are not sure to what extent that long stockings and garter waists were worn by boys in the early 1940s. Sears in this advertisement for gater waists makes a point of showing that both types of waists were suitable for boys. Of course catalog advertisements can not be taken as definitive evidence, but is is one indication that boys were wearing them.
Sears offered two types of garter waists in the Fall and Winter catalog (p. 549).
The Sears ad copy read, "Child's Garter Waist 59 c.
Keep the children neatly dressed whether they're at school or at play. Helps them learn to dress themselves and save your time--they can put on this garter waist in a jiffy. White cotton only. Elastic and non-elastic web. Garters are adjustable length for comfort. Sizes: small (2 to 4), medium (6 to 8), large (10-12). State size. Shipping weight, 3 ounces 25 D 5375 Each 59 cents." [Note: This garter waist has non-elastic shoulder straps, and a waist band (apparently with two buttons back and front for attaching outer clothing). Sears offered a variety of button-on garmernts in the same catalog. There were also four elastic supporters, two in front and two in back, for the stockings. This style, utilizing four individual garters rather than the more usual pair of Y-shaped supporters, resembles in some respects the German Leibchen, popular in northern Europe up through the 1950s.]
The Sears ad copy read, "Kern's Garter Waist 49 c.
Known throughout the nation for its quality. Will not slip off shoulder. No buttons to come off. They're comfortable and permits lots of movement for healthy active children. A postive way of keeping their stockings up. Helps teach children to be neat. They will wear and wash well. Strong white cotton tape with adjustable supporters. Even Sizes: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 or 12. State
size. Shipping weight, 3 ounces. 25 D 5377 Each 49 c."
[Note the emphasis on teaching boys and girls to be neat is interesting in this advertisement. One of the chronic problems with long stockings was keeping them tautly gartered so that they did not sag and look untidy, especially during the hyperactive phases of childhood. These garter waists are supposedly designed to make children conscious of their appearance even at quite young ages. Another thing to notice here: the two boys and the girl
shown are all wearing trunk-length union suits under their garter waists whereas some of the earlier Sears ads had shown them being worn over long underwear. Children who wore long stockings in the late 1930s and early 1940s wore them under shorter pants and dresses than had been true at earlier periods, dressiness and formality apparently being thought by mothers to be more important than protection from the cold. I suspect that class distinction may have played some role in the fashion.]
Sizing can be confusing. Many children's garments in American catalogs are sized by age. European catalogs often use centimeters. Another complication is that there are size categories for hosiery and shoes and these vary from country to country. HBC has a size page devoted to hosiery and shoes in America. The sizes of the stockings are correlated to the sizes of the childrens' shoes. On a different stocking page [a link here would be helpful--I'll try to find the URL for you] HBC actually shows a chart keying the stocking sizes to shoe sizes. And the sizing is further complicated because the size range for younger childrens' shoes is a different scale from that used for older childrens' shoes. According to this chart the larger size stockings (9, 9 1/2, and 10) would
probably fit children from about 11 or 12 years to about 14 or even 15 years. I am not sure what the size of the stocking supporters are. I think these might indicate chronological age. A HBC reader writes, "Waist suits, which (unlike stockings) were sold by age size. A reader tells us that this was the case for waist suits and we think it was also the case for garter waists.
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