Figure 1.--This page from the Penndy's 1971 catalog offers camp shorts from boys of various ages. There were alao summer shirts offered like the knit "T"-shirt seen here. Here we see green and khaki, almost certainly navy blue was also offered. |
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Camp shorts were one of the most popular types of short pants in the 1970s. They were worn by boys of a wide range of ages. All the major mail order catalogs offered camp shorts in 1971. Penney called them "camping style shorts". They were stylistic differences among the shorts offered. The Penney's camp shorts seem to be cut a little shorter than the Sears camp shorts. We note a 1971 Penney's ad for pogo sticks. the boy on the pogo stick is illustrated wearing camp shorts.
All the major mail order catalogs offered camp shorts in 1971. Camp shorts began to appear in America in the late 1960s. They were so named because they were a handy style to wear at camp. The large pockets provide ample space for a boy to squirle away rocks, leaves, and even a spare frog he might come across. This was one factor in their popularity with boys. Although named for camp wear, more often they were sinply summer play wear at home. Camp shorts were generally cut at mid-lengths. There distnguishing features were large cargo pockets, usually at least one that closed with zippers. They were primarily available in dark green, blue, and khaki.
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. Penney 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. JCPenney stores sell fashion at value prices. The company targets consumers in the middle of the American population (household incomes of $30,000 to $80,000 a year). Sales totaled $15 billion in 2003. JCPenney department stores are primarily situated in regional malls which is where most Americans now shop for clothing. JC Penney is also America�s largest direct merchant of general merchandise. Its catalog-ordering network is the largest in the United States, handling 35 million telephone calls a year. Direct�s four state-of-the-art logistics centers process more than 33 million orders a year. JC Penney Direct publishes and distributes 384 million catalogs annually. They include 94 catalog titles serving distinct consumer groups. Catalog sales (including Internet sales) totaled $2.6 billion in 2003. The company publishes 94 catalog titles each year, including the Fall/Winter big book. JC Penny added a new channel in 1998-- JCPenney.com. The JC Penney Internet store is one of the largest apparel and home furnishings retail sites on the Internet. The site has the highest rate (10 percent) of converting site visitors into buyers. It has grown from annual sales of $15 million in 1998 to more than $600 million in 2003. The Company anticipates that the online store will top $1 billion in sales in the next few years.
Penney called them "camping style shorts".
They were stylistic differences among the shorts offered. The Penney's camp shorts seem to be cut a little shorter than the Sears camp shorts. We note a 1971 Penney's ad for pogo sticks. the boy on the pogo stick is illustrated wearing camp shorts. The Summer 1971 Penney's catalog showed two boys in camp shorts. The page depicted an older boy most likely in his teens is also wearing a pair of camp shorts. This shows that the catalog companies did target older boys in their advertising. Unfortunately we do not have the ad copy for this page.
Boys wearing camp shorts in the 1970s are commonly shown wearing them with tune socks. We note here the boys are shown wearing ankle sicks, both white and dark. Actually the white athletoc socks were much more common.
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