Figure 1.-- |
Wool was especially appreciate in the manufacture of warm clothing in the milenia before moderm central heating. Some actually mounted a veritable crusade for wool.
Fashion and health experts in the 19th century promoted the use of wool in children's clothes. Dr. Gustav Jaeger, Professor of Zoology at the
University of Stuttgart, in the 1870s and 1880s, promoted the idea that the wearing of woolen underwear was essential for health. He even made the nonsensical claim
that wool is cooler in hot weather because it does not conduct the heat
of the atmosphere to the body. Not only did Jaeger promote these
theories, he capitalized on them by founding Jaeger's Sanitary Woolen
Clothing Company. The company prospered and had worldwide influence. In
fact, it exists today, although now is a largely a purveyor of womens'
fine woolens, and not long underwear.
Dr. Gustav Jaeger, Professor of Zoology at the
University of Stuttgart, in the 1870s and 1880s, promoted the idea that the wearing of woolen underwear was essential for health. He even made the nonsensical claim
that wool is cooler in hot weather because it does not conduct the heat
of the atmosphere to the body. Not only did Jaeger promote these
theories, he capitalized on them by founding Jaeger's Sanitary Woolen
Clothing Company. The company prospered and had worldwide influence. In
fact, it exists today, although now is a largely a purveyor of womens'
fine woolens, and not long underwear. One London women wrote "I still remember the childhood misery of tickly Jaeger combinations, which one hot spring day I threw out of my bedroom window, demanding indignantly of my mother: "What did you expect me to
wear?" Unfortunately it was windy as well as warm, and the offending
garment drifted into next-door neightbour's garden, where I was sent
shamefacedly to retrieve it."
The merits of wearing woolen clothing overall, and not just woolen
underwear, were promoted in books in the 1880s and 1890s by Miss Ada S.
Ballin. The titles of her books varied from the earlier "The Science of
Dress," and later to "Health and Beauty in Dress." Miss Ballin's theories
were very thorough, and she provided detailed suggestions as to proper
clothing for boys, girls, men and women on a year-around basis. For
example, she recommended that younger boys could wear coordinated woolen
outfits, with woolen Jersey suits worn over woolen combinations (i.e.,
over long underwear) and woolen stockings, whereas in summer older boys
might wear woolen sailor suits over wool flannel vests and drawers or
combinations. She cautioned, however, that the jacket of the sailor suit
"must not, as is sometimes done, be cut low in the neck,or if so cut, it
must be filled up with a thick white flannel, so as to keep the warmth
equal. "
Thus, she firmly extended Dr. Jaeger's theories that woolens should be
worn at all seasons, stating that "My own opiniion is that woolen should
be worn not only in winter, but in summer also, the only difference being
in the thickness of the make and number of garments, and I am led to
believe this by the physiological facts that I have stated. Woolen
garments, if themselves kept clean, preserve the skin in a clean and
healthy condition, keeping it warm in winter, and preventing chill in
summer." She went on to state" That irritation which sometimes follows
the unaccustomed wearing of woolen next to the skin is generally caused
by the material being of recent manufacture or coarse quality, and in all
but the rarest cases it passes off within a few days, if the practice is
persevered in."
Medically sound or otherwise, the practice of wearing woolen underwear persisted for decades. Well past the turn of the century, many physicians strongly continued to recommend that children should be clad in woolen underwear the year round, the belief being that the wearing of wool would help stave off childhood diseases. Similar advice was provided in magazines dealing with women's and children's clothing, although there were occasionally dissenting voices.
The need for extra warmth even on s
Summer days alludes to the conviction
that the wearing of woolen underwear is essential for health. However,
the article goes on to stress that woolen underwear is also desirable for
comfort in the summer, because the older boy can derive quite as much
comfort from blouse or sailor suits worn over light-weight wool union
underwear as the younger boy still in dresses.
And so in spite of contrary views, the insistence that children should
wear long woolen underwear the year around for health and comfort
persisted for decades. The custom was still prevalent in the 1930s and
1940s, although presumably it is rare today.
The Designer in an article entitled "Summer Blouses and Suits for Little Lads" (June 1906) recommended that boys still in dresses may wear knickerbockers made of the dress materials under the frocks instead of petticoats, or may wear ordinary drawers,
with either the drawers or knickerbockers being attached to an underwaist. For
the extra warmth sometimes required during summer days, union suits of
light-weight wool are worn under the knickerbockers and underwaist.
We're not sure how childen liked being clad in woolen underwear, but
they most probably disliked it, particularly in summer. An article on
dress for little boys in The Ladies' Standard Magazine (March 1896)
voiced a mild protest, stating "As regards underclothing each mother
knows what is best adapted to the climatic conditions in which her little
ones live. Physicians recommend wool next to the skin all year round, but
I cannot help thinking that once a child can run around, wool becomes a
cruelty in warm weather. This point, however, must be decided by the
mother according to the needs of each individual child."
Presumably much of the woolen underwear was machine knitted, but it must
have also been common for mothers to make hand knitted underwear for their
children. Patterns for underwear appear in some old fashion magazines, such as a those that
appeared in the New York Fashion Bazar for a child of 6 or 8. The
outfit described consisted of a heavy knitted long woolen
"vest" to be worn next to the skin around the chest, and accompanied by
equally heavy long drawers attached to a waist or bodice suspended by
shoulder straps. The drawers were fitted with a row of buttons around the
waist so that a knitted woolen petticoat could be suspended from them,
creating in all an exceptionally warm three-piece outfit of
underclothing. The seasons for which the outfit was to be worn was not
specified, but given that many mothers of that era firmly believed that
their children must wear woolen underwear the year around, some children
were probably compelled to wear the outfit even in summer, although it
might not have contributed much to their comfort.
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main wool page]
[Return to the Main material page]
[Return to the Main cold weather clothing page]
[Introduction]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Biographies]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[Activities]
[Countries]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web chronological pages:
[The 1840s]
[The 1900s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1950s]
[The 1960s]
[The 1970s]
[The 1980s]
[The 1990s]
[The 2000s]