Figure 1.-- Here we have a white sailor tunic. These white tunics seem to have been very popular for summer wear. We believe it is the tunic part of a tunic suit, but the pants are lost. The pants were probably white bloomer knickers, but knee pants were also worn. There is some embroidered white detailing on the back flap and sleeve, but this is difficult to see on the white suit. Click on the image to see the back of the suit.

Here we have a white sailor tunic. These white tunics seem to have been very popular for summer wear. We believe it is the tunic part of a tunic suit, but the pants are lost. The pants were probably white bloomer knickers, but knee pants were also worn. There is some embroidered white detailing on the back flap and sleeve, but this is difficult to see on the white suit. The tunic has a back sailir flap, black scarfe, detachable dicky, and wide white belt. The brand name of the suit was Tom Sawyer, a popular brand at the time. We have noted brands for Tom Sawyer clothing in magazines at the time. The tunic is not dated, but we would guess it was made about 1920.

Boys' Early 20th Century Tunics

Tunics were one of the more enduring 19th century styles for boys and they endured into the early 20th Century. Tunics were commonly worn by little boys during the first 2 decades of the 20th Century. They were particularly popular in the 1900s. Tunics disappeared after the First World War. Some wealthy European children, however, continued to be dressed in tunic-like smocks at home into the 1920s and even the 1930s. We note that some of the later tunics were shorter and the boys more clearly wear knickers rather than bloomer knickers that are mostly covered by the tunics.

Tags

The factory cloth tag reads Tom Sawyer Age 4 Washwear Elder Manufacturing Company. There is also a sewn on paper label that says Lot R111 Age 4 and place for price which is not filled in. There is another Tom Sawyer carboard guarantee label attached to the button on one cuff as well as a coarboard with metal ring round tag attached with string at same spot which has no. 4 on one side letter R written on other side. The "R" probably means regular.

Tom Sawyer Clothes

The Elder Manufacturing Company, Inc. began producing clothing in 1916. We note the company producing children's clothing from the very beginning. Tom Sawyer was a brand name for the Elder Manufacturing Company boys' clothes. The garments came with a guarantee tag that says that Tom Sawyer clothes are made for "real boys". The brand was a popular brand in the 1920s. A good example is a the Tom Sawyer white sailor tunic here made about 1920 (figure 1). We have noted ads for Tom Sawyer clothing in magazines at the time. A good example here is a Tom Sawyer sailor suit, we think in the early 1920s. The Tom Sawyer brand clothing we note in the 1910s and 20s were stylish outfits like tunic suits and sailor suits. Today the company is best known for school uniforms.

Chronology

We have noinformation as to when this tunic was made, but would guess that about 1920 would be a reasonable estimate. These tunics were very popular for boys in the 1900s and 1910s, but declined in popularity after World War I in the 1920s. We think this suit was probably made about 1920, but ant where from about 1916-25 is possible. This is primarily because h Elder Manufacturing Company only began making Tom Sawyer clothes in 1916 and tunic suits declined in popularity during the 1920s.

Chronology

The tunic is not dated, but we would guess it was made about 1920. Tumic suits were commonly worn in the 1900s and 10s. We

Description

Here we have a white sailor tunic. These white tunics seem to have been very popular for summer wear. We believe it is the tunic part of a tunic suit, but the pants are lost. The pants were probably white bloomer knickers, but knee pants were also worn. There is some embroidered white detailing on the back flap and sleeve, but this is difficult to see on the white suit. The tunic has a back sailir flap, black scarfe, detachable dicky, and wide white belt. The brand name of the suit was Tom Sawyer, a popular brand at the time. We have noted brands for Tom Sawyer clothing in magazines at the time. The tunic is not dated, but we would guess it was made about 1920.

Garments

The tunic was commonly worn by American boys at the turn of the 20th century. The two essential pieces were the tunic top and the matching pants. We believe it is the tunic part of a tunic suit, but the pants are lost. The tunic has a back sailor flap, black scarf, detachable dicky, and wide white belt. These white tunics seem to have been very popular for summer wear.

Age

Generally American boys stopped wearing tunics once they began school. There may, however, be boys up to about 7 years wearing a dressy tunic suit. We have seem them done in sizes up to 8 years. The tunic here was for a boy age 4 years.

Detailing

There is some embroidered white detailing on the back flap and sleeves, but this is difficult to see on the white suit. There are embroideried or sewn on star designs on the back collar flap . There is also an eagle and 3 V shaped bars on one sleeve. This is a navy rank emblem, that of a chief petty officer. These are all sewn in white thread so they don't show from a distance. The traditional three white stripes are done with a sewn on strips of material. They are also white so they do show at a distance. The stripes appear on the the "V" collar and flap and at the sleeve cuffs. I'm not sure why the detailing was done in white. White was very popular for summer wear and I supose this way there were no colors to fade.