Figure 1.--

We note some companies referring to children's underwaists as 'panty waists' or 'pantie waists'. The term 'panty waist' originally seems to have referred only to an underwaist. We believe that this term appeared before the term 'panties' became the general term used for women's and girl's underwear pants. And it was probably used by mothers even after the term 'panties' began to be used in the modern sence. We had thought that 'panty waists' was purely a derisive term meaning sissy boys. But in researching the subject, we find that that panty waist was initially used as a term for underwaists. We note many examples. We note Dr. Parker waists described as 'panty waists' (1924). We see a Minneapolis Knitting Mills advertisement (1928). This was a major manufacturer. This was the chief meaning. It was applied later to waist union suits as an adjective--"Panty Waist Union Suits"--i.e., union suits with the features of a panty waist built in. So we must distinguish between a panty waist (= underwaist or garter waist) and panty waist union suit (= union suit with garter waist, underwaist, or panty waist features). We are not sure yet when the term was first used. An example is an unbranded waist union suit in 1921. And we note that boys by the 1920s had begun to take exception to the term. One manufactuyrer, Kazoo, picked up on this issue and warned mothers, ""Mothers! You're to Blame [for the fighting shown above]. "Sissy" is a fighting word with manly boys. Don't rig 'son' out in girlish garments. Get Him Kazoo." An example is the Sierra children. We notice similar recollections from Peggy and Tint. Even so, the term continued to be used in the 1930s. An example is the Lane Bryant catalog (1935). A reader writes, "I calculate that the term "panty waist" as a term of derision began to be popular at the end of the 1930s--pre-war period. That's when we have people using it publicly. But I remember it as a boy's term as early as about 1932 when I was five years old. Even if the actual term wasn't used when this ad was published (1921), boys, I think, would not have welcomed the term because they hated wearing 'panty waists' even in 1921. So I think there is a double reaction involved with this ad. As I said, the great majority of ads for this kind of underwear refer to it as simply "waist union suit", not 'panty waist union suit'. Also the term "underwaist" was much more usual than "panty waist" during this period for the same reason, although both terms were used."

Panty Waists: Garment

We note some companies referring to children's underwaists as 'panty waists' or 'pantie waists'. The term 'panty waist' originally seems to have referred only to an underwaist. We had thought that 'panty waists' was purely a derisive term meaning sissy boys. But in researching the subject, we find that that panty waist was initially used as a term for underwaists. The first mention of a "panty waist" (or "pantie waist") as an alternative term for a child's underwaist in a newspaper advertisement appearing in the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette Indiana (April 9, 1907, on page 11). The advertisement features "Children's Muslin Pantie Waists" for 7 cents each. The first mention of a "panty waist union suit" we have found appears in Lima, Ohio, in the Lima News (July 30, 1912, page 7). Here we find "panty waist union suits" advertised for 13 and a half cents each. These seem to be the earliest newspaper advertisments using the two terms, which means, of course, that the terms were already in current use among the buying public. We also note examples on HBC. We note Dr. Parker waists described as 'panty waists' (1924). We see a Minneapolis Knitting Mills advertisement (1928). This was a major manufacturer. This was the chief meaning. It was applied later to waist union suits as an adjective--"Panty Waist Union Suits"--i.e., union suits with the features of a panty waist built in. So we must distinguish between a panty waist (= underwaist or garter waist) and panty waist union suit (= union suit with garter waist, underwaist, or panty waist features). We are not sure yet when the term was first used. An example is an unbranded waist union suit in 1921. And we note that boys by the 1920s had begun to take exception to the term. Another example is the Lane Bryant catalog (1935).

Panties

We believe that this term appeared before the term 'panties' became the general term used for women's and girl's underwear pants. And it was probably used by mothers even after the term 'panties' began to be used in the modern sence.

Painty Waists: Derisive Term

We first became acquainted with the term 'painty waist' as a somewhat dated, derisive epilet for 'sissy boy'. Only later did we realize that the original meaning was an actual garment.

Popular usage

Popular usage of the term seems to hve come before print usage. An example is the Sierra children. We notice similar recollections from Peggy and Tint. Even so, the term continued to be used in the 1930s. A reader writes, "I calculate that the term "panty waist" as a term of derision began to be popular at the end of the 1930s--pre-war period. That's when we have people using it publicly. But I remember it as a boy's term as early as about 1932 when I was 5 years old. Even if the actual term wasn't used when this ad was published (1921), boys, I think, would not have welcomed the term because they hated wearing 'panty waists' even in 1921. So I think there is a double reaction involved with this ad. As I said, the great majority of ads for this kind of underwear refer to it as simply "waist union suit", not 'panty waist union suit'. Also the term "underwaist" was much more usual than "panty waist" during this period for the same reason, although both terms were used."

Printed references

Our preliminary research on "panty waist" as a slur for a sissy suggests that the word in the satirical sense dates from the middle 1930s--about the same time that panty waists for older boys declined substantially. The idea seems to have appeared in the late-1910s. One manufactuyrer, Kazoo, picked up on this issue and warned mothers, ""Mothers! You're to Blame [for the fighting shown above]. "Sissy" is a fighting word with manly boys. Don't rig 'son' out in girlish garments. Get Him Kazoo." The actual term seems to appear later. In the Logansport Press (Logansport, Indiana) we notice an article dated February 10th, 1935, page 5, on the new practice of raising quail on farms for the upcoming hunting season. The idea of raising quail professionally so that more birds would be avialable to hunters struck the author of the article as a "Panty Waist" measure: "My gosh--Bob White has gone 'Panty Waist' [for using the new farm-raised quail instead of sticking to wild birds]." There are many uses of the term "panty waist" in sports articles that appeared in the months and years following this article. It became fashionable as a term of weakness in various sports such as football, hockey, and wrestling--and also as a term applied to politicians who endorsed what writers regarded as "weak" policies. But before February, 1935, we have found no printed use of the term except to refer to children's clothing in a positive sense--either as underwaists with waist buttons, reinforcement straps, and supporter tabs or as union suits with these same features. So I would date the term as slang for a sissy from the early 1930s. In the 1920s when so many boys still wore underwaists (also known as panty waists) or waist union suits, the slur would have made little sense because the garments with this name were so common among boys as well as girls. Panty waists for both boys and girls continued to be sold for children of both genders throughout the 1930s in sizes from 2 to 12 (and sometimes older). But increasingly, during the 1930s, they were worn mainly by girls and by boys under the age of ten. About age ten, as I recall (in 1937), I no longer had to wear an underwaist with pin-on supporters for long stockings but wore a more grown-up Dr. Parker style garter waist until about thirteen. I remember the term "panty waist" as a teasing word in the 1930s. My mother never used this term, however. She referred to my underwear as just a "waist" or a "garter waist."

Created: 9:44 PM 9/26/2011
Last updated: 9:44 PM 9/26/2011