Figure 1.--Here are the knee pants offered separately in the Eatons Spring-Summer 1907 catlog. There were five different choices in material, but the cut and styling was essentially the same. |
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Pants or trousers were mostly offered as part of complete suits. Notice that knickers are not yet a major style. Canadian parents could also purchase boys' knee pants separately without their being part of a suit. The relative importance of suits suggests that most parents bouught sits rather than pants separately. The choices was much more limited than suits, but they were available. An example is the knee pants offered in the Eaton's Spring-summer caalog. The illustration for the knee pants shows boy wearing
with suspenders, which agrees with the prominence of suspenders as a boy's item on the "Furnishings" page. There were no knickers offered separately. The youngest size for long pants was age ??.
Eatons in their 1907 offered several types of boys' knee pants. There were five selections. The sizes are waist sizes, the smallest being 22 inches and the largest 33 inches. These suits seem to range from ages 10 or 11 to about 16 or even 17. A boy with a 33-inch waist measurement could be a younger boy who was very fat, but, normally, size 33 would indicate a teenager of about 15,16, or 17. Many slender young men (age 20-23)
have waist sizes of only 30. Another indication that boys wore knee pants until they were nearly adults. There was only one illustration. Apparently the style and cut of the different knee pants was basically the same, only the material was different.
The Eatons' ad copy read, "Navy Blue Serge, lined throughout. Sizes 22 to 28. 25 cents." The illustration specified E3-3030. It is a very small illustation without detail and thus presumably would presumably illustrate the other knee pants offered as well.
The Eatons' ad copy read, "Dark Domestic Tweeds. Sizes 22 to 28: 49 cents."
The Eatons' ad copy read, "Strong Dark Domestic Tweeds. Sizes 29 to 30: 60 cents."
The Eatons' ad copy read, "Grey Halifax Tweeds also navy blue serge. Sizes 22 to 28 60 cents, 29 to 33: 75 cents."
The Eatons' ad copy read, "Navy Blue and Black Worsted Serges, dark all wool tweeds. Sizes 22, 23, 24: 75 cents; 25, 26, 27, 90 cents; 28, 29, 30 $1.00; 31, 32, 33 $1.25."
The Eatons' ad copy read, "Fine Navy Blue neat imported tweeds. Sizes 22, 23, 24: 90 cents; 25, 26, 27: $1.00; 28, 29, 30: $1.25; 31, 32, 33: $1.50."
There were no knickers offered separately and only one suit with knickers. Knickers were not yet an important boys' trouser style offered by Eatons. We suspect this was a good indicator for Canafian fashions in generl.
The youngest size for long pants was age ??.
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