Figure 1.--Eatons offered two types of cotton long underwear offered on page 330. Both were labeled with a Mapel Leaf indicated that they were Canadian made. |
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The Eaton's Fall and Winter, 1917, catalogue offered boys underwear. We note union suits offered in 1917. We are not sure when they were first introduced. We also note undershirts and drawers. Eatons offered a selection of long underwear for boys. There were different types made in both cotton and wool. There were two types of cotton long underwear offered on page 330. Both were labeled with a Mapel Leaf indicated that they were Canadian made. There were several types of wool long underwear offered on page 332. They were all labeled as, "Boys’ Winter-Weight Underwear Moderately Priced". Each had a label indicated we think the type of wool or the company providing the wool.
T. Eaton's was a well known Toranto department store. Their catalogs provide a good indication of the styles popular in Canada at the time. This Canadian retailer began publishing mailorder catalogs in 1881, at least that is we begin noticing them. We have catalogs from the 1970s, although we do not know about the company's current status. The 1970s catalgs were full of clothes which look like American styles. Timothy Eaton, founder of the huge all-Canadian department store chain bearing his name, was an Irish immigrant born on a tennant farm in northern Ireland. He was born in 1834 and followed his brothers to Canada in 1854. His brothers had opened a small dty goods store in St. Marys. Timothy Eaton began his business with a small dry goods business in Toronto during 1869. He built a giant retail store in Ontario’s capital city along with a country-wide mail-order business and a big new branch store in Winnipeg, by the time of his death in 1907. The Winnipeg branch was the first of many branches. Eaton Company business establishments eventually spread all across Canada when Timothy’s family
successors extended the Eaton empire. Timothy masterminded the company during the crucial period of its early development, spanning nearly 40 years. It was Timothy who implemented the concept of the "Department Store", in Canada, a concept which were already flourishing in London, Paris, and New York.
The union suit is a close-fitting underwear garment. The term union refers to the fact that a union suit involves the combination of both a shirt and pants (drawers) in a one piece suit. The garment commonly included a drop seat. This term began to be used in the 1890s. The term union suit was commonly used for adults. The children's version was a waist suit or a waist-union suit. Women also wore union suits. So did girls. But they were associated mainly with men because more men than women wore them. With boys and girls, I'm not sure. I think waist union suits were equally popular for boys and girls because of the waist feature. Union suits for children were essentially combination suits. But union suits without the reinforcement straps were mainly a boy's garment.
Canadian boys in 1917 wore exclusively heavy-weight long underwear during the winter months because of the severe weather and the absence in many cases of central heating. Canada's northern lattitude made keeping children warm during the winter a major concern for mother. No short-leg underwear is shown even though most boys wore knickers.
Eatons offered both cotton and wool underwear. The wool underwear was of course warmer than the cotton underwear. The cotton underwear was, however, more comfortable towear, especially is the weather warmed up a bit.
We are not sure just when combinations (union suits) fitst appeared in Canada. In the 1907 Eaton’s catalog (ten years earlier) no union suits (or “combinations” as they were called in Britain and Canada) were offered for sale. The only style available was separate shirts and drawers although boys normally wore ankle length drawers and long-sleeved shirts during the winter season so that the same areas of the body were covered. Now (1917) we see the union suit being worn in Canada as in the United States. The union suit (a combination of shirt and drawers in a single garment) was an American invention and gradually got taken up by Canada. Combinations appear quite prominently in the 1917 catalogue although the older style of separate undershirts and drawers seems to be equally popular.
The Union suits in the 1917 catalog had an opening, usually a drop seat, in the back (known in slang as a “trap door”) that closed with three buttons just below the waist line in the rear. Union suits always buttoned down the front from the neck to the crotch. They became popular for two reasons: (1) with a union suit there was no overlapping of material or interference around the waist to worry about, and (2) union suits were generally cheaper than separate undershirts and drawers because only one garment with less material had to be purchased. These union suits or combinations were made of heavy-weight cotton. Many union suits for the Canadian and northern market were made of wool or at least part-wool, but some boys are allergic to wool underwear. Moreover, cotton underwear doesn’t scratch the way some woolen underwear does.
The texts for union suits, or “combinations,” do not mention whether the necessary opening in the rear is a flap with a single button or a three-button drop seat. Single flap rear openings on union suits began to be introduced in the 1910s for men’s underwear, but most boys continued to wear the more old-fashioned three-button drop-seat style which for reasons known only to them mothers seemed to have preferred as more practical for children. The separate undershirts have buttons only part-way down the front and have a bib-like panel of double thickness in front and back to give the chest area additional protection from the cold. The drawers have a fly front with buttons and, in one case, a sateen facing around the fly for better wear.
Notice that both models of drawers are equipped with suspender tapes sewn onto the waist band on either side of the fly opening. The tapes are present so that the leather ends of suspenders can pass through these openings before they attach to the buttons on trousers and thus keep the drawers from slipping down over the hips underneath the trousers. Men’s long underwear drawers had the same suspender tapes and for the same reasons. Suspenders seem to have been much more common for both men and boys in 1917 than belts. Obviously, an ordinary belt would not be able to keep underwear drawers from slipping down over the hips.
One of the advantages, obviously, of union suits was that there could be no slippage of the underwear from the waistline as was a problem with separate drawers. Drawers had not yet been introduced with elasticized waist lines.
Eatons offered a selection of long underwear for boys. There were different types made in both cotton and wool.
There were two types of cotton long underwear offered on page 330 (figure 1). Both were labeled with a Mapel Leaf indicated that they were Canadian made.
4C-620--Boys’ Double-Body Combination Suits: The Eatons ad copy read, "Boys’ Double-body combination Suits, made from a fine quality Cotton Yarn, light cream color, double thickness around the body, giving extra protection from the cold, medium winter weight, close-fitting cuffs and ankles. Sizes 22 to 32 [chest measurement]. [Sizes to fit boys from about 10 to 14, or perhaps even 15 or 16] Each, $1.25."
40-619--Good Quality Double-Body Heavy Cotton Yarn: The Eatons ad copy read, "Double-body Union Suits, for boys, made from a fine quality heavy Cotton Yarn, merino finish, good winter weight, double thickness around the body to give extra warmth where it is required. Close ribbed cuffs and ankles. Sizes 22 to 32. Each, $1.35."
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There were several types of wool long underwear offered on page 332 (figure 2). They were all labeled as, "Boys’ Winter-Weight Underwear Moderately Priced". Each had a label indicated we think the type of wool or the company providing the wool.
40-644--Boys’ Medium Winter Weight, Natural Wool Combination Suit: The Eatons ad copy read, "Boys’ Medium Winter Weight, Natural Wool Combination Suit. Made from a fine quality Union yarn, neat, close-fitting cuffs and ankles. A suit that will wash and wear well. Sizes 22 to 32 inches, chest, Each $1.35."
40-647--Boys’ Natural Wool Underwear, shirts or drawers: The Eatons ad copy read, " Boys’ Natural Wool Underwear, shirts or drawers. Shirts have double back and front, drawers are double back.
Shirts, sizes 22 and 24 inches, chest. Each 65 cents.
Drawers, sizes 22 and 24 inches, waist. Each, 65 cents.
Shirts, sizes 26 and 28 inches, chest. Each, 75 cents.
Drawers, sizes 26 and 28 inches, waist. Each, 75 cents.
Shirts, sizes 30 and 32 inches, chest. Each, 85 cents.
Drawers, sizes 30 and 32 inches waist. Each, 85 cents."
40-648--Boys’ All-wool Underwear, shirts or drawers: The Eatons ad copy read, "Boys’ All-wool Underwear, shirts or drawers, made from a fine quality soft English yarn. White mottled color, close-fitting cuffs and ankles, neatly trimmed. Shirts, 22 to 32 inches, chest. Each $1.25. Drawers, sizes 22 to 32 inches, waist. Each, $1.25."
40-645-- Boys’ All-wool Combination Suit: The Eatons ad copy read," Boys’ All-wool Combination Suit. Turnbull’s make, made from a fine quality soft finish English yarn. White mottled color. Close-fitting cuffs and ankles. A suit that will give you excellent service. Sizes 22 to 32-inch chest. Each, $2.50." Turnball was apparently a brad name.
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