Figure 1.--Eatons offered a range of younger boys' suits in 1927. Here we see various suit stles. Note the suit which did not have lapels and buttoned at the collar. This was a suit goung out od style, but are still prominently featured by Eatons. Note that Eatons did not indicated what the style was called. This was a popular boys' style in the early 20th century, but as far as we can tell, did not have a proper name. Note the short pants/knee pants as well as the long stockings.

Eaton's offered a range of younger boys' suits. There are both standard sack suits and the the lapelless jackets that buttoned at the collar. Eaton's does not reall provide a name for this style, but does refer to them as a junior suit. There was also a sailor suit. The suits were done in kneepants and knickers. All the boys in the ad are shown wearing black or brown long stockings. These suits are for boys from 3 to 10 years old. This ad appeared on p. 160 of the Eaton's Fall and Winter catalogue for 1927.

Eaton's Department Store

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.

Chronology

These suits appeared on p. 160 of the Eaton's Fall and Winter catalogue for 1927.

Suit Styles

Eaton's offered a range of younger boys' suits. It is an interesting mix of older styles along with sime that look rather modern. There are both standard sack suits and the the lapelless jackets that buttoned at the collar, a style not usually named for some reason. There was also a sailor suit. We note single breadsted jackets and jackets done with Norgfolk styling. The suits were done in knee-length short pants, kneepants, and knickers. The knickers are referred to as bloomer pants.These suits are for boys from 3 to 10 years old, although this varied somewhat friom style to style. They covered the range from pre-school to the primary grades to age 10 years.

Accompanying Clothes

Note the flat caps, a popular style for boys headwear at the time. Also note that all the boys in the ad are shown wearing black or brown long stockings. None of the boys are show with kneesocks. This is an indicator that long stockings were still very common at the time. We suspect that longstockings were considered more appreopriate than kneesocks for suits.

Sizing

Eaton's offers some pointers as to sizing, "Be sure to state age or size when ordering. For your information proportionate sizes for ages are given below. For age 3 (chest size 21), 4 (22), 5 (23), 6 (24), 7 (25), 8 (26), 9 (27), 10 (28)."

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Created: July 20, 2003
Last updated: 2:42 AM 3/4/2006