Figure 1.-- A French reader tells us, "The model at the right was called Petit bateau and was very popular for boys. This model was called "culotte baby " the French term baby means rather a juvenile style than an actual baby. This garment."
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Figure 1.-- A French reader tells us, "The model at the right was called Petit bateau and was very popular for boys. This model was called "culotte baby " the French term baby means rather a juvenile style than an actual baby. This garment." |
A French reader tells us, "The model at the right was called Petit bateau and was very popular for boys. This model was called "culotte baby " the French term baby means rather a juvenile style than an actual baby. This garment during the 1930s and early 40s was for boy from 6 mounths till 14 years old. Gradually this style became worn more by younger boys. By the middle 1950s it was only for todlers up to about 3 years of age. It disappead by the end of the 1950s. It could be butonned at the undershirt, but this was optional. The model at the left was for a girl. About 90 percent of city girls wore this model.
Au Bon Marché was a large Paris Department store. The store was one of the most popular in Paris. It still is a major Paris landmark. Most historians claim the Magasin au Bon Marché in Paris was the world's first true department store (1852). Au bon Marché is still a large Paris department store. HBC has acquired some Au Bon Marché advertisments for boys clothing from the early 20th century. It is considered by some to be the oldest and the classiest department store in Paris. Gustave Eiffel had a hand in its design. Womenswear (first floor) carries avant-garde as well as classic designers and a sophisticated lingerie department. Elsewhere you'll find a glossy menswear department, kitchen and household items, bedlinens, curtain fabrics, furniture, stationery, a large bookshop, children's toys and clothes. Shop 2 contains an excellent food hall, bar and restaurant, as well as an antiques arcade.
Petit Bateau was a French company producing children clothes. It would be translated "Little Boat". The bottom line of the ad reads, "Cu;lotte 'Petit Bateau' pour bien habiller les enfants." I think that translates as, "Petit Bateau short pants for dressing children well." Petit Bateau "underwear is the most important French Brand . It was a widely recognized brand since the early 1900s. It is very highly regarded and the company's underwear garments served as basic styles copied by other companies and became standard styles. Since 1936 , practically all French children living in cities wore " culotte Petit Bateau ". The Petit Bateau underwear were for both boys and girls even in 1900.
The underwear here are referred to as "culotte" in the Au Bon Mrché ad. This was the same word for short pants. (In American Ebglish, "shorts" can also refer to both short pants and underpants.) A French reader tells us, "The model at the right was called Petit bateau and was very popular for boys. This model was called "culotte baby " the French term baby means rather a juvenile style than an actual baby. This garment during the 1930s and early 40s was for boy from 6 mounths till 14 years old. Gradually this style became worn more by younger boys. By the middle 1950s it was only for todlers up to about 3 years of age. It disappead by the end of the 1950s. It could be butonned at the undershirt, but this was optional. The model at the left was for a girl. About 90 percent of city girls wore this model.
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