Figure 1.--Here are a range of suits and other garments offered by Jelmoli in 1938. Here we see short pants and knickers, but no long pnts. Notice the cape. That was kind of French school style, but rarely seen in Germany. The boys are pictured wth both flat caps and berets. |
The Jelmoli catalog offered a variety of long and short-sleeved shirts for boys. For some reason they were on the same page as men's pajamas. Some like the polo shirts look rather modern.
We note a catalog form the Grand magasins Jelmoli. Grand magasins Jelmoli has for many years been the flagship department store chain of Switzerland. Johann Peter Jelmoli-Ciolina founded founded the store in 1938. Ciolina must have been the maiden name of his wife. He was from the Swiss-italian section of Switerland. The company has always been headquartered in Zurich where the flag-ship department store was opened. It opened branches throughout Switrzerland, but a few years back it sold or closed all its branches and only kept the large store in Zurich. I would say it was always an "up-scale" department store. The catalog-department was a very small part of their operations and the catalogs carried a very small amount of merchandise, compared to what was available in their stores. The catalog-department was added in 1899.
The Jelmoli catalog offered a variety of long and short-sleeved shirts for boys. For some reason they were on the same page as men's pajamas and mens shirts. Some like the polo shirts will look rather modern. Ohers look more dated. Some of the German terms are unclear to us. Hopefully our German readers will have some insights here.
The Jelmoli ad copy read, "Knaben-Polojacke aus platiertem Kunstseidentrickot, fester Kragen und kurze Aermel. Blau, No 412,195, grau, weiss. Laengen 45 cm – 65cm." This translates as, "Boy polo shirt flat artificial silk material, firm collar and short sleeves. Blue, NO 412.195, grey, white. Lengths 45 cm - 65cm." Note the use of the term "jacke". This might be trnslated as "jacket", but obviously here means shirt.
The Jelmoli ad copy read, "Knaben-Polojacke aus meliertem Trickotstoff, fester Kragen und kurze Aermel. Blau, grau Laengen 45 – 60Cm." This translates as, "Boy polo shirt from [meliertem Trickotstoff?], firm collar and short sleeves. Blue, grey lengths 45 - 60Cm." A reder tells us concerning "meliert Trickotstoff", I looked in my German-English dictionary, but no luck. I think meliert is with a small pattern. Tricktostoff is the material Golfshirts of today are made out of. I can not
recall the English name."
The Jelmoli ad copy read, "Knaben-Polojacke aus solidem Trickotstoff, mit festem Kragen und kursen Aermeln. Blau No. 412,192, grau, weiss. Laengen 45 – 60 cm." This translates as, "Boy polo shirt from solid Trickotstoff, with firm collar and short sleeves. Blue NO. 412,192, grey, knows. Lengths 45 - 60 cm ."
The Jelmoli ad copy read, "Knaben-Sporthemd, solider Oxfordstoff, fester Kragen und lange Aermel, blau No 412.200, grau, beige , Laengen 50 – 90cm." This translates as, "Boy haven shirt, solid Oxford cloth, firm collar and long sleeves, blue NO 412,200, grey, beige, lengths 50 - 90cm."
A reader writes, "I don't think "oxford cloth is a correct translation. Sporthemd is a sports shirt made out of patented cotton material."
The Jelmoli ad copy read, "Knaben-Sporthemd aus feinem, gemustertem Baumwollstoff, mit festem Kragen und langen Aermeln. Blau No 412,203, grau, beige. Laengen 50 – 90cm." This translates as, "Boy haven shirt from fine, examined cotton, with firm collar and long leeves. Blue NO 412.203, grey, beige. Lengths 50 - 90cm."
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