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Here is an historically interesting advertisement for hose supporters--one of the earliest on record and important because it uses a technology for the clasp that apparently didn't survive the test of time or popularity. These supporters (apparently used for all members
of the family) were made by the Phoenix Suspender Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a manufacturer of men's suspenders. The clasp, which was unique to this particular fabricator, was used for men's sock garters, women's corsets, and boys' and girls' waists.
Here is an historically interesting advertisement for hose supporters--one of the earliest on record and important because it uses a technology for the clasp that apparently didn't survive the test of time or popularity. The clipping is not dated, but we believe it was published, probanly in a newspaper during the early-1880s. This ad dates from the early 1880s, very shortly after hose supporters for holding up stockings were introduced in America about 1875.
These supporters (apparently used for all members
of the family) were made by the Phoenix Suspender Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a manufacturer of men's suspenders. The clasp, which was unique to this particular fabricator, was used for men's sock garters, women's corsets, and boys' and girls' waists. Notice the use of the "Daisy" brand.
The fastener, which dates to a period before the rubber button was introduced to prevent
tearing hosiery, consists of a metal lever that is pushed back to release the stocking and pushed down and locked to hold the stocking top in place. The Daisy clasp, not seen earlier, holds the stocking between two metal pieces that open and close around the top of the stocking. The diagram on the ad illustrates the clasp in open and closed position. The entire construction is metal and probably didn't survive commercially because it would have been rough on the stocking tops despite the claims of the advertisement that it "cannot injure" even the finest of "silk hose." Of course children's stockings of this period were almost always woolen or woolen mixed with cotton yarns.
Only fashionable women wore silk hosiery.
The brand name "Daisy" embossed on the top of the clasp may have been taken over by other manufacturers after the Phoenix Suspender Company ceased to manufacture supporters. We note that Montgomery Ward advertised shoulder hose supporters for boys and girls in 1895, referring to one model as "Daisy Hose Supporters".
And as late as 1939-40 Sears was selling garter waists for boys and girls one model of which is referred to as "Kern's Daisy" garter waist, the latter a survival of the popular Dr. Parker style of garment for supporting long stockings. Apparently the name "Daisy" was not pattented and was taken up by both
Wards and Sears at different periods after the Phoenix Suspender Company had gone out of business. Or perhaps the name "Daisy" in these later garter waists is mere coincidence.
The text of the ad, which appears to have appeared in various newspapers and magazines, is somewhat quaint, including a little rhymed passage for added appeal and cleverness:
"To Adjust, Place the edge of the stocking between the two levers. Push
a portion of the garment [i.e., the stocking top or welt] by the upper
lever, through the opening in the under one. To open the clasp, merely
push back the lever to which the web [elastic strap] is attached. Be
Sure the Name "Daisy" is on the Clasp.
The "Daisy" Hose Supporters for rich and poor,
Make you comfortable and they endure,
For tearing stockings, guaranteed a cure,
Keeps them smooth and absolutely secure.
Warranted never to lose their firm hold,
Indestructable, and never grow old,
Cannot injure the finest of silk hose,
Ask for the "Daisy," and wear none but those.
Manufactured by Phoenix Suspender Co., Milwaukee, Wisconsin."
Notice the use of the term "hose". This and the fact that children are not specified suggest that these hose supporters were for both children and adults. We had thought that usually when the item was for children, the term "stockings" were used. A reader tells us, however, "I disagree about your note on the word "hose" and the suggestion that this term applied only to adult garters. The Sears and Wards ads over the decades regularly used the term "hose supporters"
for children's garters. And so do the ads for Hickory waists and Velvet Grip supporters. Both Butler and Polly brands also used the term "hose supporters" for boys' and girls' garters. I believe the term, "stocking supporter," is rather old-fashioned and was probably used in the 19th century for both children's and adult garters. But, at least in America, the term "hose supporter" replaced it and was the standard term during most of the 20th century, although there may have
been exceptions here and there. But the terminology never made a distinction between supporters for children and for adults because the same technology applied equally to both categories. The only
difference was size."
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