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American mail order catalogs with boys clothes -- 1893
American Mail Order Catalogs with Boys Clothings: 1893
Figure 1.--The Best 1892-93 fall and Winter catalog offered some 30 different shirt-like tops for younger boys on 3 pages. The main heading is shirt waists, a basic shirt like garment for detachable collars. The first two first two illustrations such as 102 here, however, show a top with a collar. We might call it a blouse today, but Best seems to only use the term 'blouse' for tops that actually blouced. None of these tops has shirt tails. The ad copy has a lot of informatioin, but unfortunately not the major types like shirt waist, blouse, and shirt. The illustrations are still basic because of the still developing lithographic technology.
We have found 1993 catalog pages with a great deal of some useful boys clothing information. We have found material from the Best & Co, an important New York City Department Store. They call their children's section, Liliputian Bazaar. We see blouses and shirts as well as shirt waists. Blouses at the time were not just for girls, but widely worn by boys. And 1893 was in the middle of the Fauntleroy Craze. We note Delineator Fauntleroy blouses. And was common in the late-19th century there were many different offerings, most not illustrated. And shirt waists were worn by boys and girls. Actually it was young working women that were commonly weraing shirt waists. Boys also commonly wore suits. The Work Brothers in 1893 like Best and other retailers offered a wide selection of boys suits in sizes 11 to 18 years. The company also offered knee pants which had become standard for boys at the time.
Kilt Suits
Blouses and Shirts
Modern terms for shirts, blouses, an shirt waists were not well eatablished. We see shirt waists with collars and blouses were only the type that actually bloused. Most of the shirt-like tops for boys that we have found are done without shirt tails. We have found material from the Best & Co, an important New York City Department Store in their 1892-93 Fall and Winrer catalog. They called their children's section, Liliputian Bazaar and the heading is 'Shirt Waists and Blouse'. We see blouses and shirts as well as shirt waists, but no shirts with tails. The 102 item here is an example (figure 1). Note that it has an attched collar, although under the shirt-waist heading. Blouses at the time were not just for girls, but widely worn by boys. Some were quite fancy Fauntleroy blouses, others were rather plain and could be worn with detachable collars. Boys commonly wore blouses in the 1890s, but Best reserves the terms for tops that actually blousded out. It became accepted for boys to wear blouses and othev shirt-like tops without suit jackets during the summer. Thus the phrase, 'shirt-waist youngsters'. Adult men were expected to wear their suit jackets. We note that the Delineator offered quite a range of Fauntleroy blouses in 1893.
Reefer Suits
Suits
Casual clothing styles were not common in the 19th century. People including boys were commonly dressed formally. This ofren mneant suits. And catalogs offered many different selectionoptionss, many more than in modern catalogs and stores.
The Work Brothers in 1993 offered a wide rannge of "boys suits" in sizes 11 to 18. These suits appear to be long pants suits. The catalog describes the material and color, but does not specify sizes. Note the use of the word 'nobby' which is no longer used. It apparently meant that it looked like something an affluent or stylish person would wear. There is another section for "children's suits". These appear to be knee pants suits.
Coats
Pants
HBC in 1893 has noted both knee pants and long pants. We have not noted either short pants or knickers in the catalogs we have found. This does not mean that they did not exist, only that they were not common. The photohraphic record confirms ghat knee pants had become standard for boys.
Work Brothers offered kneepants for boys from 4 to 13 years of age. This is interesting because it suggests the age at which parents began to breech boys and the age at which boys began wearing long pants.
