Figure 1.-- The Strouss and Eisendrath wholesale catalog included a wide range of colorful tunic suits and other garments for boys. They were included under the general category of wash suits. Here we see three of the tunic suits offered which the company called Busters. They were for boys 2 1/2 - 7 years. Similarly styled saolor blouses were for boys to age 10 years. These were just three of the many styles offered. Most of these tunic suits were done with bloomer knickers, but notice the middle one here as straight-leg knee pants,

A variety of deestinctive garments were availsable for toddlers and younger boys. Garments with simple casual styles were popular in the 1910s. This was in sharp contrast to the dresst, very fussy stles worn in the late-19th and very early-20th century. Styles for younger children were increasingly gender specific. The button-on style appears to have been very popular for boys. We note tunic suits which had various names. Wards calls them Russian blouses. They were also called Busters. Popular catalogs of the day offered a wide range of styles. Many were done with sailor styling, but there were many other styles as well. There were also rompers. And because some catalogs were beginning to use color, we have a good idea of the colors we used for these outfits.

Wards Russian Blouses

Here we see some of the tunic suits offered by Wards in 1914. Wards called them "Russian blouses" which was a common term at the time. Wards included in a category of wash suits which also included sailor blouses and French blouses. The illustrations shows them as a boy's outfit (figure 1). We have seen girls wearing similar outfits, but here boys tunics are depicted. The suggestion was that this was a play outfit, but some of the styules shown are clearly dressy suits. Some of the outfits had short pants/kneepants while others had bloomer (elasticised) knickers. It is difficult to tell for some of the suits. We refer to these as tunnic suits because the tunic jacket and pants match or were coordinated.

Wards Sailor Blouse Suits

We note Wards offering sailor blouse suits. These were sailor suits worn with middy blouses. They were one of the styles of wash suits shown with the Russian blouse outfits. They were offered in only a very slight older range of sizes. The top was a blouse wjhich blouced at the waist with a drawstring. The pants were the same bloomer knickers worn with the tunic suits (Russian blouses) and French blouses. The Wards illustrations show them being worn by older boys who are wearing dark long stockings rather than short socks.

Wards French Blouse

We note Ward's offering French blouse outfist. Most of the wash suits were tunic suits called Russian blouse suits. We are not precisely sure what Wards meant by a French blouse. Apparently the blouse or top did not extend beyond the waistline like the tunic suit. We are not sure to what extent this was a common term in the trade or just a term used by Wards. They were sizedT for children 2 1/2 to 7 years of age, just like the tunic suits.

Strouss and Eisendrath Wash Suits

Louis Eisendrath organized his own manufactirering firm, Strouss, Eisendrath & Co. (1885). Strouss was his wife's family. This is interesting because firms were noy usually named for husband and wife. It could have been that his wife's family contributed to the capital needed to found the firm. The company manufactured ladies and children clothes. We do not know a great deal about the company, but we notice they were active in Chicago during the 1910s, manufacturing clothes ahd selling wholesale. We note a well-produced color catalog (suggesting a substantial firm) in the 1910s (figure 1). The catalog included a wide range of colorful tunic suits and other garments for boys. They were included under the general category of wash suits. Here we see three of the yinic suits offered which the companu called Busters. They were for boys 2 1/2 - 7 years. Similarly styled saolor blouses were for boys to age 10 years. These were just three of the many styles offered.

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Created: 10:43 PM 1/5/2011
Last updated: 10:43 PM 1/5/2011