MunsingWear Perfect Fitting Union Suits, 1919


Figure 1.-- Here MunsingWear offers warm union suits for the entire family. Munsingwear placed an advertisement for a union suit in The Literary Digest during 1919. The company says, "Union suited America says, Munsingwear, the National Underwear. Millions of discriminating people, men, women, children, prefer and wear Munsingwear Union Suits. They ask for Munsinwear and never say just underwear."

Here MunsingWear offers warm union suits for the entire family. Munsingwear placed an advertisement for a union suit in The Literary Digest during 1919. The company says, "Union suited America says, Munsingwear, the National Underwear. Millions of discriminating people, men, women, children, prefer and wear Munsingwear Union Suits. They ask for Munsinwear and never say just underwear."

MunsingWear

Musingwear was an important American manufacturer of underwear. The company was based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was a designer, importer, manufacturer, marketer, and licenser of branded apparel for men, boys, and women. The company was for many years best known for its union suits, an undergarment consisting of an undershirt and underdrawers combined in a single garment. The company is alsobelieved to be the creator of the classic golf shirt. Munsingwear was founded by George D. Munsing, Frank H. Page, and Edward O. Tuttle (1886). The partnership initially manufactured knit underwear for both men and women. The initial name when incorporated was the as Northwestern Knitting Company (1887). The compsny name was changed to Munsingwear Corporation (1919) and Munsingwear, Inc. 1923). We note many comany ads in the 1910s-30s). Munsingwear in 1936 introduced the 'kangeroo pouch' underwear which used a horizontal vent rather than the vertical vent intoduced by Jockey. The company acquired several smaller companies: Rollins Hosiery Mills, Inc. (Des Moines, Iowa) (1945); the Vassar Company (Chicago, Illinois (1951); and the Hollywood Maxwell Company (California) (1958).

Advertising

Published illustrations in the 19th century were drawings. Complicated drawings or portraits were produced as etchings so they could be published through lithography. There was afirst no way of reproducing photographs. This changed at the turn of the 20th century. Through a half-tone process, photographs began to appear in newspapers and magazines. This first occurred with advertisements because of the expense, but the cost quokly declined and by the 1910s photographs were commonly used in publications and catalogs. This advertisement is interesting because it is one of the first color photographs that we have noted in our advertising/catalog section.

Literary Digest

The waas one of the most important American periodicals in the early 20th century. The publication is best known today as a footnote in the 1936 presidential election. The magazine polled its readers and the results suggested a substantial victory for Republican candidate Alf Landon. Of course the Democratic candidate Franklin Roosevelt won in a landslide. Polling was at the time in its infancy. The Literary Digest poll is used today to illustrate the importane in constructing a sepresenative sample. Those readers with the money to subscribe to a literary magazine were much more likely to be Republicans especially during the Depression which was still underway in 1936. The same was true of families with telephones.

Union Suits

The union suit is a close-fitting underwear garment. The term union refers to the fact that a union suit involves the combination of both a shirt and pants (drawers) in a one piece suit. The garment commonly included a drop seat. This term began to be used in the 1890s. The term union suit was commonly used for adults. The children's version was a waist suit or a waist-union suit. Women also wore union suits. So did girls. But they were associated mainly with men because more men than women wore them. With boys and girls, I'm not sure. I think waist union suits were equally popular for boys and girls because of the waist feature. Union suits for children were essentially combination suits. But union suits without the reinforcement straps were mainly a boy's garment.

Garments

The MunsingWear ad copy read, "Munsingwear Perfect Fitting Union Suits. Union suited America says, Munsingwear, the National Underwear. Millions of discriminating people, men, women, children, prefer and wear Munsingwear Union Suits. They ask for Munsinwear and never say just underwear. The name itself--Munsingwear--is a houshold saying of the Nation. It means in a vast army of satisfied persons the utmost in Union Suit comfort and service. More than 10,000,000 perfect fitting Munsingwear garments are required to supply the annual demand. Into each garment is woven or knit the things you expect of good underwear and none of the disappointments. When you buy Munsingwear, you get perfvection of fabric, finish and fit. Now add to these sterling qualities the Munsingwear habit of outwashing, outwearing, outlasting expectations and you have the reason why Munsingwear has remained an invaluable undergarment superior to any other underwear. Munsingwear is "super-service" in underwear. Because of its unusual durability, washability, and reasonable cost, it is the most economical in the long run. Look for this trade mark, remember this name, always ask for Munsingwear. Munsingwear is made for men, women, children in every desired style and size. No matter the size of your person or purse, there is a right Munsingwear Union Suit ro give you a maximum of service and satisfaction. A leading merchant in nearly every city and town in the United States can supply you with perfect fitting unions suits made the satisfactory Munsingwear way. Let Munsingwear Cover you With Satisfaction."

Comment

This ad showing a father with his children illustrates one of the strategies that the underwear advertisers clung to until the 1960s. Advertisers liked to stress that their underwear was for the entire family. But images of fathers and sons was especially popular, and we see these repeated in many advertisements. Usually the point is that the boy is wearing the same kind of underwear as his father but in a smaller size. Here the father and his son and daughter are wearing the all-encompassing union suit, which was the dominant form of underwear for men and boys up through the 1930s and even, to some extent, into the 1940s. Boys' union suits during the 1900s and 1910s tended to be ankle-length and long-sleeved, although short-sleeved and short-legged models gradually crept into favor. Part of the reason for such full coverage was the lack of central heating in even American middle-class as well as working-class homes. Colors varied. The most usual were cream-colored (as in this illustration) or a kind of natural mottled gray. Originally wool or wool and cotton blends were used. Later all-cotton union suits, which didn't shrink in the laundry and which didn't scratch the skin, became more popular. The boys' and men's models have buttons running down the front from neck to crotch. The girls model has no buttons down the front, although this style was far from universal with girls' suits. It has knee-length legs and sleeveless shoulder straps so that it can be taken on and off without having to unbutton anything. Both male and female models, however, have drop seats with buttons in the back although the back view is not illustrated. All union suits had a back opening--originally a drop seat with three buttons and, later on, a one-button flap.






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Created: 1:14 AM 10/6/2004
Last updated: 7:10 PM 6/11/2009