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We also see a boy's "M" waist union suit manufactured by the Minneapolis Knitting Works, a major manufcturer of underwear. It appeared in Child Life. Support garnents were widely advertised in magazines and this included mass circulatioon magazines, not just magazines for parents. The style was especially popular during the earlier 1920s. The date on the back of the clipping is 1924, which seems exactly correct. Unfortunately there is no text, but I understand the main features of the M waist suit from studyiing other ads from the same period that have texts but no very detailed illustrations. The well-known "M" union suits and waists were a familiar brand. The manufacturer in Minneapolis played a kind of punning game with the logo M, which was not only the initial of the company but also described the pattern of reinforcement straps on these garments in a shape similar to the letter M. If you put the two sets of double straps on the boy's union suit a little closer together you get the image of an M.
We also see a boy's "M" waist union suit manufactured by the Minneapolis Knitting Works, a major manufcturer of underwear. The Minneapolis Kinitting Works after World War I developed new styles of underwar for children. An ad in Parents' Magazine read, "Minneapolis "M" garments are universally accepted as the correct underdressing in juvenile styles. The fashionable French Type (short trunk) garments illustrated above are made for both boys and girls in all popular fabrics."
The Minesota Mills ad appeared in Child Life. Support garnents were widely advertised in magazines and this included mass circulation magazines, not just magazines for parents. 'Child Life' was a magazine for children founded in 1921. It was full of activities and articles for children. In the days before TV and videos, magazines like this were a great treat. When the magazine was founded, even radio was a novelty. And children loved getting mail addressed to them. Child Life arrived each month with brightly colored cover and pages which included exciting stories, games, and all kinds of new new ideas. There were also interesting period advertisesments. The December 1934 issue, for example had full page ads for Buck Rogers outfits and guns and Lincoln Logs. There were also ads for Crayolas, Kodak cameras, projector sets and Tillicum boats. We also notice patterns advertised for children's clothing. The magazine tried to keep up with the times and had along press run. It ceased publishing in 2007 or 08.
In the early 1920s the waist union suit was developed and remained popular until the 1940s. This garment (for both boys and girls up until about the age of 13) combined the basic one-piece union suit, the standard form of children's underwear, with the underwaist (with reinforcement straps, waist buttons, and garter tabs) so that a single garment could do duty for two. Wearing one layer rather than two made getting dressed easier, and mothers saved money by not having to buy both a union suit and an underwaist or garter waist. These suits were sometimes referred to as "combination suits." Waist union suits came in both summer and winter styles. The summer style was usually made of nainsook and was like a junior version of adult BVDs. It had short legs and was usually sleeveless so as to be cool. Usually the girl's summer style was a bit different from the boy's summer style, the latter having front buttons from the neck to the crotch. The winter style was knitted like ordinary union suits and could be had with short sleeves and knee-length legs or with long sleeves and ankle-length legs. All these garments, whether winter or summer, or whether for boys or girls, were equipped with waist buttons for outer clothing and tabs for hose supporters. Waist union suits normally had all the features of an underwaist plus the usual features of a summer or winter union suit. These went out of style in the mid-1940s when long stockings ceased to be widely worn and when garter tabs on underwear were no longer necessary.
The style was especially popular during the earlier 1920s. The date on the back of the clipping is 1924, which seems exactly correct. Unfortunately there is no text, but I understand the main features of the M waist suit from studyiing other ads from the same period that have texts but no very detailed illustrations. The well-known "M" union suits and waists were a familiar brand.
The manufacturer in Minneapolis played a kind of punning game with the logo M, which was not only the initial of the company but also described the pattern of reinforcement straps on these garments in a shape similar to the letter M. If you put the two sets of double straps on the boy's union suit a little closer together you get the image of an M. The double strapping on the boy's chest is for anchoring waist buttons for short pants or knickers and for metal garter tabs above the hips (pin tubes for the garter pins of hose supporters). The suit has a
three-button drop seat in the back which you can't see but which all he M waist union suits had.
Curiously the boy is wearing knee socks instead of long stockings. That is probably because long stockings would obscure part of the underwear and make the garter tab less visible. But it may also indicate that a boy wearing the M waist suit could choose (or rather his mother could choose) between knee socks and long stockings. The knee socks would be worn for sporty occasions or in warmer weather while the long stockings would be reserved for colder days and/or for more formal occasions when the boy would probably we wearing a suit with short trousers or above-the-knee knickers.
M waist union suits were made for boys and girls up to age 13.
The main American competitors were Nazareth (Nazareth, PA) and E-Z Waist Company (Bennington, Vermont). All three companies advertised widely in the late 1910s and early 1920s.
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