Figure 1.--Wards in 1936-37 offered garters to hold up kneesocks. It appeared in the Fall-Winter Wards' 1936-37 catalog.
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Figure 1.--Wards in 1936-37 offered garters to hold up kneesocks. It appeared in the Fall-Winter Wards' 1936-37 catalog. |
Here's an ad for knee sock garters (Wards Fall and Winter, 1936-37, p. 143). These garters are obviously made for boys (and perhaps girls as well) who wore knee socks with either short trousers or knickers. They are obviously designed for socks that have turnover cuffs and cannot be worn with socks that have only a single layer at the knee. They were often considered a necessary
addition because most of the knee socks sold in the 1930s did not have effective elasticized tops and were always slipping down.
Although the word "consumerism" has a modern ring, it was personal concern for an early consumer movement, the "National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry," That inspired a young traveling salesman named Aaron Montgomery Ward to start the world's first general merchandise mail-order company in 1872. Aaron Montgomery Ward was born on February 17, 1844, in Chatham, New Jersey, to a family whose forebears had served as officers in the French and Indian Wars as well as in the American Revolution. Looking for something more compatible, Monty left home and followed the river to Lake Michigan and the town of St. Joseph, county seat and market for outlying fruit orchards. Chicago was the center of the wholesale dry goods trade and in the 1860s Ward joined the leading dry goods house, Field Palmer & Leiter. As a retailer, Potter Palmer had previously built a reputation for fair dealing. Ward absorbed these principles while working as a clerk for $5. The Chicago City Directories for 1868 through 1870 listed Ward as a salesman for Wills, Greg & Co. and later for Stetthauers & Wineman, both dry goods houses. In 1870, after canvassing territory in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Ward was again footloose. The plan shaping in Ward's mind was to buy goods at low cost for cash. By eliminating intermediaries, with their markups and commissions, and cutting selling costs to the bone, he could offer goods to people, however remote, at appealing prices - for cash. Since its founding in 1872, the company has literally "grown up with America" and has had a major impact on the shopping habits of a nation of consumers. Montgomery Ward & Co. discontinued its catalog operations in 1985 as part of its restructuring effort to change itself into a modern, competitive chain of value-driven specialty stores, a move which for a time saved the company. week.
American boys commonly wore long stockings in the early 20th century. They were head up by garter or susnder waists. As kneesocks began to become increasingly popular in the 1930s, a problem appeared. The kneesocks of an active boy would often fall down. Kneesocks were eventually made with elastisized tops, but I'm not sure when this innovation first appeared. It was not a perfect sollution as the elastic weakened with repeated washes. Early kneesocks were more commonly turn-over-top socks which cuffed. These did not have the elasticiaed tops and had to be held up with garters. We are not entirely sure about this, but the garters were probably more likely to be used by boys wearing short pants than knickers. The knickers would help hold kneesocks in place.
The manufacturer was not indicated.
Here's an ad for knee sock garters (Wards Fall and Winter, 1936-37, p. 143). These garters are obviously made for boys (and perhaps girls as well) who wore knee socks with either short trousers or knickers. They are obviously designed for socks that have turnover cuffs and cannot be worn with socks that have only a single layer at the knee. They were often considered a necessary
addition because most of the knee socks sold in the 1930s did not have effective elasticized tops and were always slipping down. Many mothers simply sewed strips of elastic together to make home-made round garters, but these Wards garters are more up-scale and have a leather pad with a metal button to which a metal loop fastens to hold the garter in place. Although the garters were not supposed to show, they were made in fancy patterns (like suspenders) to have greater appeal to boys. Such garters were often worn by boy scouts to
hold up their knee-length socks, worn both with short trousers and also with scout breeches that were laced just below the knee.
The ad copy read, "Sock Garters. Rayon and Cotton elastic; 3/8 inches wide. Leather reinforced pad. Adjustable to fit age-sizes 8 to 15 years. Red and Navy plaid. Ship. weight 2 oz.
16 C 4454 Pair 9 cents."
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