Figure 1.--This advertisement for garter waists appeared in the 1949-50 Sears Fall-Winter catalog. This image was repeated more than once over several years. Garter waists by this time had declined substantially in popularity because fewer children were wearing long stockings. This was the last time that it was used by Sears with a boy model. Later uses of the image omit the boy altogether. |
We note a Sears catalog adverisement for a garter waist to serve as a stocking supporter. This was the last time
(1949-50) that garter waists for boys was offered in a Sears catalog that we know of. After this only girls' waists are shown--and even then not very prominently.
The Sears, Roebuck and Co., huge merchandising firm centered in Chicago was
founded by Richard W. Sears (1863-1914) and A.C. Roebuck (1864-1948). Sears had begun a career in mail-order business in Minnesota 1886. In Chicago he and Roebuck joined resources and formed a corporation in 1893 as a mail-order business under title Sears, Roebuck and Company. In 1895 Julius Rosenwald
(1862-1932) bought Roebuck's interest in firm and became president on Sears's retirement 1908. A retail-store system was added 1925. The first foreign store added in Havana, Cuba during 1945 and becane te first expropriated store in 1960. The Sears-Roebuck brought the production of industry to the fartherest corner of rural America, opening the cornucopia of the consumer age to rural America. All the new things that were changing American life danced
across their pages. Through it, a huge Chicago warehouse offers to modernize the farms and small towns of the Midwest.
The illustration here for garter waists appeared in the 1949-50 Sears Fall-Winter catalog (figure 1). This image was repeated more than once over several years. Garter waists by this time had declined substantially in popularity because fewer children were wearing long stockings. This was the last time that it was used by Sears with a boy model. Later uses of the image omit the boy altogether.
This category applies to a broad variety of devices for holding up long stockings. Theoretically it would apply to any garment worn on the upper body used for this purpose (including underwaists, pantywaists, and suspender waists). But HBC uses the term to apply specifically to waists with hose supporters already attached, even though in some cases these supporters are detachable. Most of these garments are designed to have the strain of the garters carried by the child’s shoulders. Some have waistbands and some do not, but all are worn under the outer clothing and therefore as a species of
children’s underwear. One of the first such garments we notice was in the Sears 1902 catalog Sears refers to a "combination belt and supporter, but the garment was essentially a garter waist. The use of different terms somewhat complicates the assessment if the garments. Interestingly, even when the wearing of long stockings was supposedly
declining in the late 1930s and early 1940s, a proliferation of styles of garter waist became very prominent in the Sears and Wards catalogs of this period. We have more different styles for this period than for any other on HBC. A good example is the Sears 1939 garter waists.
We notice ads in Sears for long stockings throught the 1940s. The ads in the early 40s are fairly prominent, but become less so as the decade goes on. This trensd also affected the ads for various kinfs of stocking supporters. By the end of the decade long stockings had not disappeared, but were no longer prominently featured in catalogs.
We are not sure to what extent that long stockings and garter waists were worn by boys in the early 1940s. Sears in this advertisement for gater waists makes a point of showing that both types of waists were suitable for boys. Of course catalog advertisements can not be taken as definitive evidence, but is is one indication that boys were wearing them. This is so to speak, the last gasp for garter waists in the United States. In 1949-50 apparently only a very few boys wore garter waists and by the following year the garment had disappeared altogether--at least for boys. They may have persisted a year or so longer in Canada.
The Sears ad copy read, "Z Children's Garter Waist. For boys and girls. Buttonhole tape for > adjustment at shoulders. Adjustable muslin belt. White cotton tape > supporters with elastic inserts and adjustable buckles. Please be sure to state age required: 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10. White only. Shipping weight 3
ounces. 23 M 3810 Each 47 cents." [HBC note: There are two innovations here--(a) shoulder straps with a series of graduated buttonholes so that they can be lengthened or shortened to fit the dimensions of a particular child, and (b) tape garters that are only elasticized by "inserts" (a bit of elastic in the part of the supporter above the buckle). This last device was to save on the cost of the construction by cutting down the amount of elastic used, which means that the supporters would have less stretch in them than earlier models. This elastic-saving innovation was introduced apparently during World War II when rubber was scarce and then continued after the war for a few years. Notice that whereas a few years earlier garter waists had been available for girls and boys up to the age of 14, the cut-off age is now only
10 for both genders.] AA Elastic Garter Waist. Children's Deluxe garter belt for both boys and girls ... a sure way to keep their stockings up. Gives child complete freedom of movement, will not hinder circulation. 3/4-inch honeycomb elastic suspenders. All elastic adjustable garters. Non-elastic belt with hook and
eye adjutable closing in front. Tearose color. Will wear and wash well. Please be sure to state size: 2 to 4, 3 to 7, 8 to 10. Shipping weight 4 ounces. 23 M 3864 Each 98 cents. [Note: Because of the all-elastic suspenders and hose supporters, this waist is more than twice as expensive as the model described above. Note too that although the ad copy says that this waist is "for both boys and girls," the tearose color would seem to mark it mainly for girls. Most boys would probably rebel against wearing a pinkish
garter waist, and we wonder whether many mothers would have wanted their sons to wear this kind of underwear as late as 1949. Perhaps only very young boys
Sizing can be confusing. Many children's garments in American catalogs are sized by age. European catalogs often use centimeters. Another complication is that there are size categories for hosiery and shoes and these vary from country to country. HBC has a size page devoted to hosiery and shoes in America. The sizes of the stockings are correlated to the sizes of the childrens' shoes. On a different stocking page [a link here would be helpful--I'll try to find the URL for you] HBC actually shows a chart keying the stocking sizes to shoe sizes. And the sizing is further complicated because the size range for younger childrens' shoes is a different scale from that used for older childrens' shoes. According to this chart the larger size stockings (9, 9 1/2, and 10) would
probably fit children from about 11 or 12 years to about 14 or even 15 years. I am not sure what the size of the stocking supporters are. I think these might indicate chronological age. A HBC reader writes, "Waist suits, which (unlike stockings) were sold by age size. A reader tells us that this was the case for waist suits and we think it was also the case for garter waists.
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