U.S. Long Stocking Supporters: Post-War Era (early 1950s)


Figure 1.--Both a boy and girl were pictured in the 1949-50 catalog. In the 1950-51 catalog, the same image was used, but without the boy.

Stocking supporters finally went out of fashion in the 1950s. They were still worn and advertised in the early 1950s, but had become a rather minor item. I don't remember seeing them as a boy in America at the time, but HBC has noted advertisements as late as 1951. The appeared in the Sears catalog as late as 1951. There was just one style and it was not prominently placed--suggesting that long stockings and hose supporters were still worn but beclining in use. Apparently they were much more common for girls. The Sears ad features the stocking supporters being worn by a girl. There is a boy in black outline to the girl's left. He shows the back view of the supporter. As was the case since the 1930s, the stockings are worn quite long, covering almost all the leg. The straps of the hose supporter thus do not have to be long.

Chronology

Stocking supporters finally went out of fashion in the 1950s. They were still worn and advertised in the early 1950s, but had become a rather minor item. I don't remember seeing them as a boy in America at the time, but HBC has noted advertisements as late as 1951. The appeared in the Sears catalog as late as 1951. This does not mean that stocking supporters disappeared after 1951. Sears was, owever, a company that tried to offer virtually every thing a consumer wanted. Thus if Sears removed an item from its catalog, it is a very good inducator that demanded for that item droppe very significantly.

Type

There was just two type of stocking supporter advertised by Sears in the early 1950s. In some occasions just one. This in itself suggests that fewer consumers buying them. The type of supporter still offereed by Sears had elastic suspender straps and and a non elasticised, belted waist. The differences between the two types is that one appears to have a buttoned waist and the other a belted waist (figure 1). Also the suspender attachhment on one was just a single clasp at the front and back of each bleg. The other type had a fork with two clasps at the front and back of each leg.

Popularity

Placement of ads is a good indicator of popularity. Any catalog wants to promintely feature the most popular items. The stocking supporter ads in the 1950s were not prominently placed--suggesting that long stockings and hose supporters were still worn but declining in use.


Catalog listings

The text for the stocking supporter ad that HBC has noted read as follows.

Sears: 1949-50

The Sears ad read: "Chilren's Deluxe garter built fir both boys and girls. 3/4 in honeycomb elastic suspenders. All elastic adjustable garters. Non-elastic belt with hook and eye adjusyable closing in front. Tearose. Please state size 2 to 4, 5 to 7, 8 to 10. Shipping weight 4 oz. 25G3866..........Each $1.00


Figure 2.--This is the last advertisement for stocking supporters that HBC has seen. It was in a 1951 Sears catalog. Notice the boy in outline form to the left of the girl showing the back view.

Sears: Spring 1950

Here is another Sears stocking supporter. It is a new kind of garter waist not shown earlier and modeled by a boy. Sears introduced a new style of garter waist in 1950 and the ad was modeled by a boy. As far as I am aware, this style was advertised only once by Sears, and, rather curiously, in a Spring catalog when one would imagine it would have less appeal since long stockings were not much worn in the warmer months this late in the chronology of long stockings. This is the last time that we observe a boy model, although texts of the few ads later than 1950 continued to specify that garter waists were for both "boys and girls."

Sears: 1950-51

This is the last advertisement for stocking supporters that HBC has seen (figure 2). It was in a 1951 Sears catalog. Notice the boy in outline form to the left of the girl showing the back view.

Gender

Apparently sticking supporters were much more common for girls. The supporter itself was exavtly the same, whether it was worn by a boy or girl. The Sears ad features the stocking supporters being worn by a girl. There is a boy in black outline to the girl's left. He shows the back view of the supporter. Notavly both a boy and girl had been pictured in the 1949-50 catalog, but by 1951 the boy was just a barely notable outline. Of course the outline image was more destinct in the actual catalog than the image here suggests (figure 2). This would suggest that while demand was declining, most of the demand was for girls. Unlike many earlier ads, these rare 1950s ads feature girls more prominently (but not exclisively).

The Long Stockings

As was the case since the 1930s, the stockings are worn quite long, covering almost all the leg. The straps of the hose supporter thus do not have to be long.

Catalog Copy

An HBC reader provides some insights on mailorder catalogs. "My first job when I came to New York over 35 years ago in 1965 was writing clothes copy for the Montgomery Ward Catalog. And, yes, one (small?) badly placed ad would mean very small demand indeed. I am amazed that any demand existed at all in 1950 for long stockings and stocking supporters. But I was flabbergasted at the picture of the boys in knickers on the Quiz Kids in the late '40's. In my experience with catalog pages, though, it was very hard to completely eliminate something that had run for an extended period. The company may have had a stock of this item that it was using up. Was the artwork in the circa 1950 catalogs the same artwork that had been running for an extended period of time? There was a tendency on things like this just to drop in artwork from the files. The boy, both the front and back views, may have been in the ad for a long while and been too much trouble to take out.







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Related HBC Pages:
[Return to the Main U.S. 20th century stocking supporter page]
[Return to the Main U.S. stocking supporter page]
[Return to the Main U.S. stockings page]
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[Striped socks] [White stockings] [Tights]



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Created: December 4, 2000
Last updated: 10:47 PM 11/14/2008