Figure 1.--
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Figure 1.-- |
There were different brands of suspender waists. Catalog stores sold some that were not branded, but advertizing and some catalog entries stressed the brand names. The two most important brands were Kazoo and Sampson. Another brand was Wolverine, but this was really an early version of the Kazoo waist. The differences between the two are not immediately apparent from looking at the ads, but there were notable differences. We've been studying the difference between the Samson and Kazoo Suspender Waists, and now have, we think, a better idea of how both are constructed.
As we have noted in other HBC discussions, the Kazoo Suspender waists were made in different styles so that they could be worn by both boys and girls, but the Kazoo suspender waist designed for older boys allowed the boy to wear a tuck-in adult-style shirt with the suspenders worn on top of the shirt and in full view. The suspender straps had button-hole attachments so that trousers could be buttoned on, but the same shoulder strap continued
beneath the trousers and ended in Y-shaped hose supporters for the stockings. The Kazoo waist (older boy's model) was made for boys as old as 18.
The Samson model was made more to be worn by younger boys. It was a bit different from the Kazoo model and somewhat more complicated. It was designed to be worn with either "a shirt-waist" (a shirt with buttons at the waist line to be attached directly to knee pants) or with "a blouse" (a garment that didn't tuck into the trousers but that was worn so that it could be bloused over the trousers). The Samson suspender arrangement had a cross-piece
in back to keep the shoulder straps from slipping off the shoulders and an angled waist band around the entire body with buttons for trousers and/or underwear drawers and hose supporters attached to the waist band. The 1919 ad for the Samson waist illustrates the angled construction of the waist band and the white hose supporters attached to the dark (probably black) suspender harness. Kazoo waists were totally white (not black above and white below). The Samson waists were made for boys up to the age of 14.
Some Kazoo waists (for younger boys and for girls) did come equipped with waist
bands with extra buttons for skirts, trousers, underwear, etc. These younger-style Kazoos could be worn with shirt-waists or blouses, but the grown-up Kazoo (illustrated by the 1920 ad) has no waist band and suspends the trousers directly from the shoulder straps. Kazoos for older boys could be worn with tuck-in shirts, whereas this was not possible, I think, with the Samson Suspender waist which was designed for boys wearing either shirt-waists or
blouses.
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