Figure 1.--Here is what I think was the package illustration for a box of Hickory Garters, probbly about 1920. It was cut down to back a picture frame. Note that the boy is wearing a sailor suit with long trousers. The implication is that under both long and short trousers boys wore long stockings and garters.

Garter or gartier is of historic origins. It appears to have entered the English language from Old North French in the early 14th century. The word was derived for the French word describing the bend of the knee. It came to be the symbol for an English knightly order--the Order of the Garter. The garter is a device to hold up hosiery. They were worn by both adults and children. There are two basic types. One was an elastic band worn around the leg. This type was commonly used by children to hold up kneesocks. Scouts were noted for adding a colored tab to the garter. It was commonly used before kneesocks with elasticised tops became popular. Another type was an elastic strap suspended from an undergarment. These were worn by both boys and girls to hold up long stockings.

Terminology

Garter or gartier is of historic origins. It appears to have entered the English language from Old North French in the early 14th century. The word was derived for the French word describing the bend of the knee.

Medieval Garters

In medieval times garters were cloth straps or strips of cloth (almost like ribbons) that were tied around the upper leg to hold stockings in place. Women wore them under long gowns and men wore them under tunics that came down over the knee, so that the original and purely functional garters were invisible in public. In the later Middle Ages when men began wearing shorter tunics that exposed much of the thigh, the long stockings had to extend much higher and became almost like modern tights in appearance. The newer long stockings covered the upper thighs and even the hips although, in most cases, they remained separate and were not joined by a waist band, although they looked like tights once the individual was fully dressed. To see how they fitted the body, see the introductory essay on the German Hosiery Museum site, which explains these origins nicely. To hold the hip-length stockings up, men attached them to shirts or doublets by means of strings or thin straps called "points". These were threaded usually through eyelets or holes at the tops of the stockings and in the shirts or doublets. Points were essentially laces that connected the clothing of the upper body to that of the lower body at the waist level. Shakespeare has a joke about these points" in "Henry IV, Part I" where a character puns on the points of swords (or rapiers) and the points that held up stockings: "Their points being broken, down fell their hose" (II.iv.214). Women continued to wear the garters that were tied around the leg and remained invisible, but men, going back at least as far as Edward III and the Order of the Garter, began wearing tied-on garters merely as decorations or ornaments. These ornamental garters were of course visible. The most common way of wearing them was around one leg only and below the knee. The garter of the Order of the Garter is blue with gold lettering with the French motto, "Honi soit qui mal y pense", embroidered on it. It is not tied on but buckled around the right leg. Modern round garters are elasticized and can be worn around the leg either above or below the knee.

Order of the Garter

The garter came to be the symbol for an English nightly order--the Order of the Garter. This is the oldest and most prestigious English order of knighthood. It was instituted by King Edward III (1346). It was at first limited to 26 members--the monarch and 25 knight companions, one of whom is normally the Prince of Wales. The motto was, "Honi soit qui mal y pensi" (Evil be to him who thinks evil.) The origin of garter as the symbol of the Order of the Garter is not known. Today it is a blue 'garter' with the motto embroidered on it. None of the early records of the Order have survived. There remains an account which may be more of a fable. Suposedly at a court ball at Calais--a French Channel port controlled by the English for many years. Joan Countess of Salisbury had her garter fall off. King Edward to save her from embarrassment picked up her garter and put it on his own leg. He then is reported to have said, "Evil be to him who thinks evil". Of course this sounds like a fable created years afterwards. Some say that this rather flippant origin for such a prestigious order was a French invention. The garter appears to have been a strap used to help hold on a knight's armor. A more befitting theory is that the same garter was used to symbolize the binding bonds of brotherhood shared by the membership of the knightly order. The patron saint of the Order of the Garter is England's St. George who is also the patron saint of soldiers. Important ceremonies are normally conducted at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.

Purpose

The original purpose of the garter in medieval times is not altogether clear. Knights may have used straps which at the time would not have bee elasticized to hold on armor. Garters were aso worn by women. They were worn under their dresses, but I am not entirely sure about the purpose. The purpose of the modern garter of course is well known. The modern garter is a device to hold up hosiery. They were worn by both adults and children. Kneesocks were especially difficult to keep up. Even when elastic was woven in to the top of the stocks, they did not always stay up without garters. This was especially true after washings.

Elastic

When elastic began to be used in clothing, suspenders and garters were some of the first garments that the materail was used to produce. An elastic fabric is one which has been made elastic (capable of returing to its own length or shape after being streached). This is normally done by adding strips of rubber. Elastic appeared in the early 19th century. It was invented by Thomas Hancock. Hancock was an English inventor who was the moving force in founded the British rubber industry. All rubber at the time was natural rubber harvested in tropical countries. Hancock in 1820 obtained a patent for elastic fastenings. He used them for for gloves, suspenders, shoes, and stockings. He also invented a machine he called the masticator. After he began producing elastic fabrics he found that in in cutting rubber he was wasting large quantities of the expensive imported raw material. The mastucar allowed him to use the scaraps from the manufacturing process. The masticaror shredded rubber scraps. The rubber could then be recycled. We notice elastic being used for suspenders and pants waistbands and eventually the tops of kneesocks. One common use of elastic today is in pants waistbands. This was not nearly as common in the 19th and early-20th century. We are not sure at this time just why this was.

Types

There were three basic types of garters. One was an elastic band worn around the leg above the knee. This was used to hold up long stockings. Women who wore long stockings tended to wear them above the knee. This was the simplest and least expensive approch to holding up long stockings. We believe that many children used these elaric bands to hold up their long stockings, especially in Europe. There were smaller bands worn below the knee. Men and boys wearing knee socks wore round elastic garters under the turnovers of the socks to hold the socks up. Garter flashes, which can be seen, became the ornamental aspect of such garters.This type was commonly used by children to hold up kneesocks. Scouts were noted for adding a colored tab to the garter. It was commonly used before kneesocks with elasticised tops became popular. Another type was an elastic strap suspended from an undergarment such as a waist suit or elatic leg strap.

Chronology

Garters appear to be some of the earliest stocking supportets made for children. We are not sure when they were first made. The earliest garters we see advertized are from the 1880s. We suspect that they were made earlier. We see them throughout the era that long stockings were worn, through the 1940s. During this era many more elaborate types of stocking supporters were developed such as suspender and garter wausts. Some were worn with garters. Other had garters worked into the construction of the garment. Garters were sold separately as well as long as long stockings were worn.

Country Trends

We note quite a range of stocking supporters anf other support devices in different countries. There were also different garters, although since the garter was a relatively simple devioce, there was less variabiolity among countries. We have the most information on America, primarily because garters and other stocking supporters were extensively advertized in mail order catalogs and magazines. We have some information on Germany, but are still collecting information on other countries. A British reader writes, "Never had garters to hold up my knee socks. By then elesticated ones were popular. None-the -less. I was always a boy with one knee sock down and the other up."

Created: 2:31 AM 5/21/2005
Last updated: 1:58 AM 1/18/2010