1920s Man O’ War Gymsuit

A few weeks ago when I received the pink bathing cap from Karen at Small Earth Vintage, I was surprised and delighted by her inclusion of an older gymsuit.  The poor thing was in excellent shape except that a former owner tried to turn it into a dress.  They took out the inseam, and removed the elastic from the bloomer legs.  This person must have been a careful, meticulous worker because none of the seams had been cut, so all I had to do was restitch the inseam and casings for the elastic and then insert new elastic.

Whenever I get something that is damaged or dirty or partly deconstructed, I debate in my own mind the pros and cons of cleaning or restoration.  Very often I leave an item as found, as in the case of the embroidered Beatles shirt I shared in April.  While the shirt would definitely benefit from a good cleaning and an oxyclean soak, there is too much risk that any washing at all might remove the penciled in but unembroidered illustrations.  It’s best to just love it as it is.

But in the case of this gymsuit, there was no reason to not do the reconstruction.  There was no later addition to remove, nothing that would be eliminated in the process of resewing the legs.

Nicely embroidered name: Marie Therese Egan.  This was done on a machine.

Gymsuits can be a bit tricky to accurately date for several reasons.  The first is that from the 1910s through the 1960s, the same type of fabric, a heavy cotton broadcloth, was generally used.  And though the styles tended to follow fashion to some extent, some schools tended to be more conservative, and kept to the older styles.  For example,  during the 1930s shorts began replacing bloomers, but I’ve seen bloomers in gymsuit catalogs as late as 1962.

My first thought about this suit was that it was from 1915 or so, but a little research places it a bit later – no earlier than 1921.  An online search for Man O’ War just brought up gymsuits for sale on ebay (and a lot about a horse and jellyfish) but due to a 1929 ad I have, I knew the name of the company that produced Man O’ War – Branigan, Green & Co.

According the the 1921 edition of The American Cloak and Suit Review, the company was recently formed as a maker of middys and gym attire.  The owners were Edgar Green and Joseph Branigan, both of whom had worked for Morris and Co, the makers of Paul Jones Middys.  The company was located at 1270 Broadway, with the factory being located in Baltimore.

The bloomers on this suit are quite long, several inches below the knee.  The 1929 styles are all much shorter.  So, early 1920s it is.

The last reference I can find on the company is  from 1969.  I’m not sure how long the company lasted past that date, as by the mid 1970s more and more schools were doing away with gymsuits, much to the relief of teen girls across the land.

1929 ad

Thanks Karen.  You’re the best!

Vintage Swim Cap Serendipity

To a vintage collector, one of the best things is finding an item in print, and then seeing the actual object.  In this case, it is a virtual seeing, but still it is enough to bring a smile.

I’ve been looking closely at swim or bathing caps, trying to find a few to match up with some bathing suits in my collection that are in need of the proper headwear.  In doing do I ran across a very nice cap on etsy – one that looked vaguely familiar.  In looking back at prior posts on swim caps, I realized where I’d seen it.

I posted this ad from U.S. Rubber last June.  It is from 1958, and says the following about the “lace” cap:

Look at the wonderful new things that have happened to swim caps… Chantilly Lace in new feather-light, divinely comfortable U.S. Aquafoam

Luckily for collectors today, the rubber makers kept trying to make an unattractive item look more desirable to women.  Their experimentation is our gain in the variety and novelty of the swim caps manufactured in the 1950s.  Thanks, U.S. Rubber!

And thanks to etsy seller IngridIceland for the use of her photos.

1960s Sun Hat, Glasses Included

The 1960s may have been the time that women’s hats were on the wane, but they sure put out some wild and crazy beach hats.   Many were Italian straw creations, and were decorated in all sorts of ways, most of which reflected a tropical vibe.  There were hats that sprouted a straw palm tree on the crown, and hats covered with seashells.  I’ve even seen them covered with fishnet with tiny plastic fish caught beneath.

But my all time favorite is the beach hat with built-in sunglasses.  This hat came in lots of different color combinations and several different shapes, but this one in orange with blue lenses is a classic.

I tried in vain to find a reference to this hat in my collection of 1960s magazines, and an internet search was not much more fruitful. I found only two vintage images.  One was dated to 1965, and came from a Dutch magazine.  Since I was not sure of the origin of the scan I’ll not post the photo here, but it is my hat in red straw.  The other was not dated, but looks to be a bit earlier, and is the hat in tan.

As always, any additional information is greatly appreciated.

A couple of years ago an updated version of the sunglasses hat was available at Kate Spade.  Fell free to speak your mind, because I like the vintage one better too!

photo copyright Kate Spade New York

Little Things Mean a Lot

Yesterday I did something that I rarely ever do:  I went to the second main day of a flea market.  Considering that the rainy conditions on Friday would have turned flea marketing from fun to drudgery, I really had little choice.  I’ll give a full report on the finds later this week.  Today I want to share one little bit of excitement.

The photo above is of Shirley Pittinger and a mystery friend.  It was taken in 1939 at Mountain Lake, New Jersey.  It was her bathing suit that caught my eye.

Though it is hard to tell from my photo of a photo, she does appear to be wearing the Jantzen swimsuit above.  It was released in 1937 and was caller “The Uplifter.”  I messed up and did not buy all the shots of her wearing the suit, but in several of them you can clearly see the plastic tips of the ties.

I’m afraid this shows just how easily excited I am.  But while I’m constantly on the prowl for ads that match items in my collection, this is the first time I’ve found an actual photograph of a woman wearing the goods.  So yes, call me easy.

EDIT:  My friend Lynne was able to sharpen up the photo a bit for me:

Thanks so much, Lynne.

1940s Graff Bathing Suit

I bought this bathing suit some years ago.  According to the seller it was once the property of actress June Allyson, but she had no concrete proof of that provenance, and despite looking at hundreds of photos of Allyson, I’ve never spotted it on her.  But no matter.  I’d have bought the suit regardless.

In the late 1930s swimsuit makers were finally addressing the problems associated with using wool as the fiber of swimsuits.  Men’s swimwear had long been made of wool knit, and in the late 1910s women began wearing knit suits as well.  There were lots of problems with these wool knit suits.  They fit when dry, but sagged and stretched when wet.  They were scratchy.  And they were prone to embarrassing holes.

In the mid 1930s the fit issues were addressed when Lastex was added to the wool.  Lastex is a specially produced yarn that has an elastic core.  It held the shape of the wool, even when wet.  Lastex was soon used with other fibers, and a rayon blend that looked like satin became popular for swimwear.

At the same time, manufacturers began to turn to woven cotton as a swimsuit material.  It was not as flexible as knit fabrics, but not everyone who puts on a bathing suit is wanting to swim.  Sometimes a wearer just wanted to look attractive at the beach or around the pool.

Yes, I’d say this suit was more for sunning than for swimming.  It is lined in a white cotton knit which would hug the body when in the water, and provide the necessary coverage under the pleated shorts.   It buttons up the back, and the straps can be tied, as I’ve shown, or they can be crossed and snapped at the waist.

Graff was one of the lesser known Hollywood sportswear brands.  They continued in business through the 1970s .  How about that cacti motif?

As pretty and colorful as this bathing suit is, it also holds interest as a record of the easy acceptance of racial and cultural stereotypes.  Spend any time looking at magazines, movies, or even textiles from the 1940s and you will see how prevalent all types of stereotyping were.

I think sometimes we look at the past with rose-colored glasses, that we romanticize the past, thinking it was really a simpler time.  And perhaps in some ways it was, but perhaps not so much so if you were of a racial minority or were a woman.

While it is still easy today to find examples of ads and media that perpetuate all kinds of stereotypes ( former VP Dick Cheney cracking hillbilly jokes, the objectification of women in music videos, the Chief Wahoo mascot) at least there are conversations that are addressing these issues.   In the 1940s, a famous actress could have worn this and not an eye would have been batted.  Today, I post photos of it, and know I can’t just ignore the images without talking about them.  I hope this shows some progress in human understanding.

1910s Yale Knitting Mills Bathing Dress

I’m in the process of photographing some of my swimwear for another project, and I found something interesting about this swim dress from the 1910s.  The dress would have been worn with bloomers, which you can barely detect in my photo.  The white trim at the hem is appliqued silk, as is the collar and the white  piping.  Even though this was made by the Yale Knitting Mills, the fabric is actually a fine woven wool.

What makes this interesting is that the seams were finished by an overlock stitch, a technique that is more associated with clothing made in the 1970s and later.

The overlock machine, or serger, was invented by Joseph Merrow in the 1880s, and it was manufactured by his company,  the Merrow Machine Company.  They have been making overlock machines ever since.

Even though the overlock machine has been around a long time, it was not until the 1970s that the use of it to finish seams became prevalent in the sewing industry.  Before the 1970s seams were often pinked, or they might have been turned under and stitched like a little hem.  Shirts and blouses often had flat-fell seams, and lingerie and blouses often had French seams.

Because overlocked seams are so seldom seen in older clothing, it can be confusing when you do see it.  Years ago, when I was pretty new to buying old clothes, I found a really great sarong style Hawaiian print dress at a thrift store.  It looked so much like a 1950s dress, but there was some serging in the construction and because I could remember when serged seams started appearing in clothes in the 1970s, I was really confused.  But fortunately I did buy the dress and then did a little research and determined that the dress was from the 50s.

Since then I’ve seen lots of examples from the 1960s and earlier, but this 1910s swimdress is the earliest example I’ve ever seen.  What is interesting is that swimwear seems to be one of the industries where the overlock was more commonly used.  I’ve seen quite a few older swimsuits that have overlocked seams.

The Yale Knitting Mills were owned by brothers Isidore, Henry and Joseph Hirschmann, and was located at 512 Broadway in New York.  They made wool bathing suits, sweaters and golf vests.

A sad note: Brother Joseph died at the age of 38 in 1916, as a result of “a complication of diseases.”  Brother Henry evidently drowned himself a year later, leaving a wife and eight children.  According to brother Isidore he had been suffering from melancholia for several months.  The last mention I can find of the company is in 1922.

The bathing dress has buttons on the side front to make it easier to slip over the head.

Great detailing on the sleeves.

A Winter’s Tale Retold

If you are expecting a rehashing of the old Shakespearean tale, I’m happy to disappoint you.  No, this is A Winter’s Tale from 1964, published by Glen of Michigan.

You might already know that Glen of Michigan a maker of sportswear, and from 1950 through 1970 they made the designs of architect  Bill Atkinson.  Atkinson accidentally found he had a talent for fashion after he designed a square dance skirt for his wife.  Made from eight bandannas, the skirt was a big hit.  Atkinson decided to make them to sell, and found a firm willing to take on his order, Glen Manufacturing, which was a maker of women’s housedresses.  In 1951 he released his first full line of sportswear separates.

This is a promotional piece, probably sent to store buyers in anticipation of the up-coming season.  They rewrote the final scene of A Winter’s Tale, and used illustrations of the clothing line to illustrate it.  It was a very clever idea, and I can’t imagine that many of these little “catalogs” went into the trash.  I do bet that many of them ended up in the homes of buyers, especially those who had little girls.

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

In the back of the booklet there is a listing of the garments in the collection, and swatches of the fabrics used.  Note how they named the pieces, in keeping with the theme of the story.  Such a charming idea!

And I found reference to another Bill Atkinson storybook catalog - A Tale of Two Collections, in 1955.  I’m betting there are even more.

Here is a close-up shot of the velveteens used.  And here is a link to the Lady Anne dress, model 536, on sale now at eBay:

The seller, MidMod14, has kindly given his permission to post a photo of the Lady Anne dress.

Anyone know something about the illustrator,  Juliet McKellen?