This ad from 1952 shows what White Stag did best – stylish active sportswear. Originally known as the Willamette Tent and Awning Company as a manufacturer of canvas tents and sails, the company was founded in 1906 in Oregon. This name was later changed to Hirsch-Weiss Canvas Products and the company added rain-proof coats and other outdoor wear to their line of sporting goods.
In 1929 they developed a line of clothing for skiers, using the English translation of Hiesch-Weiss, White Stag as the brand name. In the late 1920s skiing was an up and coming sport in the US, and the new line was successful. By the late 1940s they were producing other sportswear as well, often made from their trademark canvas . White Stag is still made today, but the clothing bares no resemblance to the original sportswear. The brand name is owned by Wal-Mart.
More vintage White Stag Ski Togs ads:
1941
1941
1944
1945
1946
1946
1952
The Vintage Traveler 
That White Yosemite outfit is rather fabulous. And I’d happily wear some of the others too! Gorgeous and not necessarily cheap for the time, or am I mistaken? Whatever the case, that’s how you do glamour on the ski slopes!
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No, you are correct that these were not cheap, in any sense of the word. We look at something like this and to our 2012 eyes, it seems like a bargain, but factor in inflation and you quickly see that people did expect to pay more for clothing. But then they got a quality product in return for their money.
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Love ’em but don’t know if I’d ever wear a skirt skiing even IF I had great thigh high wool stockings. Thanks for the history and for sharing!
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Love these! I think I would totally wear the ski skirt! (I only do cross country, though–no downhill for me.)
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I posted a link to this page on our FB page, whisch is linke to out twitter account. It got shared and re-tweeted a lot!
https://www.facebook.com/victorythrift
https://twitter.com/#!/your_activity
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Thanks!
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I’m not really sure I’d wear the skirt either, though I think it does look mighty snappy!
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If there’s any truth to inflation calculators, the skirt from 1941 @ $12.50 would be ~ $192.
Great ads…especially like the phrase: “gap-o-sis” ‘twixt jacket and trousers.
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Love this post! I still have a White Stag anorak that was my mother’s. White Stag was an “affordable” brand while Bogner was (and still is) the Cadillac.
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It’s almost impossible to wear out that great White Stag fabric.
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I found a pair of these at an antique mall here in Portland, and wanted them so badly, however they were a 22 in. waist! The White Stag building still maintains its fab Oregon shape and stag lighting, however over the years the “White Stag” lettering has been removed, and read “Made in Oregon” for some time, until the University of Oregon took over the building, and there was a big fight over the UO wanting the sign to read “University of Oregon”. Now it just reads “Portland Oregon”.
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Pingback: A Short History of Ski Clothing | The Vintage Traveler
I went looking for wool gabardine ski clothes and as far as I can tell, they are no longer made. So I purchased a pair of pleated dress pants on sale and wore them 30 plus times this winter while cross-country this winter. Over silk or wool long underwear, they were warm but breathable. They cut the wind. Snow did not adhere to them and they dried quickly. Movement was easy and the drape was fantastic. All in all, I do not see how synthetic fibers offer much improvement. I am looking for an appropriate shirt or jacket in gabardine but that is proving difficult to find.
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