Here’s Summers Well Liked Frock… The American Golfer

This piece of paper is actually an order form for an American Golfer dress,  circa 1934.  The card shows the checks and stripes available, and I hope you can tell that the card is actually embossed to show the texture of the fabric.  You can see it best in the white block.

I’d have called this fabric seersucker, but it was a special type of puckered fabric called Shir-O-Shakker, and was made by textile manufacturer Lorraine.  Sure looks like seersucker…

The back of the card tells what makes this sports dress special.  Many women were becoming serious about their performance on the golf course and other sports venues, and they expected their clothing to be suitable for the task at hand.

I especially love that pleated sleeve.  Women must have loved it at the time because I’ve seen it on non-sports blouses and dresses from the early 1930s.

American Golfer advertised extensively in the top fashion magazines such as Vogue, and I’ve seen ads from the early 1930s through the 1960s.  The company was located in Champaign, Illinois  and was owned by C.C. Willis.  By looking at the US trademark site, it appears that the brand was sold to Straus, Royer & Strass, INC of Baltimore in 1939.  I’d appreciate learning anything you might have found about this line of dresses.

And if the $6.50 price tag sounds attractively cheap, keep in mind that adjusted for inflation, this dress would cost $107.75 today.

I have an American Golfer dress in my collection, but it is from the late 1940s.  It is interesting because it is seersucker and it is striped in a similar design to the fabrics on my order card.