1890s Golf Cape

I recently acquired an item from my most-wanted list – a mid 1890s golf cape. The golf cape is one of those garments that was very useful and popular for a short while, but then faded into obscurity.

Like so much of what I’ve learned about fashion history, I first heard of the golf cape at an exhibition. The fantastic collection of Shippensburg University had loaned it to the Museum of the DAR for an exhibition in 2013. From that time on I have kept my eyes open for such a cape.

In the 1890s golf was a very old sport that was new to the United States. In spite of the problems associated with golfing, mainly that a course had to be laid out and made, the sport caught on. By 1894 there were even several courses that were owned by, and primarily used by women.

The clothing worn by a woman for golf was quite simple. She needed a shirtwaist, or blouse, a skirt shortened to a few inches above the ground, a jaunty cap, and a neat belt. In spring and fall a knit vest would complete the ensemble. But what about playing on chilly days?

The answer was the golf cape, which started showing up in US women’s magazines around 1893. Because golf originated in Scotland, golf capes were made from woolen plaids. Many of them had leather straps on the interior of the cape to allow it to be thrown back over the shoulders when needed.

But why did capes become popular for golf and other sports? The answer can be found in the fashion of the times. The 1890s were the era of the gigantic sleeve.

This cartoon from the March 28, 1896 issue of Harper’s Bazar shows the difficulty of wearing a jacket over these huge sleeves. In the 1890s, capes weren’t just popular for sports. They were worn for all occasions, including evening. In 1894 the Madison Daily Herald reported, “Capes will be worn again and must be continued in vogue while large sleeves are used.”

The reporter was correct. When sleeves began to deflate, the golf cape lost favor, though there are mentions of it in the press even after the turn of the twentieth century. Sweaters were just more practical once they became easy to put on over the shirtwaist.

My cape is made from a heavy double-sided wool plaid, which is blue on one side and red on the other. Is such a fantastic textile even made today?

There are no leather straps, as this cape closes with two buttoned tabs, very similar to those found on nursing capes. In fact, take off the hood, make it a solid navy wool, and this would be a nursing cape.

And now to assemble the rest of the ensemble. That should keep me busy for a while.

The Nineteenth Hole Golf Bag

I don’t actively seek out sports equipment, but when I run across something interesting or really cheap I’ll pick it up, mainly to use as props if I ever have the opportunity to put some of my collection on display. So I have a few random things like old wooden dumbbells, and a 1940s tennis racket. I have some skates, both ice and roller. But that’s pretty much it.

What looks to be a 1960s or 70s golf bag for holding clubs is actually a bag for holding something else, a bottle for the nineteenth hole. There are two more pouches to stash cups or a jar of olives or whatever one’s drink requires.

After I spotted this little golf bag on the Instagram of @vtgrunway, I couldn’t get it out of my mind. I realized that I had to add this to my collection, and so I did.

To me it seems to be the sort of thing found in special gift catalogs and in magazine sections titled, “What to Buy for the Man Who Has Everything.” Stores like Abercrombie & Fitch carried such novelty items in their Christmas catalogs. I spent the best part of an afternoon trying to locate an example in all my catalogs and magazines, but came up empty.

There are no labels at all, but on the interior of the bag is printed the word naugahyde. Naugahyde is often associated with cheap upholstered furniture from the Sixties, but it was also commonly used for tote bags and novelty items. It is a thick vinyl, a product of UniRoyal.

This little pocket is just the right size for a golf ball, or a jigger measure.

A larger pocket could hold cups.

A trip through the bazaars of the internet show that these are not rare. Some I found were stamped with the name of golf equipment, like Wilson, or another brand like Marriot or even Nabisco, They are newer than mine, with nylon zippers (all the zippers on my bag are heavy metal ones) and thin vinyl construction. I feel really lucky to have an older one, probably from the late 1960s.

I don’t golf, but my husband does. He was really surprised a few days ago when I told him I wanted to go with him to the course next time he played a round. He’ll play eighteen holes, but I’ll stick with the nineteenth.

1960s Dulottes by Serbin

Well, it looks like I’m sort of back in business, with a shiny new laptop and a huge learning curve. A lot of changes have occurred to computing in the past eight years and I’m slowly figuring out how to work this new machine. I’m still trying to improve on my photo editing, so please excuse the below par pictures in this post.

I first spotted this great culotte dress on the Vintage Fashion Guild forum. Every week member sellers show off what is new in their shops in a feature called Fresh Vintage, and it’s a great way to see “new” things as they hit the stores. This came from the etsy shop of member Racked Vintage.

At first glance this looks to be a dress, but it is actually a culotte dress, and I’m pretty sure it was designed as a golfing outfit. The front of the skirt is a bit full, which tends to disguise that the skirt is divided.

The back goes even farther with the deception, as there is a skirt panel sewn over the culottes so that from the back it looks like a straight skirt.

My thinking is that the garment would have been very useful in places where the dress code required women to wear skirts in the clubhouse. It would also be useful in transforming from golf course to city street.

Another feature that shows the duo nature of this piece is the large removable pocket. It’s quite necessary when trying to keep up with the paraphernalia of golf, but off the course it just looks a bit odd. So the designer put the pocket on the belt where it slides off and on.

My photos are so poor color-wise. This dress is a very pretty yellow, and the birds, while not always accurately colored, are in nice shades of red, gold, blue and green.

I had never seen this label before this dress, and I love how it hints at the two functions of the dress. The owner got a duo of dresses in one.

I got a bit lucky in researching the label as Serbin had the name dulottes trademarked. At first glance this dress appears to be from the early 1960s, but according the the trademark application, the label was first used in 1967. There are often mistakes in trademark applications, due mainly to the passage of years between the time the name was first used and the time the application was made.  But in this case the first usage and the application both happened in August, 1967, so I’m sure it is correct.

In 1967 and 68 there was a softening of women’s fashion. The mod look was still going strong, especially among the young, but if you look at magazines from the later 60s you see a bit of traditional femininity returning in the form of gathered waists, soft collars, and even ruffles and lace. I’d put this dress in the spring of 1968. Now to find an ad to support that bold claim!

 

 

1960s Golf Dress: Chippers by Gregg Draddy

We’ve had a lot of cold and rainy days recently, and that means I’ve spent too much time prowling online selling sites looking for things I didn’t realize I had to have. The dress shown here is a great example. I rarely look for and buy Sixties and newer clothing online because there is so much of it selling for reasonable prices in my local markets. But for this golf dress I made an exception.

I wasn’t familiar with this particular label, but it was the details and condition that sold me on this one. Both side seams are open to the waist to show off the little calico shorts beneath. I loved how the calico was also used to trim the scalloped hem and the neckline.

And I guess a bit of nostalgia was in play here because this was exactly the type of dress (we called them scooter dresses) that the girls in my school used to skirt the dress code prohibition of pants for girls. I had several of these in the late Sixties, and I can remember the teachers telling us to wear a scooter dress the next day whenever something was planned that might mean we’d be on the floor.

So if this was just common attire for schoolgirls in 1968, why did I want this as a golf dress?

The back of the dress tells the tale. There is a pocket that has an expandable pleat, perfect for golf balls and tees. There is also a ring sewn to the other side. I really can’t say what the true function was, but I’ve seen men’s golf pants that have a towel holder in the same spot. Could that be it?

After a bit of online searching, I found the answer in a 1969 Golfdom article:

“From Greg Draddy comes the drop waist dress slit up the sides with pants attached. The back pocket is detachable and there’s a towel ring. Some have cowl collars, others a placket; but all have long back zippers. There’s a waffle pique to fall into the category of texture treatment in fabrics. All the dresses retail from $30 to $35.”

One of my favorite things about this dress is that the pocket is removable. If the owner wanted to wear it off the golf course, she could without it screaming “golf dress”.

I think Chipper is a great name for a golf dress, and it also fits in with cute names of the other lines produced by Gregg Draddy: Zizzie, Tizzie, Sassy, and Steppy.  I haven’t found a lot about the Gregg Draddy label, but one of the dresses I found for sale also had a Bergdorf Goodman label, so the brand was not cheap. But I already knew that from examining my dress. The quality is superb, with a complete cotton lining. And if not for the wear on the label, I’d have bet that this dress had never been worn. Just lovely condition.

I wasn’t very successful in searching for Gregg Draddy as a person.  Those familiar with sportswear may recognize the Draddy name, as it was Vin Draddy at American clothing company David Crystal, who brought the Lacoste polo shirt to America in 1950. I did find a photograph of Gregg Draddy and Vin Draddy together with a few celebrities, and I also found a reference to Gregg as a manufacturer. I’m thinking Vin and Gregg were brothers. There are descendants of Vin still around (in the Asheville area, no less) so the answers are out there.

 

1950s Pat Perkins Fore Action Golf Dress

For longer than I care to think about I had been meaning to drive down the mountain to Greenville, South Carolina. Greenville is one of those places that is making an effort to revitalize the downtown area, and at the same time smaller enclaves of retail and restaurant activity are springing to life.  One of these enclaves is the Village of West Greenville.  West Greenville was originally a a cotton mill village.

The nearby Brandon Mill employed over one thousand workers in the prosperous cotton mill days of the early twentieth century. The most famous person to ever work there was Shoeless Joe Jackson, who started his baseball career playing for the Brandon Mills team. For those of you who don’t know baseball history (or who don’t live with a Chicago White Sox fan) Jackson was involved in the infamous Black Sox scandal of 1919.

Today West Greenville is home to Kate DiNatale Vintage. It was there that I found this great late 1950s golf dress.

I knew the brand name Pat Perkins, but I had no idea the company made golf dresses. I knew them as a maker of affordable day dresses.

Fans of classic television know the Pat Perkins name because it is boldly featured in the opening credits of The Honeymooners. According to The Official Honeymooners Treasury, Mac Kaplan, the owner of Sunnyvale Inc. the maker of Pat Perkins dresses, gave the show a few dozen dresses for Audrey Meadows as Alice Kramden to wear on the show in exchange for a listing in the opening credits. Unfortunately, Alice always wore an apron that covered much of the dress, much to Kaplan’s chagrin.

One thing that makes a good golf dress is the presence of functional pockets. And I love these, with the top of the pocket forming a belt loop.

You can see how the breast pocket mirrors the styling of the lower ones. Because this dress is sleeveless, there is no need for adaptations in the sleeves. Do note the additional ease in the shoulders.

One place I always look for information on a brand or trademark is the Trademark Electronic Search System. It is a very handy tool, but it has to be used with caution. Even though the label has a little R for registered trademark beside “Fore Action”, I could not find it in the system. The only Pat Perkins trademark listed dates to 1962, and clearly states that the first use of the trademark is 1962. Some users might mistakenly take this to mean that the Pat Perkins label was not used before 1962, but we know that is not true. The registration is in fact referring to the brand name plus a slogan: “Pat Perkins, Reflecting America’s Most Treasured Daytime Dress.”

If you are ever in the Greenville area, a trip to Kate’s beautiful store is most recommended.

1950s Golf Dress – Babe Didrikson Golfer by Serbin

Some time ago I heard from Marianne Serbin, who was part of the family that owned the clothing company Serbin, and later, Serbin of Miami.  In her letter to me she mentioned that at one time famed athlete Babe Didrikson designed golf dresses for Serbin.  Since then I’ve had this line on my shopping radar, and finally, last month, I found a really great example.

Marianne did not mention when exactly Didrikson worked for Serbin, and it’s likely she does not know, as she would have been a child at the time.  But it is pretty easy to narrow it down to a range of just a few years.  First, Didrikson died in 1955 from cancer which was diagnosed with in 1953.

The length of the dress is quite long, and so the earliest it could be is 1948 or so.

The label reads just Serbin, instead of Serbin of Miami.  The company moved to Miami in 1951.  That may indicate that the set predates 1951 and the move, but that’s not guaranteed.  My 1960s golf set from Serbin does not mention Miami either.

I did find two ads online for Serbin golf dresses from 1949.  Actress Jane Russell is the model, but there is no mention of Didrikson.  It stands to reason that , as a very famous athlete, her name would have been in the ad as well. (The hunt continues.  I’ll update if I find a Serbin-Didrikson ad.)

My best guess is, then, 1950 through 1952.  But more important than the actual date of this dress is what we can learn about how fashion was adapted to fit a specific activity, in this case, golfing.

One of the first things to consider in making a golf dress is the sleeve.  Tight sleeves just won’t do, but in the early 50s most women on the golf course were just not ready to go sleeveless. In order to allow the arms full range of motion, golf dress sleeves were often pleated, and in this case, you can see that there are also buttons to give even more flexibility.

An interesting side note – this type of pleated sleeve appears to have started in the 1930s.  In the early 30s it was often seen on fashionable dresses.  So which use came first, the fashion or the sport?  I have no idea.

When unbuttoned, the sleeve is open all the way to the shoulder.

Another must-have feature on golf dresses was a pocket or two.  I really love how this breast pocket was cut on the bias.

I somehow neglected to take a full-length photo of the back of the dress, so take my word for it that this pocket is on the back, not the front.  It’s large enough to hold a ball, a glove, and a couple of tees.

One thing that made me buy this particular dress was that the belt was present.  So many times in old clothes the original belt is missing.  I didn’t realize until the dress arrived at my house that the belt is actually attached to a large flap in the back.  The flap obscures a large opening and the looseness of it allows for good air circulation.  It also makes the dress more flexible in the upper back.  Ingenious.

Here you can see the back opening.

Another interesting feature is that the dress has a front zipper that extends to the hem.  The zipper is actually a separating one, so this dress is very easy to put on.

Even with all the features that make this a dress for golfing, a woman could also have worn this dress for regular, casual wear.  It fits right in with what was stylish in 1950.

My Dad had a golf tournament  in Miami Beach which was Babe’s first win after her cancer and he presented her with a trophy topped with a diamond studded metal golf ball..quite a thrill for everyone.  Marianne Serbin.  Photo courtesy of Marianne Serbin.

I’m always amazed to learn of how so many otherwise famous people from the past also have a link to the fashion world.  Today, of course, it is just another way for a celebrity to make cash off his or her popularity.  But even a hundred years ago celebrities were being approached by companies eager to add a bit of  star power to their products.

UPDATE:  Thanks to Christina, I have a bit more to share.  Didrikson’s autobiography is online, and in it she mentions the deal with Serbin.  She won the British Ladies Championship in 1947, and after that win she was able to sign contracts with quite a few companies, including Serbin.  Later in the caption of a photo she mentions the ongoing deal with Serbin.  This was in 1955.

Christina also found photos of Didrikson wearing what looks to be a dress very similar to mine.  The year is 1950.   Thanks Christina!

UPDATE: Liza has found an ad in a newspaper for Didrickson/Serbin golf dresses dated March 30, 1949.  Thanks Liza!

Wes-Mor Sure-Grip Shoe Cleats

If you have been reading The Vintage Traveler for a while you know that I’m a collector of women’s sportswear.  But I also am always on the lookout for items that relate to clothing and sports, but don’t really qualify as garments.  The Wes-Mor Sure-Grip Shoe Cleat falls into that category.

If you are ever bored, spend an hour or two on the Google Patents site.  Some of the oddball ideas will amaze and delight.  And what is fun is to actually find a product like mine that has the patent number right on the box.  Talk about making research easy!

Knowing this product was protected under patent number 2103472 led me straight to the patent and the accompanying drawings from the inventor, John Lascari.  He filed for the patent in  July, 1937, and the patent was granted in December of the same year.

According to the patent:

This invention relates to a shoe cleat and more especially to a device designed to be attached to boots, shoes or the like, to prevent slipping or sliding upon slippery surfaces such as those of ice or wet floors.

An object of this invention is to provide a device of this class which may be readily attached on, or detached from, the sole of a shoe when desired.

To test out the claim of “may be readily attached on, or detached from, the sole of a shoe when desired,” I tried the cleats on a pair of my own shoes.  I had my doubts, as the metal piece seemed to be quite stiff, but as you can see, the cleats worked perfectly.

In an era when most people could not afford to have special shoes for golf or hiking, this was a clever solution to the problem of smooth soled shoes.

Because the patent date is printed on the box, we know that the cleats cannot be dated to before early 1938.  The illustration of the woman on the box seems to show clothing from the late 1930s or early 40s.  There was a trademark application made for Wes-Mor by the Morrone Mfg. Company of Westerly, Rhode Island.  According to that application, the name Wes-Mor was first used in 1945.  I have found, however, that the “first used” date on trademark applications is often incorrect, as it is so often based on the applicant’s memory of something that happened years earlier.  So, my guess on the date is 1939 through 1945.