Men's Undergarments

[Chantilly]

From a post on another thread, I've received a few questions about men's undergarments and a suggestion to post the information under the Cas City Historical Society for those men striving for period correct undergarments.

In Victorian times, men's undergarments were in two pieces.  Through the Civil War, undergarments were made at home.  Materials used were cotton through linen and even silk. From the waist down "drawers" were worn which were usually made of wool flannel, but could be of any fabric. The most common were knee length with a simple button overlap in front and a drawstring at the waist in the back. The preferred upper garment was a wool flannel shirt worn next to the skin.

The Industrial Revolution with the invention of water-powered spinning machines and the cotton gin made cotton fabrics widely available and saw the beginning of mass-produced underwear. For the first time, people began buying undergarments in stores rather than making them at home.

The following is a partial listing for gents shirts and drawers from the 1875 Montgomery Ward and Co. Catalogue:
2 Gents' Orange Colored Undershirts for .90
2 pairs Gents' Orange Colored  Drawers for .90
2 Gent's Orange Colored  Ribbed Shirts for 1.25
2 pairs Orange Colored Ribbed Drawers for 1.25

Other colors were white and gray mixed

From the 1886 Boomingdale's Illustrated Catalogue (although men's underwear is not illustrated but is called underwear in the catalogue):
Summer merino shirts, bound with silk for .31
Summer merino drawers for .31
Summer merino Bismarck brown and cadet blue shirts for 1.00
Drawers same colors for 1.00
Fancy balbriggan shirts, four colors, stripes for 1.00
Drawers to match for 1.00
Gauze shirts, short sleeves for .29
Gauze drawers for .50

From the 1897 Sears Roebuck Catalogue (first illustrations that I have from a catalogue):

[Chantilly]

Even the 1897 Sears Roebuck Catalogue shows the two piece men's undergarments.  The Union Suit is illustrated for women in this catalogue but not for men.  (More on Union Suits later.)

Some on-line sites to purchase men's under drawers –

R & K Suttlery –
http://www.sutlery.com/perlstore/html/men_civi.html - underdrawers

Fall Creek Suttlery
http://www.fcsutler.com/fcclotaccess.asp - drawers

Patterns –
https://www.grannd.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=GS&Category_Code=HPPP7090 1800's to 1890's Men's Drawers by Past Patterns

http://www.fcsutler.com/fcpatterns.asp - Men's drawers

[Chantilly]

To understand more fully the development of the Union Suit, a little background on health and dress reform is helpful. 

Health reform was becoming more public in the 1840's and 1850's.   The health concerns of women believed to be caused by tight lacing and long skirts that hampered movement and long skirts dragging through the dirt were publicized.  Women's Dress Reform based on the ideas of health reform was visible to the public beginning with the Bloomer Dress (short knee length dress with bloomers to the ankles) first worn publicly in 1851.   Most women and men thought the Bloomer Dress and later the Freedom Dress (same basic knee length dress with trousers), were unbecoming and threatened men's place (women did not wear trousers) so Dress Reform did not become popular.   Dress reform was also being associated with Women's Suffrage during the time period (another unpopular topic) as many women suffragates wore the Bloomer Dress.  Dress Reform clothing was also worn by Vivandieres and a few other women (Dr. Mary Walker is an example) in their work during the Civil War.  By the mid 1860's the Bloomer and Freedom Dress were things of the past for most. 

In the late 1860's and 1870's, Dress Reform began to focus on women's undergarments (less threatening to women's fashion).  The hoop skirt eliminated the numerous petticoats previously worn, thus lightening the weight of the garments worm (women's clothing prior to the hoop skirt could weigh up to 25 pounds). 

Throughout the 1870's and 1880's, the need for cleanliness to prevent disease was becoming well known.  By 1880, Dr. Gustav Jaeger convinced what must have been a rather fragrant nation that regularly washed underwear might be a good thing.   Corsets were reformed containing less boning, more comfortable materials and an emphasis against tight lacing.   Still a number of garments fastened around the woman's waist and was blamed for the continuing health problems.  Dress Reformers believed that the weight of clothing should be more uniformly carried about the body.   According to Reforming Women's Fashion, 1850-1920 by Patricia A Cunningham, by 1887, the Union Suit was being advertised as a more healthful undergarment for women.  Reference in this book is made to the Ypsilanti Union Suit made in Michigan known as the "Ypsilanti Health Underwear." These long johns were once known throughout the nation with their marketing slogan, "When love grows cold do not despair, there's always Ypsilanti Underwear."  The union suits of the era were usually made of knitted material and included a drop flap in the back to ease visits to the toilet. Because the top and bottom were united as a one-piece garment it received the name Union suit.

In 1891, the Northwestern Knitting Company (later known as Munsingwear) introduced the one-piece, full-length union suit seen in thousands of period films and photos.  Hanes opened several mills producing 'union suits'. Originally made with ankle length legs and long sleeves, later versions were available in knee length versions with or without sleeves.   Advances in material and design began to offer wicking technology wherein an inner layer of cotton was used to draw moisture away from the skin and help to keep the body cooler.

As noted in the post above, the Union Suit was advertised for women in the 1897 Sears Roebuck Catalogue but surprisingly, there is no mention of the Union Suit for men. 

I have not found any other reference to the Union Suit in my reference materials.  If anyone has other mention of the Union Suit prior to 1887 for women or men, please add to this post!

Current online Union Suits for purchase –

River Junction Trade Co.
http://www.riverjunction.com/catalog/mensfurn/underware.html - Union suits "long johns" and "old fashioned underwear shirt" – no picture

Wild West Mercantile
http://www.wwmerc.com/cgi-bin/Category.cgi?category=5200&type=store - Union suits "long johns"

[St. George]

An excellent and informative post, Chantilly.

Thanks.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Delmonico]

Very informative.  If anyone is interested in making their own, Simplicaty has the patterns for both 2 piece and union suits in one package.  These are back in the costume section.

[Trap]

  Chantilly;
  Do you know where you got a copy of an1875 catalog? been looking for one for a while.  jt

[Chantilly]

Trap...I admit....I have this horrible Ebay addiction.  BUT, sometimes I find the most cool historical stuff including catalogues that I just simply cannot resist!  If I see another catalogue pop up, I'll be sure to head you in the right direction (addicts love to bring others into their fold).

Best regards,

Chantilly (I will not sign on to ebay tonight, I will not sign in to ebay tonight...yeah, right)

[Oregon Bill]

Thanks for your research ma'am. I feel for all the poor wretches who needed the warmth of wool but were allergic to it.

[Steel Horse Bailey]

I know what you mean, Oregon Bill.  It wasn't until I joined the Army and went to Basic Training that I found out I was allergic to wool.  This was right after the Ice/Snow major  blizzard in Jan. 1978.  Heck of a time to find out!