A Faro Game in the Arizona Territory Circa 1895

[Delmonico]

I did a "quick" computer search on the history of belt loops on pants in the US. Soonest I could find a mention of belts being used was 1893. Levi Strauss who started making waist overalls in 1873 didn't start putting belt loops on his overalls until 1922 and even then he still included suspender buttons. Suspenders were called braces in the 1800's.
Remember this was a quick search and there could be an earlier mention of belts out there.
Deadeye Dick

You got that 1893 referance yet? 

As I said in an earlier post, I did come up with a baseball card from the 1887-1890 era that shows belt loops:



And if ones searches this site:

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/bbhtml/bbhome.html

one can see most seem to have had them.  But all that proves is baseball uniforms had the in the late 1880's, nothing more.  One will note that the baseball uniform pants are also lower waisted. 

[Deadeye Dick]

Del,

http://www.rainbowconnection.com/HistorySuspenders.html

Deadeye Dick

[Delmonico]

Del,

http://www.rainbowconnection.com/HistorySuspenders.html

Deadeye Dick

Thanks, not much, just a possible hint.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

I think that men's waists have changed.  When most men ate less, and worked more, trousers would stay up with the back of the belt adjustment.  A we obtained more labour saving devices and ate better our displayed-wealth made the altitude of trousers more precarious, resulting in the fashion, or necessity, of braces.

With our present McLifestyle, we have given up, or down, on our trousers and merely belt them under our display of wealth.

I offer this as a purely personal opinion!

[Delmonico]

There are a lot of braces in pictures, also a lot of folks had vests on in pictures also.  Remember too a lot of guys would remove them if they were getting their picture taken. 

[Deadeye Dick]

I've been doing some more research on belts and loops. One of the main problems I'm running in to is most males in the late 1800 time period wore suit jackets and/or vests or over shirts that come down over their waist. Can't see if they are wearing suspenders or belts or both. I reviewed a bunch of my old family pictures and ran into this problem.
I did find two pictures in the book "Winchester an American Legend" by R.L. Wilson that shows a group of Texas Rangers with belt loops on their pants (pages 100 and 101). The pictures are not dated and show them holding 1894 Winchesters so they could be taken in the 1900 to 1920 or later time frame. Gee, I knew police officers in the 1970's and 80's that still had 1894's in the trunk of their patrol car, probably some of them still do.  
So I will keep my eyes open in hopes to help pin down this time frame better. Won't hold my breath. My thinking is that Del has been looking for a long time.

Deadeye Dick  

[Delmonico]

Not real long, only about 15 years.  I at least got it back to the late 1880's even though they are baseball players.  Would make a neat personna although the guns would look funny.  BTW we have some 1880's baseball teams around here, none of them I know shoot any kind of WAS though.

[Texas Lawdog]

DD, Back in the Dark Ages, I was one of those Officer's in the 70s that carried a 3030 in my car. along with a Remington 870 pump. No Body armor, No Assault Rifles, and only a 6 shot Smith revolver.

[Devil Anse Hatfield]

Back to the game of Chance. From the discriptions it could be a bit hard to grasp. but after a few rounds online I have a fair grip on the game. I have lost more than I won.
I found this
http://www.gleeson.us/faro/

If this isnt allowed please delete . Kind of fun to play a game from an era we play in.
If someone has played this in real life please  let us know if its close to real or not.

[River City John]

One thing to keep in mind, Civil War through the 1870's, men's trowsers were available ready-made in relatively few sizes and styles were cut fuller, so braces were a necessity. (Even the Army switched from a fuller trowser leg to a more tailored, slender pant leg with a slight belling of the cuff to accommodate the typical high-topped footwear still in use beyond the late '70's.)  As the century neared the 1900 mark, trowsers or pantaloons became more form fitting and were cut narrow waisted and less full in the legs. There was a definite rising LEISURE CLASS that put more time, money and interest devoted to sports, hobbies, etc. in the outdoors that required simplified, specialized clothing styles that did not hinder movement. This would naturally trickle down to influence all men's fashions at this turn-of-the-century era.
You also need to differentiate between what a younger man would wear to be stylish, and what an older man chose for comfort. Braces were gradually relegated to an elder man's necessary fashion, and belts and belt loops were for the younger man's trimmer waistline.

General body shapes did not change all that much until after WWII, when prosperity really kicked in! The typical uniform sizes from WWI seem like Lilliputians fought in that war. WWII was not too much different.

RCJ

[kflach]

There are a lot of braces in pictures, also a lot of folks had vests on in pictures also.  Remember too a lot of guys would remove them if they were getting their picture taken. 

Delmonico,

Remove what - the braces or the vests? I thought getting pictures taken was generally a 'formal' event and thus people would be more likely to dress up than dress down for the occasion.

[St. George]

They'd remove the braces - those were 'underclothing' and thus not shown.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!