What's wrong with bein' confidant?

When you're dressed in your Cooper's Bennington Spring Needle Underwear, your humble towel instantly transforms into a plush red carpet, and the locker room becomes your summer palace!

The more I look at the illustration in this ad from the May 1919 Underwear and Hosiery Review, the more amusing it gets. Check out that moody stare, the young fellow in the background is giving our hero. He probably just wishes his underwear were half as fabulous. 

According to the small type under the illustration, it was also printed in The Saturday Evening Post. 

Just Woke up Like This

Just waking up from a long winter's slumber, looking luxurious and radiating glamour.

An ad from a 1921 issue of The Haberdasher.

Gid'up!

This is just too cute! Papa the noble steed, is being a very good sport, letting the little equestrians hold on to his mane for support. This ad was printed in a 1921 issue of The Underwear & Hosiery Review.

Tie Trouble

Another marvelous cartoon by Art Helfant, published in a 1921 issue of The Haberdasher.

Just Peachy!

An International Tailoring co. ad from a 1921 issue of The Haberdasher. This one speaks for itself. 

The Razor of Youth

According to this ad from a 1922 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, shaving with the Valet Auto-stop Razor is the key to keeping young. "Leading dermatologists now tell us three men in four, past 35, look years older than they are because of improper methods of shaving," they say, and go on to declare "For youth, a keen blade." I can honestly say, I've never seen this precise angle taken with a men's razor ad before, and the illustrations drive the message home, sketching out a dire warning to the reader: "Don't use the Valet Auto-stop Razor? Then, say hello to crow's feet, bags under your eyes, and a double chin." It is very dramatic.

A Friendly Cardi

Hats are not the only articled of apparel that you can befriend. According to this 1922 ad from The Saturday Evening Post, Tom Wye knit jackets make great pals! They are practical, stylish, and always up for an outdoor adventure. 

The Men of Men's Wear

Below are a collection of headers and titles from 1910 issues of Men's Wear. They are all very carefully illustrated, but at first glance, they might seem like a rather unusual choice for decorating the articles in a fashion trade journal. You see, despite the title of the publication, there is remarkably little men's wear to be seen in them. Perhaps they are the result of a bold attempt to make the magazine stand out from the rest, as undisputedly artsy. they might also be the sartorial community of 1910's equivalent to decorating the pages of a car magazine with assorted engine parts- a kind of decorative use of the figures that hold up and round out the men's wear. 

The title page is decorated with what appears to be Industry, gracefully waving a banner and balancing a globe. He is flanked by two glossy companions, who I'm guessing might be Trade and Agriculture. I keep chuckling, because the title for the semi monthly men's wear industry report is "THE SITUATION."

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The header for the "Selling Ideas" section is a little harder to interpret. Are these fit fellows thinking inside the box? Their boxes do appear to be decked with festive strands of floating ribbon. Are they gifted thinkers? 

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The Men's Wear market report header is decorated with a sheet clad horseman, riding into the fray of a fiercely competative market, perhaps. 

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Gravity defying ribbons make another appearance in the header for "Stock Taking in a Country Store." The illustrator appears to have been determined to squash his men into one of the most dramatic S curves I've seen in a while. Hogarth would have been proud! I'm pretty uncertain about the objects that the men are carrying. They appear to be mallets of some sort, but might also be a kind of a torch. 

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Last, but not least, is one of the least abstract headers in the group. It is made up of two picturesque painters in wind-swept drapery, and they seem right at home above a section of the publication dedicated to ads, signs, illustration and typography. 

Exchanging Hats

Here is another Art Helfant comic strip about the haberdashery business. This time it is from from The American Hatter in 1921. 

Adventures in Haberdashery

During the early 1920s, The Haberdasher ran a nifty little contest called "The Funniest Sight" where shopkeepers and sales clerks could share stories of their most amusing or bizarre experiences in the the haberdashery business. The top two or three entries would be printed and illustrated each month, and the winner received $5.00.

Below are two hilarious anecdotes from The Haberdasher's "Funniest Sight" contest of April 1922. Click the text to zoom.

Working the Long-johns

Several articles I've found on window-dressing in 1920 and 1921 issues of The Haberdasher, included the opinion that long underwear were an inherently awkward article to display, model, or illustrate, since, as one contributor put it: they just aren't aesthetic. However, my reading also revealed a sort of consensus, that the addition of a dressing gown could increase the window-appeal of a union suit exponentially. 

The illustrator of the advertisement on the cover of The Underwear & Hosiery Review, below, seems to have taken that advice and flown with it, and the result is an explosion of plush luxury and fierce attitude.

I'm not sure who the illustrator is, but their work contains many similar elements to Rene Gruau's menswear illustrations from the mid to late 20th century. Perhaps this illustrator's work provided Gruau with a little inspiration?  Two of Gruau's pieces are below, for comparison. 

Story Time

I truly felt as if I'd stumbled across buried treasure, when I discovered an entire twelve-page picture book, printed in the July 1910 issue of Men's Wear. It is a beautifully illustrated allegorical tale about a rowing match between two different marketing approaches. The whole thing is a delightful treat from start to finish, so I've gone ahead, and posted the entire piece below. Enjoy! 

The Collar Struggles Continue

The quest to wear the latest in snug 1920s collars, claims another fashion victim , in this Art Helfant cartoon from a 1921 issue of The Haberdasher. 

Fashion Victim

Looking trendy is not always easy, especially when being the pinnacle of fashion means adopting extreme styles, like the close-fitting, perfectly crisp, and perfectly unforgiving stiff collars of the 1910s and 1920s. When starched to their limit, they could render their wearer quite uncomfortable, and, according to a few contemporary reports, sometimes even constricted gentlemen to the brink of faintness. 

A major draw-back to extreme trends, is that when they are in full swing, it becomes much more difficult for those who wish to be stylish and practical, to find products that are both. 

Example: An ad by J.C. Leyendecker,   

Note the cutting fit of the stiff collar.

Mr. Art Helfant weighs in on the situation, in a 1921 issue of The Haberdasher:

It's no wonder that through the 1920s, soft collars slowly began to gain in popularity, and by the 1930s, their conquest of collardom was virtually complete. Infact, the same issue, in which Mr. Helfant's cartoon was printed, contains an article with the following headline: 

Majoring in Taste

I found this charming little illustration (by Forbell) and excerpt from an article by Richard C. Bohem, summarizing 1922 style trends on college campuses. In the first part of the article, Bohem discusses the disparity between the way college boys were portrayed on the stage (often loudly dressed, and a little sloppy), and actual campus fashion, which consisted mostly of comfortable, tidy, looks, with an occasional preppy, or fashion-forward perspective. After mentioning sportswear, and sack coats, which had become a college staple, the article is concluded with the following:

Everything Ultra

So, old top, what's the ultra word? Are you alive to being utterly utter? 

I'm discovering so many choice tid-bits of early 20th c. vernacular in these old magazines! This style guide is from a 1921 issue of The Haberdasher. 

Is Your Hat Becoming a Habit?

Poor Mr. Jones. There is no special thrill for him, on those days when he would like to "feel that he is helping decorate the landscape." He needs to find a clever hatter, like Mr. Smith's. One who can suggest the perfect hats to go with his suits. 

This little pair of captioned illustrations were printed in a 1921 issue of The American Hatter, providing their readers with hints and inspiration. 

Roxford Shoppers

This ad from a 1910 issue of The Clothier and Furnisher, shows a couple of stylish gentlemen, shopping for their Roxfords. A sales clerk carefully measures the customer on the left, to insure a that he gets a perfect fit, while the second shopper  scrutinizes the merchandise. The man behind the counter looks a little tense, watching the expressions of his choosy young customer. Will "the good knitted underwear" be good enough for him? Note the little Roxford poster hanging above the counter; an ad within an ad.  

Stockings for the Noble

Are you a good man? Are you true? Then "Onyx" Hosiery is for you!

This Onyx Hosiery ad was printed in in a 1910 issue of The Clothier and Furnisher. I love the delicate little illustrations of clocked stockings in opera pumps, and Lord and Taylor's bold claim, that they can offer "all shades, to match any color scheme desired." I wonder if they had their own dye house?

T-Straps for the Roxford Boy

I found another marvelous illustration from a Roxford long underwear ad in a 1908 issue of The Clothier and Furnisher. The gentleman in the illustration appears to be enjoying a peaceful moment with his paper, but his secure grip on his chair-seat makes me wonder what sort of sensational news story (or serial) he might be reading. Speaking of sensational, check out the amazing pair of T-strap sandals he's wearing!