Amy T Peterson, Valerie Hewitt, Heather Vaughan, et al

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by The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Clothing Through American History 1900 to the Present (pdf)


  The decadence of the 1920s ended quickly after the stock market crash

  in 1929. Parties and conspicuous consumption were replaced with frugality

  and restraint. Families found themselves resourcefully stretching budgets to

  make ends meet. Much of the nation was underfed and many were home-

  less. Men’s self-esteem suffered when they found themselves out of work.

  Despite the poverty of much of the nation, extravagant debutante balls

  and weddings still occurred. Christmas became a commercialized holiday,

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  and families still found enough pocket change to go to the movies. The

  1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid inspired many Americans to take

  up sports such as skiing and ice skating. Swimming remained a wide-

  spread pastime, but most Americans chose inexpensive pastimes such as

  board games, puzzles, and listening to the radio.

  The first half of the 1940s was dominated by WWII. For the adults

  who did not serve in the war, daily life involved working in factories. Civil-

  ians were responsible for conserving and contributing to the war effort as

  much as they could. This usually involved salvaging, recycling, and planting

  Victory Gardens.

  Most socialization during the 1940s revolved around the war effort.

  People went to USOs to dance and entertain the servicemen. Movies and

  sing-alongs were popular group activities, and baseball was seen as the all-

  American sport. Although many of the major league players were off fight-

  ing overseas, African Americans and women held games for eager crowds.

  After the war, Americans took advantage of the increased production

  of commercial cars. Families took Sunday drives and road trips. National

  parks across the United States were frequent destinations. By the close of

  the decade, Americans no longer had to abide by train schedules; they

  could get nearly anywhere they wanted in their cars.

  T H E

  1900S

  At the turn of the century, the population was shifting away from rural

  areas and into cities. The urban areas not only had the possibility for

  work, they also had amenities such as telephones, electricity and indoor

  plumbing. Even the most poor tenement housing had indoor plumbing,

  although one bathroom might be shared by four or five families.

  Daily life tended to be fairly consistent for each class. One day was

  much like another, except for holidays and the rare special occasion. The

  working class worked. Those that managed to find themselves in the

  growing middle class worked as well, although the nature of their work

  tended to be less grueling than that of the working class. Technology and

  industrialization created jobs that needed education and skills that were

  usually only available in urban areas. Increasingly, fewer farms could feed

  more people. Industrialization was moving the country, and that meant

  that the population was shifting to the urban areas.

  For the first time in history, large numbers of people were improving

  their economic status. It was truly possible for someone who was born dirt

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  poor to become a millionaire, but this generally meant that people had to

  move to the city. Individuals and families had to work hard, but the poor

  could join the middle class and those in the middle class worked to

  become wealthy. The rich had somewhat more leisurely lives, but they,

  too, had a rather rigid daily schedule. Class distinctions and rigorous rules

  of etiquette governed every aspect of social life during the first decade of

  the century.

  Upper-class women were frequently objects for display. The implication

  was that the less work they did, the more leisurely they seemed to be, the

  more money their husbands and fathers made. Those families trying to join

  the upper classes would work diligently to have their women appear as if they

  had nothing to do, even if that was not true. Appearances were important.

  Upper-class women were expected to have a variety of activities during the

  day. Each activity meant a different outfit; a woman could not be seen at

  afternoon tea wearing the same outfit she wore during a morning’s activity.

  Fashion at the turn of the century meant clothes that were trouble-

  some. A woman could not just ‘‘throw on a dress’’ and be ready to receive

  guests or go shopping. There were corsets and garments that required the

  attendance of at least one maid. The ‘‘S-bend’ corset, popular at the turn

  of the century, forced a woman’s hips back and her bosom forward, pro-

  ducing the popular ‘‘S’’ shape. The corset also created what was referred to

  as the ‘ monobosom.’’ This corset required at least one maid to help lace

  and tighten the corset until the wearer’s figure attained the appropriate

  shape. Many physicians complained about this corset, saying that it did

  more harm than good to a woman’s bones and internal organs, but weal-

  thy women needed to look as if they did not need to worry about such

  things. No country farm woman, or any of the working-class women,

  could work in this corset. Also, they could not afford a maid to take care

  of the corset or the rest of the clothes.

  A maid was required to maintain the wardrobe for the lady of the

  house. The maid was responsible for the cleaning, mending, ironing, and

  general maintenance of a wealthy woman’s wardrobe. The maid would

  also have to help the lady dress, because there was no way any one woman

  could fasten, attach, and arrange the various garments that the ‘ well-

  dressed woman’ of the early 1900s needed. Women may have found some

  of the fashion dictates to be uncomfortable and confining, but that was

  the point. The ideal in the 1900s envisioned women in a confined role;

  they were not supposed to have anything better to do than be ladylike,

  manage their households, and raise their children.

  Middle- and upper-class women spent much of their day constantly

  changing clothes. If a woman were to dress comfortably or be seen in the

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  same outfit twice in one day, she could bring scandal and ridicule onto

  her family. At the beginning of the twentieth century, few women were

  willing to do this. Subtle changes were occurring and dramatic events,

  such as WWI, were on the horizon, so it was not long before this particu-

  lar lifestyle would be gone forever.

  During the last half of the nineteenth century, technology and indus-

  try developed a series of inventions that would change the course of life

  more rapidly than in any previous century. Most of these inventions

  seemed to become established in the urban areas. Urban areas grew into

  large cities, and the residents of those cities demanded the new inventions

  and conveniences, such as electric light and indoor plumbing. These con-

  veniences helped attract more people to urban areas, which tended to

  increase the desire for new technology. One of those initially unassuming

  inventions was the telephone.

  The telephone was invented in 1876. Whereas its predecessor, the

  telegraph, had begun to change how peopl
e communicated across great

  distances, the telephone increased the speed of those changes. By the end

  of 1909, the telephone was no longer a ‘ curiosity.’’ It was common in

  urban areas and allowed news to travel quickly. The leisurely pace of life

  began to speed up, and women were less accepting of the time it took to

  wear the clothes that had been fashionable a mere decade earlier.

  SOCIAL OCCASIONS

  For the upper classes, ‘ social’ meant almost anything outside the house.

  The rather rigid expectations of daily life that existed in the late 1800s

  slid into the beginning of the 1900s. Each different activity occurred dur-

  ing a specific time of day, and each required a specific outfit.

  The early mornings were usually spent in delegating the day’s activ-

  ities. Generally, the men were at work, so the women would be home and

  a relatively comfortable, but fashionable, dress could be worn. The after-

  noon hours were spent visiting others. Many of these visits were not sim-

  ply friendly social calls but calls women made to other women in an

  attempt to get on a particular guest list for an upcoming activity. The vis-

  its were strictly set for fifteen minutes each, after which another guest

  could be expected. These were very formal visits and required a formal

  outfit designed for that specific kind of occasion.

  At about 5:00 in the afternoon, women could make friendlier visits

  that did not require as formal an outfit as the earlier visits. If a woman

  was invited ‘‘to tea,’’ then the woman would have to wear something more

  formal than if she was simply visiting a good friend. The women would

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  Advertising 1900 1910. In the first dec-

  page, and the whole look of the ad was

  ades of the century, most companies

  intended to give the impression of

  turned their advertising over to adver-

  integrity, quality, and prestige. Multi-

  tising agencies. Providing a wide range

  ple-plate printing allowed for colorful,

  of services, including planning, research,

  pictorial-style ads.

  ad creation, and the implementation of

  This period became the golden age

  campaigns, agencies modernized prod-

  of trademarked advertising. Agencies

  uct advertising. They became focused

  developed memorable characters such as

  on how well the advertising worked.

  the Morton Salt Girl, the Campbell’s

  They created basic customer surveys and

  Kids, Buster Brown, Planter’s Mr. Pea-

  compared how the same ad performed

  nut, and Cracker Jack’s Sailor Jack.

  in various publications.

  Copywriters developed carefully worded

  Women became principal targets for

  slogans such as Maxwell House’s ‘‘Good

  advertisers because women were the pri-

  to the last drop,’’ Greyhound Bus’s

  mary purchasers of the family’s con-

  ‘‘Leave the driving to us,’’ and Morton

  sumer goods. Food, soap, and cosmetics

  Salt’s ‘ When it rains, it pours.’’

  advertisements had strong appeals to

  During this era, there was an em-

  women. They were usually written in an

  phasis on health and cleanliness, and

  editorial style with claims about the

  advertisers focused on these themes. In

  product and a coupon or sample. Crisco

  1906, the U.S. government passed the

  vegetable shortening, Maxwell House

  Pure Food and Drugs Act, which

  coffee, Ivory soap, and Cutex nail polish

  required a listing of ingredients on all

  were all advertised in this way.

  foods

  and

  medicines.

  Advertisers

  A new form of advertising called

  included health claims in the copy for

  atmospheric advertising emerged during

  many products, including Dixie cups

  these decades. It created a desirable

  and Scott Tissue. Some of the copy

  atmosphere around the product through

  was sensational with its frank explana-

  large stylized images and text that

  tion of the health horrors that might

  stopped the reader from turning the

  befall someone who chose another

  page. There were fewer words on the

  product.

  then leave to return home and change clothes for dinner. If a couple were

  going out for the evening, yet another change of clothes was required.

  Miscellaneous activities such as walking the dog might require yet another

  change of clothes. Women were to be seen, and they needed to be seen in

  different outfits. Even on vacation, an upper-class woman could not be

  seen in the same outfit twice during a week.

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  93

  Evening activities usually revolved

  around one’s social circle or the arts.

  Dinner parties and balls were carefully

  arranged. Invitees had to be of a cer-

  tain social standing, and great effort

  was placed on inviting excellent con-

  versationalists and graceful dancers.

  Bachelor men with good conversation

  skills were seen as a valuable commod-

  ity and were often invited to parties as

  a fill-in for someone who could not

  make it or to entertain spinster aunts.

  Theater productions, symphonies, and

  operas were other popular evening

  activities.

  HEALTH AND LEISURE ACTIVITIES

  Leisure activities were rare for the ru-

  ral population and the urban poor.

  Men would work during the day, and,

  in the evening, they might join a few

  An example of the

  friends and go to a local tavern and socialize over a mug of beer. Women

  popular S-bend cor-

  set. [Library of

  would work in the fields or at their jobs during the day, then do house-

  Congress]

  work or take care of their children in the evening. Urban women who

  worked as domestics, especially in the north, would live in the homes of

  their employers. Those who were able to go home on weekends or at the

  end of the day still had to care for their own families. Live-in domestic

  help were always on-call and rarely got any leisure time at all, which

  accounted for the high turnover rate.

  For the majority of people at the beginning of the 1900s, health was

  precarious at best, especially for those living in urban areas. If they did

  not get caught in some kind of dangerous activity or a dangerous occupa-

  tion, they were susceptible to whatever illnesses might come their way.

  Medical science was still in its infancy, and there were few physicians,

  most of whom were in the cities. Rural areas relied on the traditions that

  their families and communities used for generations.

  The growth of urban centers had exploded, and the infrastructure and

  engineering had not kept up. Most city dwellers did not have access to

  clean water, which led to epidemics, including cholera and yellow fever.

  For example, in the beginning
of the century, many New Yorkers still

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  DAILY LIFE

  relied on pit toilets and outhouses (Marshall 2006, 28). Like New York,

  most cities worked valiantly to overcome their sewage problems and saw

  much progress in the early years of the new century. Chicago was able to

  overcome decades of disease with the opening of its Sanitary and Ship

  Canal in 1900. By cleaning up the water and sewer systems, most cities

  saw their disease rates plummet.

  Diet and exercise were almost unknown in the sense that people use

  the terms today. Most of the working class got enough exercise from their

  jobs. Those in the upper classes did not see the need for exercise. A slen-

  der figure might mean that an individual had to work for a living. People

  who had money could afford more food and they had more leisure time.

  Having a few extra pounds actually was an attractive feature in some

  circles because that could indicate that people had lots of leisure time.

  Adult women, especially rich adult women, were not to be seen sweating.

  These women would have servants doing any heavy work.

  As the middle class and the Progressive party grew more popular, peo-

  ple became more conscious of health issues. Slowly, the country learned

  and accepted that an individual’s health would suffer if he or she worked

  long hours in filthy or hazardous surroundings. Labor unions developed,

  and they fought for better working conditions for their members. A better

  financial situation for many families allowed them to have more leisure

  time. Many young people found that sports were an enjoyable way to spend

  leisure time.

  For the first time ever, women started to publicly enjoy sports as

  much as men did, and they participated in some of the same sports

  men enjoyed. The bicycle became exceptionally popular in the late

  1800s, and its popularity continued to grow in the new century. It was

  acceptable for men and women to ride bicycles and women did, in large

  numbers. The bicycle allowed a woman to travel freely, without a man

  to help her. The younger women began to go places and do things by

  themselves. Many people feared that the bicycle would destroy the fam-

  ily structure because women could go places on their own. They also

  feared what men and women would do if they were unchaperoned.

  Although it did not destroy the family as much as some feared, it did

  eventually cause designers to consider clothing that would be more

 

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