Patron-Modèle 100055 - Costume Sport

1950s

Translates to "Anorak and ski pants."

The rather laconic description on the back of the envelope can be translated as:

Front-opening jacket with an applied plastron; gathered hood; ski pants.

The jacket is gathered at the waist and wrists.  The ski pants have pockets, and the legs are darted and fitted to bands.  Woolen or worsted fabrics would have been used for both the anorak and the pants.

I assume that your hankie and the French equivalent of a Chapstick go in the little front pockets of the anorak.

And in case anybody was wondering, we now appear to have documentary evidence that the French wore mittens.

Patron-Modèle 400934 - Anorak et Pantalon fuseau en gabardine pour homme

1950s

Translates to "Man's jacket and gabardine ski pants."

Patron-Modèle seems to have been the "house brand" for the women's magazine Lé Petit Echo de la Mode.

The description on the back of the envelope translates to:

The anorak has patch pockets and is fitted to the waist with elastic.  Turned down collar; set-in sleeves.  Removable hood.  Ski pants.

"Pantalon fuseau" can also be translated as "pegged pants," but the intent is clear; these trousers have a narrow leg to help keep the snow out and to tuck into the ski boots, which would have looked about like this (I suspect that these laces are much later replacements.)

From www.vintageskiworld.com

It's interesting that the description indicates a fabric choice of gabardine, which is a sturdy twill fabric made of worsted yarn.  The anorak would have been made out of a woolen or worsted fabric as well, and I might add a silk lining for a little extra warmth, although the pattern doesn't call for a lining.

As was true for the earlier Patron Modèle that we saw, there is no separate instruction sheet.  The maker is expected to use the illustrations on the front and the description of the pattern pieces on the back of the envelope.

Note the crotch gusset for the pants, necessary for sportswear in the years before stretch fabrics were introduced.

Although there was no instruction sheet, this pattern included a one-sheet that mostly contained advertising geared to home sewing, but had a few general instructions, and a helpful sizing chart.   This size 44 is equivalent to about a 38" chest.

Pictorial Review 8017 - Santa Claus Suit

1930s.

The name "Kathryn Klahn" has been printed in pencil at the very top of the envelope.   The 1930 census lists a Kathryn Klahn, age 65,  as living in Clinton Iowa, so this may be one of her patterns.   Mrs. Klahn got a nice early start for Mr. Klahn's - er, Santa Claus's arrival on the fire truck for the Christmas parade on the day after Thanksgiving.

I like that Pictorial calls this a Santa Claus "suit," rather than "costume."

Merry Christmas, everybody!

McCall 3495 - Men's and Boys' Undershirts

Latter half of the 1920s.

Recent weather forecasts around here have featured "freezing fog," which for some reason sounds colder to me than "snow," so warm garments of all kinds seem like a really good idea just now, and an undershirt with an extra layer of material to keep the upper body warm is particularly attractive.

While patterns for men's undershirts are not uncommon, this is the first time I've seen this particular cold-weather design offered.  Oddly, I was able to obtain two copies of this pattern in less than six months.

Note that the hip gusset is visible in the illustration.  While these gussets were (and still are, in some cases) used in men's shirts and under shirts, it's a little unusual to see them shown in the illustration.  McCall wasn't taking any chances - they even provided a pattern piece for the gusset, which is quite unusual.  Typically only written instructions are given, sometimes indicating the size of the gusset, but sometimes just instructing the maker to cut a square of material.  Hip gussets are not just a nicety - the side seams will pull out without gussets to take the strain, particularly if the wearer is engaged in strenuous work.

May Manton's 8815 - Men's and Youth's Pajamas

At a guess, 1915 to 1920.

Chilly weather is upon us, so new flannel pajamas seem like a good idea.  Though one-piece pajamas are common for children, I was a little surprised to see them offered for men.   The option for short sleeves would indicate that some men wore these in summer.  In this case, they'd be made of a light cotton fabric.

The little chart showing chest measurement and the corresponding neck measurement is helpful to have around, since some shirt patterns at this period give only the neck measurement.

Women's Day 5024 - Two-Piece Apron-Dress

January 1952

There is a lot of common sense in this ensemble designed for housework.  Both the skirt and the tunic wrap to the back - the skirt ties and the tunic is closed with snaps, so no need to work button holes.  Wrap garments are handy because they open flat for easy ironing.  Having a separate tunic and skirt allows the maker to make up enough multiples so that she can more easily put together two clean pieces when either the tunic or the skirt becomes soiled.  Both the skirt and the tunic have good, deep pockets.

In some cases Woman's Day patterns were co-branded with Advance, and the layout sheet for this one looks like Advance's work to me.

I didn't realize until I saw this pattern that Woman's Day was the house magazine for A&P stores.  A&P  apparently sold the magazine in 1958.  I have fond memories of A&P; I recall that they smelled of laundry detergent and freshly ground coffee from the coffee grinders at the ends of the check-out lanes (When I was a very small child I found the grinders a little frightening - there was no telling when they might unmoor themselves, run amok, and attempt to eat small children.)

This unprinted pattern has been used.

Simplicity 1961 - Man's Shirt

The Vintage Pattern wiki dates this one to 1943, smack-dab in the middle of World War II.  Note the obligatory sign of manliness: Mr. A's pipe.

This one shows up on eBay all the time.  At any given time there seem to be at least three or four listings for this shirt.  This is a good, functional pattern that will work both as a casual or work shirt, and when made up in heavier materials becomes a nice between-seasons shirt jacket (think of the old Woolrich shirt-jacs.)

Although additional research may reveal that the pattern companies limited their new style offerings during the War, I suspect that a large part of the pattern's appeal was its simplicity.  The front is simply turned under, rather than having a front placket.  Plackets have also been eliminated from the sleeve openings, in favor of simple facings.  However, the maker of this pattern (or the gentleman) apparently preferred sleeves with plackets, because the sleeve facing piece hasn't been used, and included in the envelope are the placket and underlap pieces from a dress shirt pattern, McCall pattern 5864, along with a clipping from the pattern sheet  showing how to apply these.  The maker used only the upper pockets and flaps.

Simplicity still assumes that the maker may not have a button hole attachment and that hand-worked button holes may be needed.