McCall 3845 - Ladies' Beauty Shop Apron

1920s.

I don't see any detail that particularly makes this good Hoover apron suitable for beauty shop work, except possibly the pockets, as pockets were by no means a required feature of aprons at this time.  Miss A's "surplice" collar is nicely sporty.  One imagines these made up in dusty rose, dutch blue, or eau de nil, with white collars and cuffs.

Would Madame like the marcel wave today?

This printed pattern is unused.

Farm and Fireside 4430 - Economy Apron & Cap

1920s.

This is the time of year when some of us spend a lot of time in hot steamy kitchens, converting the garden's produce into quarts and pints of good things for the winter.  The all-business economy apron and cap would be just the right thing to wear for those marathon bean-canning or piccalilli-making days.  I might have a couple of these aprons handy so that after lunch I could put on a dry one.

This apron is so simple that I think you would have good luck sizing up this pattern from the layout.  To give you some measurements to start with, the front length (bottom of neckline to bottom edge is 36")  The width from the center line to the back edge just under the arm hole is 17 1/2".

Farm and Fireside was a magazine published between 1879 and 1939.

Patron-Modèle 100501 - Costume de travail

Guessing here at a date of the late 1940s to the early 1950s, based on studying envelopes with a similar layout for women's clothing, which is a little easier to date.

This is the sort of find that makes this collector want to stand up and yell "Bingo!"  A vintage French home-sewing pattern for men's workwear is a wonderful find.

The rather swank illustration of Monsieur having a smoke break tends to obscure the sensible utilitarian design of this double-breasted jacket and trousers.  It also completely hides the breast pockets.  Note that the sleeves end in buttoned cuffs, which would be safer around machinery than plain hemmed sleeves.

The instructions on the front of the envelope indicate that the seams are to be flat felled (rabattues piquees) and the edges top-stitched (piqure au bord,) standard techniques used in American ready-to-wear workwear, both of which strengthen the garment.

Some basic fabric recommendations are given:  toile, or canvas, and croisé, or twill.

One is reminded of Irving Penn's beautiful photographs from his "small trades" series of 1950-51, taken in Paris, London, and New York.  The Patron-Modèle working clothes made up in white would suit les patissiers (pastry makers):

From:  Irving Penn, Small Trades, page 13.  Getty Publications, 2009

This unprinted pattern is in good condition, although the envelope seems to have had a hard life.

Butterick 4972 - Misses' Jumper

1970s.

One of the interesting aspects of this pattern is the cover photo, which manages to evoke a rather romantic rural British atmosphere, with the white and red painted stone barn in the slightly misty background and the model's wellies (long before the current craze for Hunter wellies!)  This seems very much in line with some of Laura Ashley's similarly evocative designs of the period, though Butterick's design has abandoned Ashley's fondness for sprigs and flounces and is much more functional.

At first glance this looks like it might be a hoover-fronted dress or apron, but the description called it a "sandwich board jumper."

And here's how you wear it:

Although I always have very poor luck in getting wrapped garments to stay wrapped, this is on the whole a nice design.  It would make a splendid full-coverage kitchen apron.

This printed pattern has not been used.

Marian Martin 9624 [Smart Apron Frock]

July 25, 1933, as per the The Gettysburg Times.

Between the pattern and the envelope, there is quite a lot going on here.  Let's take a look.

For those of you unfamiliar with Marian Martin patterns, they were advertised in newspapers and were generally quite economical - this one sold for fifteen cents when some of McCall's elegant embroidered smock patterns from the same period sold for three times as much.  A seasonal circular was also produced for fifteen cents.  These patterns didn't come with paper envelopes in addition to their mailing envelopes.  Now and again these patterns show up with glassine envelopes, but I haven't pinned down the exact time period when this was the practice.

The illustration above is from the instruction sheet.   The instruction sheet, which is in very poor condition, refers to this garment merely as a "dress" while the newspaper article refers to it as a "smart apron frock."

The newspaper copy is wonderful:

"Here's a new recipe for housewives!  Send for this pattern, buy a few yards of fabric...cotton prints are pretty and cost so little, add a bit of contract, (sic) make it during leisure hours and you'll have a most attractive frock.  It has reversible fronts, perky flares and handy pockets.  You'll want several different colors."

I guess that the copy edit department at the Gettysburg Times was overworked during the Great Depression and "contract" just slid by instead of "contrast."  The article just above this pattern advertisement is titled "Washington Highlights" and in passing mentions former president Hoover, for whom this style of reversible-front apron is often called a "Hooverette."  And indeed, that's how the maker Mrs. L.L. Long thought of her smart apron frock: note how she's written that across the front of the envelope:

This address appears to have been consumed by the Interstate highway

Note also the small insignia at the top center of the envelope.

This tends to stump those who are new to vintage patterns, and they wonder what on earth the National Rifle Association had to do with anything.  At this time, NRA stood for National Recovery Administration, which had the responsibility for implementing the National Industrial Recovery Act.   NIRA was passed in 1933 as part of the New Deal, but was declared unconstitutional in May 1935 shortly before it was set to expire.

NRA was strongly pro-union, so by putting the logo on their envelopes, the Des Moines Tribune was making a statement (those of you with expertise in unionization in the newspaper industry, feel free to chime in here!)  In color, the logo was known as "the blue eagle."  With the eagle holding an industrial gear in one talon and the power of electricity in the other,  this is quite a striking image.

On the reverse of the envelope, Mrs. Long made a note to herself about the amount of fabric required.   Because the pattern and envelope are so battered, I suspect that she made up her Hooverette multiple times, as the newspaper copy suggested.

But honestly, I bought this pattern entirely because I thought the illustration was so engaging.  It's very tempting to supply a caption for it:

"All hail to the god of sweet iced tea!  Sing Lipton!  Sing Tetley!"

or

"That's funny, in those nice Agatha Christie novels the poison just dissolves"

What's yours?

McCall 1090- Ladies' and Misses' Victory Apron

1943.

So that you don't have to find your reading glasses, here is the verse on the envelope front:

Tie this apron round your waist
And join the Victory war-on-waste,
Plan your meals for zest and vim
And don't forget Ye Vitamine!
Remember that the right nutrition
Is Uncle Sam's best ammunition!

I'm guessing that this was written by that nice Mr. Murple up in McCall's Accounting department - who knew he was so talented.

This is a lovely apron pattern - easy enough to be made by girls in home ec. classes as well as by ladies' groups.  Imagine refreshments tables at dances with all the attendants in their victory aprons worn over white dresses.  The rick-rack braid stars are very clever.

In my family we have a cookbook which we refer to as the Women's Victory Cookbook.  The correct name is the Victory Binding of the American Woman's Cookbook, an enormously popular cookbook of the mid-twentieth century.  The Victory binding edition provides a small appendix on wartime cookery, which includes such contemporary-sounding advice as eating more fish and whole grains and retaining the vitamins in vegetables by not boiling them to death.

Happy Memorial Day, everybody.

Butterick 2209 - The American Red Cross Volunteer Special Service Outdoor Uniform

"1/14/43" is written on the flap of the envelope of this one.

Women's Red Cross uniforms had been re-designed around 1941 by Elizabeth Hawes to be more contemporary looking.  "Red Cross Lassies Get Snappy New Uniforms,"  burbled the St. Petersburg Times on May 4, 1941.  Indeed, without the epaulettes (and the cap) this is a pretty standard women's suit of the time.

Wool gabardine in blue-gray would have been used for View A, the winter uniform.  View B, the summer uniform, would have been made up in a rayon-mohair mix for summer weight or seersucker for tropical weight.

By April 1942, about 20,000 women wore some type of Red Cross uniform.  The Red Cross had to walk a fine line between complying with the overall need to economize in every possible way and to assure that its workers were properly recognized.  The New York Times reported on April 3, 1942 that the bellows pocket with flap that had previously been used on jackets was being dropped in favor of pockets using less material.  In the same article, Mrs. Dwight Davis, the Red Cross's national director of  volunteer special services stated that uniforms should be reserved for women who spent the bulk of their time performing Red Cross-related activities - particularly if this work took them out in public:  women working in chapter work rooms were not to wear uniforms.

This wool jacket offered for sale on eBay in May, 2024 is very similar to the winter uniform in view A, but still has the bellows pockets.

Even though uniforms could be purchased at department stores, making or having a uniform made might have been a good option for a woman who required special care in fitting.  This uniform pattern was available in bust sizes from 30" to 46" - a much wider range than that of patterns for civilian clothes.

While the envelope for this pattern is rough around the edges, this unprinted pattern does not appear to have been used, possibly because there was less demand for the generous size 46.

The American Red Cross was founded on May 21st, 1881.

Originally posted on 5/21/12, photo of surviving jacket added on 5/24/2024.