Clip on suspenders - Not a new phenomenon

[Sgt Brown]

I am sure this has probably been covered elsewhere here at the Lounge but I only access this WWII area.

Anyhow, I wear suspenders. I hate the dammed things but cannot live without them. My belly is too big and my butt too small. I can put my pants on and off without unbuttoning them! So, the need for suspenders to hold them up.

Now comes the issue of suspender attachments. We all know, of course, that only button-on suspenders existed back in the 40's. The metal clip-on's didn't come till much later, right? WRONG! I did a little research today in my library and found proof in the best of sources, 1943 Sears and Wards catalogs. (I finally remembered where I had the darned books stored!) Anyhow, there they were in black and white, clip-on suspenders for sale.

Now I can't wait to get a chance to wear a pair of clip-ons with my Civilian Tech Representative outfit and wait for some "techno-weenie" to try and gig me on them. I'll have copies of the appropriate pages in my pocket. I LOVE giving know-it-alls the raspberries!

Tom

 

[Sgt Brown]

P.S. While flipping through the catalogs, I looked at watches. Sears was selling Patek Phillipe watches - very expensive then and now. Prices were $295 to $550 in 1943 dollars. I ran those figures through an inflation calculator and got $3880 to $7230 in 2010 dollars. Pretty heavy duty stuff for Sears to be selling in the middle of a war!

Tom

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

P.S. While flipping through the catalogs, I looked at watches. Sears was selling Patek Phillipe watches - very expensive then and now. Prices were $295 to $550 in 1943 dollars. I ran those figures through an inflation calculator and got $3880 to $7230 in 2010 dollars. Pretty heavy duty stuff for Sears to be selling in the middle of a war!

Tom

Probably it was still quite a bargain from Sears. There was a time when major retail chains like Sears carried the top-of-the-line marques such as Patek Philippe. Now retailers like Target and Walmart only carry the cheapo brands it seems. I collect pocket knives and up until a few years ago you could still find Case XX knives at Sears. Nowadays you're not going to find Case knives anywhere but in a specialty cutlery shop. Back in the day Sears had a name and a considerable amount of clout behind that name that they could dictate prices to the manufacturers.

 

[Zemke Fan]

Moving this thread...

To general attire, since it's not WWII related.

 

[Miss sofia]

Hello and welcome Sgt Brown, thanks for the info on braces, i had been pondering the authenticity of clip on braces as, i do sometimes wear the button ones, but good to see the clip on ones were about back in the day too. And yes, i hope you enjoy giving the 'ya, boo sucks' to any sniffy know-it-alls out there! Shallow, puerile, childish, moi ?

 

[Yeps]

That is interesting, although I will stick to button braces, on account of their working better.

 

[Smithy]

I just find it amusing when big strapping American lads like yourself announce they wear suspenders. Obviously suspenders means something rather different in the Commonwealth and conjures up some rather hilarious mental images

 

[Dinerman]

From what I understand and what I've seen, clip on suspenders were much more of a young person's thing.

Note the materials of the ones you posted. Woven plastic, plastic, rayon webbing.
Note the widths of the vintage ones as well. Most modern clip-on suspenders won't pass for vintage, so look around a bit for narrower pairs.

Here's a pair in action. 1938.

 

[Feraud]

P.S. While flipping through the catalogs, I looked at watches. Sears was selling Patek Phillipe watches - very expensive then and now. Prices were $295 to $550 in 1943 dollars. I ran those figures through an inflation calculator and got $3880 to $7230 in 2010 dollars. Pretty heavy duty stuff for Sears to be selling in the middle of a war!

Tom

Thanks for posting that.
So the catalogs did not only carry low quality/low priced goods for those making less on the wage scale.
A good reminder.

 

[Sgt Brown]

I just find it amusing when big strapping American lads like yourself announce they wear suspenders. Obviously suspenders means something rather different in the Commonwealth and conjures up some rather hilarious mental images

But we don't drive autos wearing bonnets!

Tom

 

[kyboots]

Clip On's

I wore "clip on" metal suspenders as a child in the 50's and early 60's. I agree they were more for the younger set. John