Omaha daily bee., 1895-12-14
NEWS INDEED.
Only Onc-HnIf of the Mcn in Amer
lea Wear Might Clothes.

lea Wear Night Clothes.
An authority on the subject of sleeping
garments, says the New York Sun, declares
that probably not more than so per cent OF
the men in the United States wear nigh
shirts; but the women throughout the coun-
try, almost without exception, wear night
gowns. The percentage of men wearing nigh
shirts 10 greatest in cities and smallest in
the country. 1t is said that in this city,
counting all the men, probably about 10 pei
cent w@ar night shifts; it will be seen, there
fore, that there must be parts Of the country
in which the proportionate number Of night
shirt wearers IS small. The percentage of men
wearing sleeping garments is, however, now
steadily increasing most rapidly in the cities,
but it is increasing steadily and with a pretty
even distribution throughout the country.
Obviously, there are many e~mployments of
men that would practically preclude the
wearing of night shirts. A soldier in time of
war would hardly wear a night shirt when h
went 10 bed, although the English are said
to have fought in pajsmas in Africa; nor
would a sailor, who might be awakened at
any moment by a call for all hands. They
might go to bed with all their clothes on, or
in undsrclothes alone, which last condition
describes the sleeping custom of hundreds of
thousands of men everywhere.
There are plenty of men in comfortable
circumstances a haberdasher said, who go
to b5d in index clio. hes instead of wsaring
sleeping garments because they prefer to;
there are others who do so simply because
that is the way to which they arr accus-
toned, for the habit of wearing night shirts"
ths haberdasher argued, lis an acquired
habit, just as the tas 2 for certain fruits or
vegetables might be an acquired. taste. The
grsat fact remains that the night shirt is
still a luxury, and one which, at former
prices, many denied themselves. With night
shirts a. 81 apiece there were many who
found the cost Of the article an important
consideration, and preferred to spend the
money fer something else; with night shirts
at 90 cents apiece, made possible by the re-
duced cost of materials and the advanced
methods of manufac ure, thsre is a growing
demand for them from all parts.
There is one wholesale house in New York
City, probably the only one in the country,
that is engaged in the manufacture and sale
of sleeping garments exclusively; it makes
them CT all sorts, for men, women and chill
dren, and in great variety, its msn's sleeping
garments alone number over 400 in its
catalogue. Thers are, of course, not 400 diff
ferent styles; pajamas, for example, are all
of practically the same fashion, and, while
there is now made a summer night shirt
which is cut rather low in the neck and with
out a collar. night shirts gen rally are sub
steEtially alike in shape; but there are 400
garments varying in the kind
and quality of the materials used, in style
CT finish and trimming, in colors and sizes,
and ranging in retail price from so cents
to 800 each.
The sale of pajamas is increasing, but the
is slow. The price, no doubt, has
to do with this. The lowest priced
sell at about 81 % at retail; they
run from that up to about $15. They are
made Of various materials, in cotton, wool and
silk. and finished in a vari .ty of styles. OF
mems sleeping garments sold the proportion
Of night shirts to pajamas is about ten to
one.
iiffer;nt materials, including muslin, cambria,
lawns, Madras, cheviots, sateens,
white, colored and figured, ~flannels, lingn
md silk. Muslin night shirts sell at retail
It 80 cents to 81 so, sateen at S1.25 to So,
ilk at S. to almos any price. They are sold
ire kept constantly on hand by the manufac-
urer, Occasionally a night shirt is sold as
high as 800, but such sales are exceptional.
.iorsare sold at $50, but sales at that price
re very rare. Ten dollars is about the pop
liar price for a silk night shirt, and first
lass retailers of mems furnishing goods
AIRY shirts up to that price regularly in
tock. Above that is in the region of fancy
Some of the more expensive night
hirts ars most deliberately embroidered on
he finest materials. Usually they are
ought for wedding outfits.
Fifty per cent of the night shirts sold ara
[ muslin. Ninety per cent of all are more
ems are pink and blue. All the rest of the
otton fabrics used are white, but even the
,w-priced goods are trimmed; many of
hem with fancy woven trimming, blue or
I'd, sewed on TO the garment. Silks are
old in colors: pink, blue and white (plain)
re preferred, but other colors can be had,
nd a few night shirts of figured silks are