Hunter, Inc. Boys' clothing Salesman's kit, 1920s
date: label: date made
content: 1920s
notes: label: Description
content: Salesman's kit or box for Hunter, Inc., a distributor of boys better clothing. Salesman's kit including: fabric samples, measuring tape, measurement forms, pictures of final products, prices, etc. All items are in original black box. 1920s. Hunter, Inc., was a distributor of boy’s better clothing. This salesman's kit includes: fabric samples, measuring tape, measurement forms, pictures of final products, prices, etc. All items are in the original black box.
label: Description
content: Ready-to-wear clothing did not become the norm for most Americans until the late 1920s and into the 1930s. But until then, even children of middle-class Americans often had at least some of their clothing made-to-measure. The costume collection in HCL holds several objects related to the sales of adult clothing, both made-to-measure and ready-to-wear. This salesman’s case, however, would be the only piece in the collection that relates to the lucrative and expanding field of children’s wear in the first half of the 20th century. The exponential growth of the ready-to-wear clothing trade in the US in the early 20th century was made possible by a “perfect storm” of economic and social factors incorporating immigration, growth in supporting industries such as textile manufacturing, advances in communications and transportation, etc. For children’s wear, it was also propelled by the roles played by public schools, public health, and the professionalization of social work in collecting and making available statistics on physical characteristics of the American populace: height, weight, body measurements. These statistics enabled the standardization of sizes, contributing to the eventual displacement of the “made-to-measure” industry. This transitional phase is represented by this salesman’s case.
label: Description
content: ATHM Collection: # 1997.69; museum purchase
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: American Textile History Museum Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2017.0232.40
label: catalog number
content: 2017.0232.40
label: accession number
content: 2017.0232
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Sample box
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall, closed: 10 1/8 in x 17 7/8 in x 3 1/8 in; 25.7175 cm x 45.4025 cm x 7.9375 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall, open: 24 1/16 in x 17 7/8 in x 3 in; 61.11875 cm x 45.4025 cm x 7.62 cm