As mentioned in a previous post, Sears and Roebuck was selling children’s clothing at a low price point to their working class customers at the turn of the last century.
When Neiman-Marcus moved in to their new store in 1914, they quickly expanded the departments to include children’s wear also. Many people rolled their eyes at ready-made children’s wear as a short lived fad. Mothers usually sewed clothes for their young children and as there was no reliable birth control at the time, this often meant outfitting a large brood. I assume the eye-rolling came from not-constantly-needing-to-sew-while-minding-six-kids men, because the children’s wear department was an immediate success even with the upper classes.
What were wealthy kids wearing at the time? Here are Herbert’s sons (Carrie’s nephews) ranging in age from toddler (2ish) to teen (14ish) – photo taken in 1919.
Image taken from D Magazine’s recent Lost Dallas article. Minnie Lichtenstein Marcus (Herbert’s wife) and their four sons.
Put on your best sailor suit and join us for a tour.
