Happy Holidays, Union Suit Fans!

Have a peaceful, safe and healthy Christmas! 

Thanks to the following Unionsuiters that sent me their Christmas "Cards" early this year.... 

  

  

   

 Keep your photos coming and I'll be sure to post 'em right here!

                                            My New Pajamas!

    by Guest Contributor, Clayton Smythe

When I was a little boy of 8 or 9 years old, my mama returned home from a neighborhood ladies' AVON Christmas Party with a brochure which included a picture of a boy and his sister, looking at a book they had received for Christmas.

Never mind the book. When I saw what the boy was wearing, I told my mama, pointing to the photo, "I want pajamas like he's wearing."

She said: "those aren't pajamas. He's wearing long underwear like grandpa wears. They're called 'union suits.' You don't want those. You already have long underwear." Well, two piece thermals didn't count. I adamantly replied that I wanted ones like the boy in the ad was wearing. 

Try as she might to ignore my constant refrain over the next couple weeks for wanting pajamas or long underwear or union suits or whatever they were called, she finally relented. 

Under the tree Christmas morning was a package of spectacularly red "pajamas."  After tearing open the package, I stripped off the pajamas I was wearing down to my white briefs right there in the living room and pulled on my first union suit. I loved it! 

My grandparents were visiting us that holiday. Grandpa got the biggest kick out watching me pull on my new "pj's." Union suits were what he wore all of his life and still did, even on that special day! We were both in union suits that Christmas!

Like many of the readers of this great blog, I've worn union suits ever since. I don't ever remember wearing actual pajamas since that Christmas. Grandpa is gone now but I think of him now and again and our mutual wearing of long one-piece winter underwear. 

Regards, Clay

Thanks, Clay, for your memory of a great Christmas Day when you got the present you wished for!

....Chris

Gordon Lightfoot, Union Suit Fan? 

Scenes from the TeleCanada western film can now be viewed on my companion blog in Part II, Union Suit Fans in the Limelight. See singer-song writer and film star, Gordon Lightfoot, out in the snow shivering with other lawmen, in only their hats, boots and union suit underwear after being made to strip by a notorious bandit!

Simply go to the dancing red union suit on this page, 

and choose Union Suit Fan. Then on the next page choose Union Suit Fans in the Limelight 

and you've made it to my companion blog.

Celebrating Farmers with Heart

With the following re-posting of a favorite book of mine back on December 18, 2019, we've come to the eighth feature in my series, Down On the Farm.

The Farmer and the Clown   

                     a Book by Marla Frazee 

Purchase this wonderful book and others by the same author for the pure enjoyment of your kids or grandkids. So good, words are unnecessary. 

The Farmer and the Monkey 

        Another great book by Marla Frazee 

The farmer, late at night in his union suit of long red flannel winter underwear, sits on the edge of his bed, fretting once again about what to do with yet another guest he has taken in. 

Will he ever get any sleep with the antics of an over-active monkey? What's to become of this little primate?

Speaking of Farm Equipment, Union Suits and Those Who Use'm and Wear'm... 

Have a look at my seventh posting in the series, Down On the Farm, from March 24, 2018. It's of my wise ole friend, Sam, from Northern Lower Michigan. I haven't heard from Sam in quite some time so sure hope he's still pushing snow around in his John Deere and is "keeping 'em buttoned!"  

After all these years, Sam, I finally made it to Southern Lower Michigan this past October, keeping mine buttoned. I didn't drive a John Deere but wore my combinations daily, 24/7. Watch for a posting of that union suit trip after the new year.

Union Suit Fan: "I don't need a heated cab, I'm wearing Stanfield's!"

Sam sits atop his John Deere warm as toast in his
Stanfield's Combination Underwear 

When Sam of northern lower Michigan drives around on his tractor clearing snow in 25F degree weather he dresses head to toe for warmth...just what you would expect from someone who lives in cold country. Reportedly, his Michigan winter wardrobe consists of:

A knit cap from Carhartt,

Gloves from Custom Leather Craft,

Boots from Muck,

And Combinations manufactured by Stanfield's: 

                                 2 layercotton/poly/wool.

Not seen are his white Foxriver socks.

Does this guy know quality or what?! Sam wanted me to know that “the legs of the union suit were tucked inside my white socks which are not noticeable inside the 15 inch boots.” So noted.

Upon receiving his photo I replied, “Glad you're wearing a grey union suit as your white ones would have blended in with the snow and we couldn't have seen you!” And added, “You should send this photo to Stanfield's along with the motto: "I don't need a heated cab, I'm wearing Stanfield's!"

He replied, “Chris, Stanfields might appreciate the photo and motto but I might be in trouble with John Deere because the majority of compacts they sell around here are sold with cabs.” Yep, ok.

Sam tells me, “For almost all of my many years I was attracted to the union suit. My oldest brother wore unions (16 years my senior) but the next three brothers wouldn’t be caught in one, next two sisters, and by the time I came along my mother figured it wasn’t worth the fight so I put on what was there and it wasn’t a union suit

. 

Most of the boys that attended my two room school (K through 7th grade) were union suited and I couldn’t see why they complained. I finally took the plunge in 1962 while stationed in the Tucson, Arizona area. It could get might nippy at night out on the flight line and I got tired of crawling under an MD3 power unit to stay warm, so off to Sears and there began the journey.” 

(So many of us began with Sears Union Suits!  I did...Chris)

Sam is a fountain of knowledge when it comes to one-piece underwear. And so, he is my “go to guy” when it comes to union suits. After he read my posting of April 27, 2017 entitled Union Suits – YesterYear Stanfield's Canadian Union Suits, Sam emailed to correct my faux pas: “Canadian one-piece underwear, including Stanfield's, are called “Combinations” not “Union Suits!” He informed me that in Canada you don't ask for “union suits” you ask for “combinations” or “combinaisons” if you are French speaking. He emailed me copies of Canadian underwear catalogues to prove it. Furthermore, this fact is supported by two new email buddies of mine, Mario, who resides in Montreal, and Michael who hails from England. Those boys wear "combinations." I thanked Sam for setting me straight and immediately changed the posting to reflect “Combinations” rather than “Union Suits.”

Sam has over the past months tried to get me to quit wearing boxer shorts under my union suits and to stuff the legs of my long underwear into my socks. Dang, if I am having a hard time following his suggestions. Oh, yeah, he has a disdain for red union suits (my favorite). He wouldn't be caught dead in them! But Sam, grandpa told me red union suits are the warmest a man can wear. He swore, “They keep my gout from getting worse! You wear red, my boy!” I know Sam ain't gonna buy that one. He says, “I get the impression that I am alone preferring anything but red, although I am not throwing rocks.” Don't tell Sam but I hear from plenty of you who prefer “anything but red.”

Sam also has warned those of us who wear two union suits at a time (or a combination of combinations) on those coldest winter days to take care to wear the same type of long johns. In other words, don't wear a drop seat union suit over one that has the one-button vertical flap or you could be in deep trouble. Good advice if nature calls in a hurry.

Since Sam wears union suits year around like a number of you, long sleeved, long leg union suits don't work for him as summer underwear. For the warmer months, he turns to short leg, sleeveless Athletic Union Suits. 

But this is a story for another, warmer day.

 

Sam observes, “Now as to the State of the Union Suit. So much of life I find is like public transportation. If the ridership is down, common thinking says reduce the service and raise the price. So it is with union suits. As it was until the mid-1970s most union suits for adults were sized by chest measurements 32, 34, 36, ... 52, and the standard trunk* link was chest 34, trunk 60 inches, chest 36, trunk 62, and so on. There were also allowances for exceptionally tall or stout persons. The standard also had a vertical wide lapped seat which allowed for all to hang out without fouling the suit. This design allowed for a comfortable well-fitting garment. 

The five sizes we have today leave a lot to be desired along with the vertical button holes, the split seat, and the shortage of white suits. If I remember correctly, Duofold was one of the last to leave the chest measurements and that happened when it was bought out by J E Morgan which was a division of Sara Lee baking company. So you can say a cookie baker put the last nail in the U.S. Union Suit coffin.”

Amen, brother. I told you Sam is my “go to guy.” Thanks for your comments and emails this past year, pal.

Tap to Enlarge

* Here's a mother measuring her son for a new union suit. Notice the tape is wrapped around the boy vertically. This measured his trunk to ensure a well fitting union suit of which Sam speaks.


Added May 14, 2018   Another outdoor long underwear pursuits:
Is this counterintuitive or is it just me? .....  

Thanks again, my Man from Northern Upper Michigan!

Gordon Lightfoot, Union Suit Fan? 

Scenes from a good ole TeleCanada western film can now be enjoyed on Union Suit Fans in the Limelight. See singer-song writer and film star, Gordon Lightfoot, out in the snow in only his hat, boots and union suit!

Simply go to the dancing red union suit on this page, 

and choose Union Suit Fan. Then on the next page choose Union Suit Fans in the Limelight 

and you've made it to my companion blog.

Down on the Farm! 

This re-posting is number six in my series from the farm communities. 

On March 28, 2018 in Union Suit Fan, I featured Farmer Ben of Frewsburg, NY who had stripped down to his bright red union suit while standing, of all places, in the box of his Gehl Scaventer manure spreader. I suppose he didn't want his clothes to get all dirty and smelly. 

Ben's just another hard-working farmer doing what has to be done to keep the ole' home place jumping. Like the Farmer and his Scarecrow in my previous posting, I wonder if any of Ben's neighbors happened by to ask him what in the world he was doing outside working in just his "long red flannel winter underwear!"

Wouldn't you have liked to have seen him jump out of that contraption?  

Wonder what his boots looked like. Second thought, maybe not.

Courtesy of Duluth Trading Company, Duluth, MN