Happy Father's Day and First Day of Summer, Union Suit Fans !!
This being the 20th of June, Father's Day, and the official kickoff of summer, I thought I would feature a favorite artist of mine, not quite as famous as Norman Rockwell, but nevertheless, a great painter in this own right. The man is Henry "Hy" Hintermeister (1897 to 1970). He was a superb illustrator and painter, signing many of his works as "Hy" Hintermeister. As a boy, he teamed up with his painter father, John Henry Hintermeister. Hy is believed to have struck out on his own in 1914 when he would have been only 17 years old. He became known as an "American Theme Painter." His whimsical art featured family values, dogs and horses, "Uncle Natchel," and, my favorite, a boy and his beloved grandpa.
The mischievious kid was always involving Grandpa in his mishaps. And there was Grandpa, wearing long red union suit underwear, revealed by his rolled up shirt sleeves. The paintings seemed to indicate that the old man never became too short-tempered with a boy that was always causing trouble. At least, there they would appear again and again with the boy tripping up the man he surely looked up to.
Hintermeister created at least twelve paintings of these two inseparable friends. Here's an example of his work:
Growing up, I was especially close to my two grandpas, even knowing for a time a great grandpa. He died when I was nine years old. All three men wore union suits. One grandpa and my great grandpa, farmers both, wore union suits year around. The younger of the two swore by red union suits, the only ones he would even consider wearing. He felt warmer having red "long handles" under his clothes and was convinced they kept his gout under control. He knew, and I tend to agree, that red long underwear keeps a man warm. I suppose, thanks to him, I include several red union suits in my collection of long, one-piece underwear.
Look for postings of more Hintermeister boy and grandpa paintings, one of which I hope to include each month over the next year in this blog.... Chris
Chris, Greetings: At the end of May, you posted Yesteryears Underwear. In that post you mentioned when, as a boy scout, you and your fellow scouts belted out the song, "Under Wear," around the camp fire. As a matter of fact, we boys loved to sing that song too. Like you, I wore union suits as a boy (and still do). I kept comfortably warm on those late fall and early spring camp outs by wearing a union suit. My unions were red. Mom always joked that if I sleep-walked out of my tent in the middle of the night and got lost, searchers could spot me the next morning stumbling around in that red long underwear and be rescued. Luckily, that never happened...being lost I mean. I still seem to always be stumbling around wearing “that red long underwear.” LOL
Anyhoo, I thought you might be interested in a couple of music covers touting the song "Over There" upon which you based your previous posting. I have also included the music score by George M. Cohan, notes to that song in the event any of your readers are unfamiliar with the tune. There is a boy scout union suit ad I found in a vintage "Boys Life" magazine about that time too.
Your friend and fellow union suit fan, Bailey (Grand Rapids, MI)
