Union Suit Fans: I'm taking my Summer Sojurn deep in the cool, colorful Rocky Mountains, taking time to camp and fish, and just all around enjoy life. Hope you get to travel now yourselves to your favorite place this summer!  I've had this old trusty, canvas tent for 40 years; my trusty red union suit for far less time. 

Look for more photos and stories soon. I'll see you mid-August. In the meantime, enjoy the summer Olympics. Be safe... Chris Ayers

Here is the Hy Hintermeister illustration for July of a Boy and His Grandpa. The boy cools off by taking a dip while the old man who wears his long red underwear year round, even in hot July, tries to keep from getting splashed:

It's a Boy's Life

After Bailey of Grand Rapids, MI emailed me music covers of George M. Cohan's song, Over There, and included an ad for boy scout union suits, Cory of Waterville, Maine emailed me additional boy scout ad posters and Boys' Life magazine covers like these boys boxing in their BVD underwear, having stripped off their scout uniforms:  

and this cover of a boy scout taking a swing, dressed in his baseball uniform wearing a union suit underneath: 

The Saturday Evening Post featured boys too, like this kid in bed, wearing a warm union suit while sewing up a hole in this britches: 

and this boy wears a union suit under his clothes too, while giving his dog a bath:

A musical boy is featured in this cover from 1926, practicing his accordian, warm as toast, wearing a red union suit shown peaking out of his shirt collar and pants' cuffs:

Thanks, Cory for sending in these posters

 and  magazine covers of boys keeping warm 

and comfortable in their long underwear... Chris

Union Suit Fans....Did you know there are ten or more bands who incorporate "Union Suit" or "Unionsuit" or "Long Johns" into their stage and recording names?!  Well, there are. So, watch for a new series coming soon to my other blog, Union Suit Fans in the Limelight: 

                                                                   "Long Underwear Bands."

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