My Palm Beach Suit

[Atterbury Dodd]

Hello Everybody,

I have had this suit for a while. I was told that it dates to the 30's, which seems like it could be right. It is probably a rare size since it appears like it is for someone over six feet. I can make it look like it half way fits by pulling the trousers way up. Comments welcome, like when you think it was made, level of quality for its era, etc. I would absolutely love this suit if it fit me! It is made of a very airy wool.

Back Seem:

 

[Atterbury Dodd]

 

[Rudie]

Wonderful suit. Why don't you have it altered? Of course, you could always sell it to me instead, if you prefer.

 

[Atterbury Dodd]

I love the materiel, but it really is huge. The picture has been carefully posed to make it look like it fits. Trousers fit but are about 2-3in. too long. I think they might also have been taken in from somewhere around a 32 waist to the current 29' or so. The reason I think this is because the jacket is around 38-40 at the chest. The jacket is also a little long, as are the sleeves, somewhat hidden by a bend at the elbow.

By the way, does anybody know if Eilerman's was out of Kentucky?

 

[Fletch]

"Covington–Newport" = greater Cincitucky.

Classically this was Southern attire. The closer you got to the breadbasket or the steel belt, the more la-de-da you looked wearing light colors or fabrics, even on the hottest summer days.

(In 1932, two of my great-uncles had to leave Iowa for Atlanta to sell greeting cards door-to-door. When they got back to Iowa, they were considered dudes in the ice cream suits they'd bought down south.)

This Life article from 1939 tells about some of the summer suitings of the era, and their slow acceptance outside the feudal aristocracy. lol

 

[birkie]

I believe Goodall Worsted closed in 1954. Googling Eilerman's, it seems to be from Kentucky, and seems to have really been going strong in the 1930s:

(article from '38)
http://www.nkyviews.com/campbell/text/eilermans.htm

 

[Atterbury Dodd]

Fletch, great story about your great uncles. My Grandpop was born and raised near Atlanta. I always knew Palm Beach was sorta a Southern thing, but for some reason I thought it was worn quite a bit in other regions, especially California even before 39'. Doesn't the 1937 movie Dead End show several people wearing white suits? I could be wrong about that since it has been a while since I watched it. And just because it was seen in a movie doesn't mean it was necessarily general wear in the north and elsewhere.

 

[Fletch]

Yes, you would see lightweight/light color suitings in the hotter months in much of the country. Men were practical after all! But traditionally, the further north and east you got, there were more holdouts.

In Iowa, if you even knew anyone who had grown up on a farm, you could count on some whistles.

 

[skyvue]

If you can pull the trousers up high, then they are likely high-waisted and meant to be worn that way. Men's trousers can't really be raised much higher than they are meant to be worn.

 

[Feraud]

Very nice suit. Hem the pants and sleeves and it looks good to go.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Nice one.

As I recall, in 1943 the Goodall Worsted company was amalgamated (or taken over, don't remember) with another company called Sanford. The labels started to read: "Goodall-Sanford".

So, your suit is before 1943. From the style of the jacket and the type on the store label, i'd put it in the middle to late (leaning towards late) 1930s.

bk

 

[Atterbury Dodd]

Thanks Baron, that's kind of what I figured. I guessed 1937-39.

 

[GoldenEraFan]

Broad shoulders, fit and lapel style definitley say late '30s. Nice suit by the way!

 

[Tombrooks621]

looks like a suit you'd wear to Cuba instead of Palm Beach but I like it

 

[Marc Chevalier]

looks like a suit you'd wear to Cuba instead ...

Nah. In Cuba, you'd have worn an unlined dril cien suit: made of white, high-sheen,very wrinkly drill-weave linen woven in Irish mills. (The linen thread was turned on itself before weaving.)


More about old Cuba's fabled dril cien suits here: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1987-12-23/entertainment/8704050267_1_cuban-generals-suit-drill

 

[LuckyKat]

If you have it hemmed (which would look better), make sure you tell them NOT to cut ANY material!!! ...so that the next person can enjoy it when you're done. (let me know when you're "done"...I'd enjoy it too ;-)

 

[Tomasso]

More about old Cuba's fabled dril cien suits here: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1987-12-23/entertainment/8704050267_1_cuban-generals-suit-drill

I think I read that story when it first appeared in the Trib. They sound like they may not be as cool as an open weave linen.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I think I read that story when it first appeared in the Trib. They sound like they may not be as cool as an open weave linen.

You are right ... they're not as cool. The weave is very tight, which gives them a silky crepe sheen akin to Sea Island cotton.

 

[Mario]

Nathan, please clear your PM box. It's stuffed...

 

[Mario]

I just found this photo of the Eilerman and Sons clothing store in Covington, corner of Pike and Madison, probably taken between late 1940 and December 1941 (I'm asuming this because the bank on the right side of the photo was still selling 'defense bonds' - they were first issued in the fall of 1940 and the name was later changed back to 'war bonds' after the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941).

Also note the Florsheim sign over the entrance to the store.

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