1900s Underwear 

The Early History Museum has a large cotton “union suit” on display.  The cotton under garment is about 7 feet tall, 4 feet wide and was actually a promotional display from the Fairfield Setxon Manufacturing plant.  

In the 1800s both men and women wore one piece under garments similar to long underwear.  It wasn’t until the early 1900s that designers began splitting the union suit into tops and bottoms.  

Sexton manufacturing first made heavy cotton shirts and jeans, but the items were not selling; the market was flooded with such items.  A factory manager J.P. Schramm argued that the new underwear being manufactured by Jockey and the BVD Company was the future of undergarments.

Cotton boxers with an elastic waistband did catch on and the Sexton Company became profitable in the 1920s and 1930s.  Various sewing factories around Wayne County and surrounding communities continued into the 1970s.  The factories employed mostly women who welcomed a way to make a living or supplement a farm family income.  

In the 1970s and 1980s less and less clothing was “made in the U.S.A.”   Gone were the local sewing factories of Wayne County.

Don’t let local history be a mystery.