Rocking Chair Underwear

Henderson and Ervin and their Rocking Chair Underwear have disappeared into history, leaving only cryptic ads in their wake. I'm not exactly sure why a fellow would want a button "adjustable" flap on the side of his underwear or how it makes said britches more athletic, but apparently it had something to do with unusual range of movement and adjusting in a jiffy.

The ad comes from the July 1918 issue of Metropolitan Magazine and has the boot camp imagery associated with most World War I era magazine ads.

BVDs

Ah, BVDs, the only underwear ever to make it into F. Scott Fitzgerald's writings. BVD is an abbreviation for Bradley, Voorhees, and Day the company that originally manufactured men's and women's underwear. They started corporate life making bustles and eventually became known for the manufacture of union suits, the sleeveless "summer" version of which is shown on the left. Later the company was bought by Atlas Underwear Company and relocated to Piqua, Ohio where they expanded their line to include swimsuits.

Seldom has an ad offered so much material!

Let me start by adding a caption: "Gee, Phil, thanks for the card, but I'm still not sure why we had to be in our underwear."

Love the fact the guy on the right is wearing...well...shoes. I imagine they're supposed to be slippers, but they could be a nice pair of brogans or oxfords for what I can tell. How the heck did he get his pants off? Or is it an assumption he arrived wearing pants?

I'm also trying to figure out why "coat cut" undershirts would be useful. Then again, the model is wearing shoes while in his underwear so it's probably wise not to assume he'd do anything that makes sense.