Deluxe Uniforms Shane; Catalog 649

Evansville, Indiana: Shane Uniform Company, 1949. Wraps. Very Good. 4to. 29.5 by 22 cm. 40 pp., plus glossy wraps. Most of the leaves also have a glossy surface. Full color painted (non-photographic) illustrations on almost every page illustrating mostly women's uniforms but also some men's on offer. The drawn models epitomize the female and male ideals of the day -- slender, statuesque, lots of blond, red-hair, and fair skin, young and slightly more mature -- some of the figures look as if they are in their thirties -- beaming smiles, gleaming teeth, usually a perkiness, angular and of course symmetrical facial features, etc. etc. The female uniforms (truncated) are outfits for waitresses, hostesses, hotel workers, nurses. The men's, for waiters, cruise ship crew members, chefs, doctors, etc. In general the designs are meant to bring a panache to the uniforms so that they could pass as street clothes while never crossing over into flamboyance. To us the catalogue has something of a cheesy quality, and yet, with its zestful color, we find it an unexpectedly exciting catalogue, and one that is a valuable time capsule on its era. Also included is a yellow/gold order sheet and unused mailing envelope. Scarce, with only copy located at the New York Historical Society, in its Landauer Collection. Condition: some faint pencil markings (numbers) on the cover. A dampstain in lower corner of cover. Pages inside are clean. (Inventory #: 006489)