# At-home clothing on old TV shows **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 18, 2015, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-home-clothing-on-old-tv-shows/737849 "2015-11-18T01:29:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2015, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-home-clothing-on-old-tv-shows/737849/61 "2015-11-22T21:10:34Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > My dad took off the tie and wore y-fronts at home. Later, jockettes 🙂 But he didn’t have much social life. His dad would have worn a tie socially. > > But what about scarfs and collars? I can’t quite picture the old cowboy/cavalry films, but wearing neck scarfs, surely they would have been collarless? English films always showed the working classes without collars – a tradition continued in Disneys “Mary Poppins”. > > Did Americans start wearing collars sooner than the English? I imagine a scarf could be used as a mask in case the wind kicked up and blew a lot of dust around. I’m not sure if their jobs required looking around a lot (watching for Indians or bandits) but the reason World War I aviators wore scarves was they had to constantly search the sky for enemy aircraft. Scarves presented chafing on the neck. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2015, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-home-clothing-on-old-tv-shows/737849/62 "2015-11-22T22:13:17Z")
In addition to _preventing_ chafing, bandanas like cowboys and the US Cavalry wore are mighty useful things to have around. You can use them to wipe off perspiration, wash, brush off trail dust, shield your face from wind and sand, keep the Sun off, and so on. The US military was definitely wearing tunics with collars by the mid-19th century; these usually closed all the way up to the neck. The shirts underneath, SFAIK, did not have collars like we have today. By the Spanish-American war, troops were being issued khaki tunics with blue shirts underneath, some probably collared and some not. Attached collars on civilian dress (white shirts, anyway) I think became popular in the 1920s. ---
**Author:** ![svd678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@svd678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/svd678)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2015, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-home-clothing-on-old-tv-shows/737849/63 "2015-11-23T05:30:29Z")
My paternal grandfather was a salesman for celluloid collars and cuffs. Men wore the same shirt all week, changed collars and cuffs. Pre-1900. Neck-band dress shirts were still available in the '50s. Present versions strike me as quaint. My maternal grandfather, when elderly and no longer living at home, sat around in suit and tie. I suspect that, as a farmer, these were his only alternative to field/barn clothes. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2015, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-home-clothing-on-old-tv-shows/737849/64 "2015-11-23T13:04:08Z")
> [@Orwell](#): > > And T-shirts were worn by bad boys who rode motorcycles or drove hot rods, right? T-shirts were originally _underwear_. All men wore them, but wore them under their “real” shirt. It was sort of like if men decided to stop wearing pants but simply ran around in their boxers or tighty-whiteys all day. > [@Diceman](#): > > If I may ask a related question: those old TV shows usually showed the parents’ bedroom containing a pair of twin beds, implying that they did not sleep together. The classic movie _A Christmas Story_ also shows this arrangement. Am I right in suspecting that this is a “Hollywood-ism,” and few people ever actually slept like that? I’m aware that observant Jewish couples are not supposed to sleep together when the wife is having her period, but if even 1 couple on any of those old shows was supposed to be Jewish, I’ll be very surprised. The rationale I remembering hearing as a kid (back in the 1960’s when I noted mom and dad had a double bed but TV couples didn’t) was that “those are actors, and they’re not married to each other in real life, so it would be inappropriate to show them in the same bed”. I’m told in some conservative Muslim countries TV show wives are shown wearing abayas/veils/burkas in the home when in reality no, they don’t, and for similar reasons. However, even Lucy and Ricky Ricardo were depicted with separate beds (or at least mattresses) and they WERE married in real life. It was, in fact, quite controversial that the _I Love Lucy_ show not only had a storyline featuring pregnancy, but _Lucy was actually shown pregnant on camera_. OH! As if no one ever saw a pregnant woman in real life, right? It was a different era. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2015, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-home-clothing-on-old-tv-shows/737849/65 "2015-11-23T14:36:46Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > “The Goldbergs” > > [The Goldbergs (broadcast series) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goldbergs_(broadcast_series)) As promised, I’m surprised 🙂 Especially since that show apparently started as a radio show in the 1930’s. My dad is a big fan of old radio shows, and I’d say I know more about radio shows than almost anyone else my age (39). But I’ve never heard of “The Goldbergers” before. ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-home-clothing-on-old-tv-shows/737849/66 "2015-11-23T14:51:24Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > T-shirts were originally _underwear_. All men wore them, but wore them under their “real” shirt. > > It was sort of like if men decided to stop wearing pants but simply ran around in their boxers or tighty-whiteys all day. No question that t-shirts were originally underwear, but there were men wearing t-shirts as “real” shirts in the 50s and 60s. It wasn’t common, as it started to be in the 70s, but it’s also not hard to find pictures showing men wearing t-shirts (and jeans) in the 50s. Mostly young men, and mostly blue-collar workers, bikers, hot rodders and the like, as I said. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2015, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-home-clothing-on-old-tv-shows/737849/67 "2015-11-23T15:19:16Z")
My grandfather (WW2 veteran-aged) was a bank VP, and wore suits to work every day. When he’d get home, he’d change out of his suit into a pair of khakis, a pair of those chukka boots and an old unironed cotton broadcloth shirt of some kind (prob. an old work shirt that had stains or holes in it). That’s actually what I remember him wearing 99% of the time I was around him, because I was usually there on the weekends and fairly infrequently before he got home on Fridays. My other grandfather was more blue-collar- worked in a Union Carbide plastics plant, and basically wore what seemed to be permanent press Dickies work clothing- khakis and a short-sleeved button-down shirt with some kind of safety shoes. ISTR that he ditched the shoes and the shirt when he got home and put on something more comfortable, but I don’t remember all that well, as he retired when I was still pretty young. My father always ditched the suit/tie when he got home, and usually just lounged around in an undershirt and some older slacks, and some moccasin-type houseshoes. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2015, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-home-clothing-on-old-tv-shows/737849/68 "2015-11-23T22:19:41Z")
In the 60’s, my father, who was a lawyer with a Wall Street firm, wore a suit and tie, sometimes with a vest, to work every day. He’d change into khakis when he got home. Same shirt. No tie or jacket. He had some particularly decrepit khakis that were good for weekends, or for playing basketball in the park (yes, he owned sneakers). To this day (he’s still around, in his 80s), he’s never owned a pair of blue jeans. My mother was a high school teacher, and dressed appropriately for work. My memory is white shirts and a skirt of some kind. Sorry, I can’t described women’s clothes all that well. At home, she’d mostly wear pants. I remember social gatherings at our place where all the men were wearing suits and ties, and the women were pretty dressed up, but I think that’s because mostly people were coming straight from work, if the gathering was on a Friday. If it was a Saturday gathering, no ties. Sunday evenings were always spent at either my paternal grandmother’s house for dinner or my maternal grandparents’ house. Mom’s parents were definitely blue-collar, and I don’t ever remember seeing my grandfather in a suit and tie. My father’s family was maybe a generation or two ahead of the other side of the family in terms of education and career, so they were a bit dressier. But my father’s father died long before I was born, so I have no idea how he dressed. He was a lawyer, though, so probably not all that differently from my father. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2015, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-home-clothing-on-old-tv-shows/737849/69 "2015-11-23T22:42:38Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > He had some particularly decrepit khakis that were good for weekends, or for playing basketball in the park (yes, he owned sneakers). > > To this day (he’s still around, in his 80s), he’s never owned a pair of blue jeans. > . Very true. My Father passed away fairly recently, but yes, I can’t even\* imagine\* him wearing blue jeans- like yours, he wore older khakis or old army OD pants. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-home-clothing-on-old-tv-shows/737849/70 "2015-11-24T04:37:25Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > T-shirts were originally _underwear_. All men wore them, but wore them under their “real” shirt. > > It was sort of like if men decided to stop wearing pants but simply ran around in their boxers or tighty-whiteys all day. Well that certainly happened. Clothing used to be more expensive than it is now, and people were less uptight about nakedness in general, so anywhere there couldn’t be any women or the public around (like in the engine room or in a private office), men would be stripping down to their boxers. IT types stuck in a hot server room doing networking would be a possible example. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-home-clothing-on-old-tv-shows/737849/71 "2015-11-24T12:32:08Z")
For kids in this era, school clothes and play clothes were two separate wardrobes. School shoes were leather: Buster Brown or Red Goose (which came with a golden egg full of wonders unknown to a kid wearing hand-me down knock-offs). Play shoes were Keds or Converse (or Sears knock-offs). I’m pretty sure that I only wore collared shirts to school and striped t-shirts to play, but the only evidence is from school picture day, for which one would always dress up. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-home-clothing-on-old-tv-shows/737849/72 "2015-11-26T20:00:21Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Fun Fact: The reason Barbara Billingsley always wore pearls as June Cleaver was that she was very thin, and the studio lights cast a deep shadow around the recess where her throat met her chest. In the words of Jerry Mathers (“The Beav”), it looked as though she had had a tracheotomy. The necklace was there to prevent the shadow. I was watching the “Leave It to Beaver” marathon on Antenna TV and they mentioned that she started wearing high heels in the later seasons as Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers began to get taller. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-home-clothing-on-old-tv-shows/737849/73 "2015-11-26T20:20:36Z")
> [@Orwell](#): > > Yeah, I realize that. I was going to correct my original post, but it timed out. Jeans were worn by cowboys and ranchers, but not many other people, correct? And T-shirts were worn by bad boys who rode motorcycles or drove hot rods, right? I’m being a bit facetious, but probably not by much. I’m pretty sure Lucy and Ethel on _I Love Lucy_ were occasionally seen wearing jeans at home. IIRC there was an episode where one of them objected to being seen in public in jeans, though. A quick Google indicates that I’m thinking of the episode where Lucy gets a trophy stuck on her head. [Ethel says](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0609291/trivia?tab=qt&ref_=tt_trv_qu) “Lucy, I have never ridden on a subway in my blue jeans, and I’m not gonna start now.” ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-home-clothing-on-old-tv-shows/737849/74 "2015-11-26T20:46:53Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > In addition to _preventing_ chafing, bandanas like cowboys and the US Cavalry wore are mighty useful things to have around. You can use them to wipe off perspiration, wash, brush off trail dust, shield your face from wind and sand, keep the Sun off, and so on. Old joke: A little boy sees a cowboy, and asks him, “Why do you wear that big hat?” “It keeps the sun out of my eyes when I’m riding around the ranch,” the cowboy replies. “Oh, that makes sense,” says the little boy. “Why do you wear that bandana around your neck?” “If it’s windy,” says the cowboy, “I can pull it up to cover my nose and mouth so that I don’t breathe in the dust while I’m riding around the ranch.” “Well, then, why do you wear sneakers instead of cowboy boots?” “Oh, that’s so that people don’t think I’m a truck driver!” > [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > For kids in this era, school clothes and play clothes were two separate wardrobes. School shoes were leather: Buster Brown or Red Goose (which came with a golden egg full of wonders unknown to a kid wearing hand-me down knock-offs). Play shoes were Keds or Converse (or Sears knock-offs). > > I’m pretty sure that I only wore collared shirts to school and striped t-shirts to play, but the only evidence is from school picture day, for which one would always dress up. This was pretty much how it was for me, in the 1970s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-home-clothing-on-old-tv-shows/737849.md?page=3)