RED WING IRON RANGER 8111 Boots & Lee 191Z Jelt Denim Dungarees... kickin' it with my boy Miles

Spending some quality down time with our Jack Russel terrier Miles. Wearing some favorite gear including RED WING 8111 IRON RANGER Boots and 1960s Lee 191-Z JELT DENIM Dungarees.

CARTER'S Watch the Wear: The Vintage Garments Part 1

Deadstock CARTER'S Watch the Wear Union Made button front dungarees. Manufactured by H.W. Carter & Sons, likely dating to the 1950s, possibly as early as late 1940s. This garment includes the following details.

• Indigo dyed selvedge denim with heavy grain

• Double needle top stitching in two shades of green 

• Chain stitched main seams and waistband

• Green bar-tacking at points of strain

• Button front fly with Scovill nickle plated embossed snap closure

• Diamond crotch gusset

• CARTERS Watch the Wear machine loomed rayon label

• Union Made in the USA

Close up of CARTER'S Watch the Wear machine loomed rayon label

Interior view of chain stitched main seams and waistband and bar-tacked belt loop details

 Scovill nickle plated embossed front snap closure. Later snaps would be brass gilt plated

Button fly with donut hole type buttons

Diamond crotch gusset often seen in vintage work pants (rarely seen in dungarees)

Close up of the heavy grain indigo dyed selvedge denim. Double needle top stitching in two shades of green thread

Interior close up of chain stitched main seams with green and yellow thread

A.F. of L. United Garment Workers of America DUCK GOODS union label

Inspection tag found inside the lined back pocket states "Guaranteed to be of extra high quality, a new one free if not completely satisfied"

Exposed selvedge edge on inside leg seam

Vintage 1950s-60s CARTERS Watch the Wear indigo dyed selvedge denim apron with embossed Scovill gilt buttons and dual prong type single loop buckle strap fasteners.

Apron includes the following details.

• Indigo dyed selvedge denim with heavy grain

• Primitive crude construction with single needle stitching and lots of character 

• Bar-tacking at points of strain

• Attached selvedge edge denim straps with Scovill gilt plated embossed shank buttons and single loop prong type fasteners

• CARTER'S Watch the Wear printed rayon label

• Union Made in the USA

1950s-60s era CARTER'S Watch the Wear work apron

Printed rayon label

Backside shows narrow loom denim with exposed selvedge edging. Also seen is crudely sewn upper extension piece that has been added to the not so horizontal edge of the single piece main body of the apron

Scovill embossed gilt fastener and single loop prong type buckle

More selvedge and close up of unique single loop buckle fastener

A.F of L. United Garment Workers of America DUCK GOODS union label

We have been a big fans of CARTER's Watch the Wear vintage for some time now having worn, collected and sold more than a few garments over the past few years. Above is part 1 of a multi part installment featuring vintage NOS and used CARTER'S Watch the Wear garments from the vintage workwear archive. We were pleased to see the reintroduction of the proud H. W. CARTER name to the world of vintage inspired workwear, especially when considering the talented folks behind the effort. From what I've seen, the new H.W. Carter & Sons collection of aprons, chore coats, dungarees and especially the more affordable staple of the working man, the bandanna all look real nice.
For those having not already done so, check out some of the new gear and get the lowdown via A CONTINUOUS LEAN and RivetHEAD.

The 1996 court case between H.W. CARTER & SONS, INC., and AMERICAN MARKETING ENTERPRISES, INC., Plaintiffs, against THE WILLIAM CARTER CO., Defendant provides a basic history of both brands and an explanation of the H.W. Carter & Sons CARTER'S Watch the Wear line of work clothing "coexisting" with Wm. Carter's line of children's clothes since the 1860's.

1950's Era HEADLIGHT HEADIES Vintage Dungarees

1950's Era HEADLIGHT OVERALLS brand, HEADIES model boys dungarees that recently sold for north of the $1500 dollar figure. Deadstock condition and Union Made in the USA of Sanforized denim. Thanks to backtotheunknown for this find, the photos and following information.  

"In the 1930’s, Headlight Overalls of Detroit merged with Crown Overall Mfg. Co. of Cincinnati.  The new company, Crown-Headlight, was headquartered in Cincinnati/San Francisco but continued to sell garments under both the Crown and Headlight brands. As the waist label on these jeans confirms, this pair is of the post-merger era.  The waist label also mentions federal specifications for textiles that were first introduced in April 1937.  Because Crown-Headlight was ultimately bought out by Carhartt in 1960. In the early 1950’s, advertisements for Headlight apparel marketed the Headies line of jeans as “High styled dungarees. Extra full cut to fit husky youths and boys.”

One reason these rarely seen fold down front pocket HEADIES caught our eye was due to sharing many of the design details as a similar pair of THE BIG FAVORITE boys dungarees, part of the vintageworkwear.com collection. They are seen in the photo below in addition to a older post here along with a THE BIG FAVORITE jacket.

A nice piece on HEADLIGHT OVERALLS manufacturer Larned Carter & Co. including this pair of 1930's era HEADLIGHT buckle back dungarees can be found at Blue Gold Blues

1930's era HEADLIGHT buckle back dungarees courtesy of Ragtop Vintage

1950's era HEADLIGHT button fly dungarees courtesy of Moth Food

Deadstock 1960s Lee 191-Z JELT DENIM UNION MADE SANFORIZED Carpenter Dungaree