Why "Union suits"?

[SweatyAussie]

Can anyone shed light on why union suits are so called?

I don't believe the phrase is used in this country, even though Australia, contrary to popular overseas belief, does have some places where it gets cold enough in winter to wear long underwear. I believe the term "Long Johns" is used, though it's considered a bit archaic.

Does "union suits" refer to the fact that it's top and bottom garment in one? Or does it have something to do with the Union (i.e. the U.S.A.)?

[deusex]

Well this is what I came up with....

From Word Detective (http://www.word-detective.com/101800.html)

We find this explanation:

Under where?

Dear Word Detective: Could you please let us know the etymology of "BVD"? I recognize that it is a brand name of underwear that was purchased by Fruit of the Loom in the 1970s. Is the word an acronym for "better ventilated drawers" or is it merely a brand name? -- Wordsmith Wannabe, via the internet.

Dear Word Detective: What is the origin of "union suit" and/or "long johns"? -- Paul Sironen, via the internet.

What is this -- National Underwear Month? Well, that makes it as good a time as any to explain the motto "Semper Ubi Sub Ubi" that appears on my web page (www.word-detective.com), especially since readers ask me about it nearly every week. It's an old Latin student's joke: semper (always) ubi (where) sub (under) ubi (where). Silly, yes, but it's also about all I remember from four years of Latin.

Although the brand B.V.D. is now used to market all sorts of underwear, the original B.V.D.s were full-body one-piece suits of men's underwear with a drop seat, also known as "union suits" or "long johns." My father, who was born in Boston, used to facetiously maintain that "B.V.D." stood for "Boston Ventilated Diapers." Other popular explanations included "Baby's Ventilated Diapers" and "Back Vented Drawers," but the truth was that "B.V.D." stood for "Bradley, Vorhees & Day," the Baltimore firm that manufactured the garment.

As for "union suit," all sorts of explanations have been offered over the years, including the fable that when Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox in 1865, he was wearing a full dress uniform while Grant appeared wearing only his long underwear, thenceforth known as a "union suit." Nice story, but "union suit" didn't appear in the American vocabulary until 1892, long after the Civil War. The "union" in "union suit" almost certainly simply refers to the "unified" one-piece design of the garment.

The earliest example of "long john" in print cited by the Oxford English Dictionary comes from 1943, but we can assume that the term was in oral use long before that date. The "john" is probably meaningless, inserted as a generic male name to give balance and a near-rhyme to the phrase.

and from Wikipedia we find this:

A union suit is a type of one-piece long underwear. It originated as women's wear during the nineteenth-century United States clothing reform efforts as an alternative to constricting garments and soon gained popularity among men as well. The first union suit was patented in 1868 as "emancipation union under flannel."[1] Traditionally made of red flannel with long arms and long legs, it also traditionally buttoned up the front and had a button-up rear "access hatch" (colloquially known as a fireman's flap) so the wearer can eliminate bodily waste without undressing.

Depending on the size of the suit, some Union suits can have the maximum of 11 buttons on the front to be fastened through buttonholes from the neck down to the groin area.

This warm and practical garment remained in common use in North America into the twentieth century. As its popularity waned it became chiefly working men's wear. It was not uncommon until the mid-1900s for rural men to wear the same union suit continuously all week, or even all winter. Normally, no other type of underwear was worn with it. One of the major events of the spring was the time when the union suits were removed, washed, and put away for the summer.

Still no concrete evidence, but the answer may be in there somewhere.

[SweatyAussie]

As for "union suit," all sorts of explanations have been offered over the years, including the fable that when Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox in 1865, he was wearing a full dress uniform while Grant appeared wearing only his long underwear, thenceforth known as a "union suit." Nice story, but "union suit" ...
A pity that this story isn't very credible, because I like this one the best. Are we to assume, then, that General Lee was wearing jeans, hence the name?

[unionsuited]

A pity that this story isn't very credible, because I like this one the best. Are we to assume, then, that General Lee was wearing jeans, hence the name?
I just love all of this discussion and information about union suits. I like reading and writing about long underwear almost as much as I like wearing them.

I wear long underwear year round, and I've become accustomed to enjoying wool underwear for much of the year.

Here is some more information about the history of union suits. Just click "cancel" when the request for a password appears:

http://histclo.com/style/under/gar/union/ug-union.html

[SweatyAussie]

I just love all of this discussion and information about union suits. I like reading and writing about long underwear almost as much as I like wearing them.

I wear long underwear year round, and I've become accustomed to enjoying wool underwear for much of the year.

Here is some more information about the history of union suits. Just click "cancel" when the request for a password appears:

http://histclo.com/style/under/gar/union/ug-union.html

Good grief. Is there anything - ANYTHING at all - that is not the subject of a web site somewhere on the Net?

Some interesting snippets of information on that site. Thank goodness the custom of dressing children in woollen underwear had vanished by the time I came along. The thought of running around in the heat of an Australian summer wearing woollen undergarments does not appeal.

[ColdmasterUS]

[QUOTE=unionsuited]I just love all of this discussion and information about union suits. I like reading and writing about long underwear almost as much as I like wearing them.

I wear long underwear year round, and I've become accustomed to enjoying wool underwear for much of the year.

Glad to see we have another Unionsuited member. Welcome aboard. Tell us something about yourself. I'm curious why you wear long johns all year long. Do you like two piece thermals as well? What prompted you to button up,as it were? Look forward to hearing from you. :) P. S. At the moment I'm wearing two piece thermals, though usually I wear a unionsuit myself.

[ColdmasterUS]

Well another winter is quickly approaching and a little union suit history is always good to have. Not that you can't wear long johns anytime, but there's something great about slipping into your favorite skivvies on those chilly days. Hopefully we'll get some good conversations going. :cool:

[ballucanb]

I have been wearing my red unionsuit to bed all summer long, I love long underwear, and especially union suits.

I had a thing for long underwear since I was a little kid, I'm about the last guy besides my nephew and myself who wear long underwear untill we can't stand wearing them anylonger in the heat.

I started wearing my thermals over a month ago, and just automaticly put them on every morning, it's cool in the mornings here, and I don't care if it's a little too hot during the day with them on.

And as the weather cools, I just add more layers of long underwear untill I'm comfortable, I love the bulk and the feel of long underwear.