Uncle Sam Standardizes Underwear, 1937

Uncle Sam to standardize garment sizes. Washington D.C., July 23, 1937. To enable fathers and mothers to order clothes with the confidence that a size 8 or 10, is all its supposed to be in length and breadth, the Bureau of Economics, U.S. Department of Agriculture, is undertaking the leadership of project in which colleges and universities will cooperate to discover the clothing dimensions needed by today's children.Special attention is being paid to racial characteristics as the experts believe that race and neighborhood has something to do with a youngster's size. Dr. Eleanor Hunt, associate anthropometrist, Bureau of Home Economics, is shown training one of the first classes on taking scientific measurements of the human body, 7/23/1937. Photographed by Harris & Ewing on 4x5 glass plate negative.