Jantzen Week

This is National Jantzen Week...hot, sweltering days, just in time for the fourth of Julyand getting away to summer camps or the seashore.Don’t forget to take your Jantzen, “the suit that changed bathing to swimming”.In department stores across the nation, Jantzen is “the National Swimming Suit”,promoting the sport in favored colors, with patented features insuring a perfect fit.This is the week that will prove it as seen in this ad in The Saturday Evening Post, June 30, 1923. Illustration by McClelland Barclay.

Celebrate the Summer Solstice!

Summer is here and there is no better way to dive right into our favorite season than with the summer solstice, the longest beach day of the year! The summer solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year when the Sun's apparent position in the sky, as viewed from Earth, reaches its northernmost or southernmost extremes.

The name is derived from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), because at the solstices, the Sun stands still in declination; that is, the apparent movement of the Sun's path north or south comes to a stop before reversing direction.

What this means to us sun lovers is that we get more time to relax on our favorite beach and kick off the summer right! Why not enjoy those extra hours and extra rays in a Jantzen? We'd have it no other way!

I pledge allegiance...

I pledge allegiance...

For over 200 years the U.S. flag has been the symbol of our nation’s strength and unity.

Before the American Revolution each of the thirteen colonies had its own flag. On January 1, 1776, George Washington ordered the first Grand Union flag hoisted near his headquarters in Boston. On June 14, 1777 the Continental Congress resolved that the flag should have thirteen red and white stripes and a union of white stars on a blue background. In 1916 President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed June 14th as Flag Day, and a national day of celebration. The 50th and last star was added in 1960 for the new state of Hawaii. Often called “Stars and Stripes” or “Old Glory”, the original designer is not known for certain.

The above photo from 1943 shows a beautiful flag being raised at Jantzen Knitting Mills headquarters in Portland, Oregon. One of the founding fathers, Roy Zehntbauer and Australian cadet, Ron Sharp, share the honor. Flags for our armed forces in Australia and the South Pacific were among the many war products manufactured by Jantzen during WWII.

Happy Flag Day!

Pretty Little Lady

The Jantzen Archive has a new little lady and she is a doll. She first appeared in the 1958 catalog sporting the most fashionable and glamorous swim caps of the day. She is wearing “El Dorado”, a glitter cap of gold metallic cloth from the same year. Retail price $6.95

Created by Maury Wolf and David Vine, mannequin makers in L.A., she is a little sister to the famous 21’ Jantzen fiberglass Diving Girls which were displayed around the world in 1959.

Glamorous then...glamorous now

Button, button, who's got the button?

“Button, button, who’s got the button?” ask the children who have played this traditional game for more than a century. The first buttons appeared over 3,000 years ago and were originally used for decoration. Functional buttons for clothing made their debut in Europe in the 13th century. Buttons of great value and artistry were worn in France by the aristocracy; the peasants were permitted to use only cloth. In 1520 King Francis I of France, bedecked with 13,600 buttons, met King Henry VIII of England who was similarly covered with the elite symbol of status and ornamentation.

This fabulous sheath of black Lastex faille is total glam with the adornment of shining white buttons. It was produced by Jantzen 1953 and named “pick-a-pocket”. The retail price was $19.95. Our ancestors in the Bronze Age got it right to begin with and so did we, proving that the button and the brand remain timeless representatives of status and beauty.

White River Valley Museum Exhibit

Jantzen will be on display at the White River Valley Museum in Auburn Washington for their "Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini and Tummy Crunches" exhibit celebrating a century of female bodies and swimsuits. The exhibit opens on May 4th and will be available to the public through July 31st. Here is a sneak peek:

Family and the green suit, will go on forever.

There are some things about childhood that make a lasting impression...a favorite person, a nostalgic time, indelible memories. Aunt Virginia’s green swimsuit is a classic example. “Old Green”, as the article by Penny Ward Moser mentions, was worn year after year, decade after decade dispensing tireless consistency and love. The beloved suit became the symbol of stability and was cherished by a third generation in the hopes that the “family and the green suit will go on forever”

Made of nylon Moire for fast drying, this featherweight suit could face any situation. Jantzen produced the “Postage Stamp” in 1953, so named because “that is about the size and weight of it in the hand”. It is a swimsuit powerhouse, beautifully shirred and stylish today with a glamour legacy for eternity. National ad illustrated by Pete Hawley.