From the collection: a collar box
An old approach to "ring around the collar"
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We have many (many, many) fancy lace collars in the History Center’s collection. And just a few men’s collars.
Until the 1930s, the collars of men’s — and often women’s —shirts were detachtable, like this one here. Back when laundry was a heavy, all-day affair, being able to remove and separately clean those parts of the garment that were most likely to get dirty fast was a time-saving measure. Collars and cuffs were sold in sets.
Collar boxes were used to keep the collar and cuffs from getting dirty when not being used. The boxes were designed to be reusable. The box could also be used as a thread box for sewing. Small metal rods inside for storing reals of thread with holes around exterior to dispense thread.
Collar boxes were invented around the 1860's. A hundred years later, by the 1960s, the detachable collar was a thing of the past.
But collar boxes haven’t disappeared entirely. One can still buy a box to hold clergy collars.
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~Elaine
Neat! Were people able to buy just collars?
This brings back memories of my father's removable-collar shirts from the 1930s. Thank you!