Why is Samantha's school dress called a "Buster Brown"-dress? Was there a Buster Brown?
<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ June 03, 2004 02:40 AM: Message edited by: Kathrine ]</font>
Yes! And you can find your answer in Robin's excellent catalog scans. It's this album:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4290477103
at image 80. If you look at the original image, you can read the text about Samantha's dress, which was inspired by the cartoon character Buster Brown!
"Buster Brown" was a style of clothing usually worn by boys on the early 20th century. here is a little link:
We in the USA had cartoons in the 1900's about a character named Buster Brown. Then later Buster Brown Shoe Co.was started around the same time. Heck, I rememeber wearing that brand as a kid.
This site has an interesting History of BB Suiting. It was a cool thing to read through. It had a slight history of victorian clothing in Europe and in the USA during the victorian era.
Hope this helps you out....
Gosh I'm old....lol. Buster Brown had a quality line of clothes and shoes for boys and girls. We had a store in my town that sold the shoes....If I remember correctly you could buy Buster Brown clothes at Woolworths....It was very modern for its time....one of the first companies to come out with knit clothes for children...little girls had matching little skirts and tops ..you could buy matching clothes for boys. their signature mark was the double band around the hemline or sleeve...of course I am suffering from slight short term memory loss but since this is old info it may or may not be correct
This is off-topic, but reading about Buster Brown reminded me that my parents used to call my oldest brother "Buster Brown" when we were little. I haven't thought about that in ages. It's interesting how the mention of certain words can bring back old memories.
I have the Buster Brown comic book (although I don't know where it is right now [img]eek.gif[/img] ) released by Dover Publications. Samantha collectors might enjoy the book...unfortunately, I think it has gone out of print. They also used to have Little Orphan Annie comics from Kit's era. One that I have is about Daddy Warbucks going bankrupt due to the Depression!
Dover takes requests for re-releases of certain books. If I can find my books I'll write down the ISBN numbers in case that might be helpful in locating a copy. Unfortunately, I don't store large-format books in my bookcase and I don't know where I placed these. [img]frown.gif[/img] Even if they're out of print, maybe libraries would have them (?).
Most contemporary readers would probably find these comics a little odd. Buster Brown, for example, is a naughty little boy and pretty rude to adults, and the language is pretty different. But they're still a lot of fun to read and see how much comics have changed. You can also see a lot of old clothing styles and hairstyles!
<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ June 03, 2004 10:40 AM: Message edited by: Melissa ]</font>
A-l-l r-i-g-h-t! [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img] I found the books!
For Samantha fans:
Buster Brown: Early Strips in Full Color by Richard F. Outcault With a New Introduction by August Derleth The ISBN is 0-486-23006-6. The original Dover item number was 23006-6. The book is republished from 1904, and the comic originally appeared in New York's Herald. Buster's dog Tige also plays a huge role in the book...they're best buds. Buster does really naughty things, and then he or someone else ends each comic strip with a lesson learned. Here's one of the lessons the dog-catcher learned from Buster: "Resolved! That I'm going to quit catching dogs and go to catching for some baseball team, or go back into the doctor business where I belong. I'd rather catch fish or small pox than dogs."
For Kit fans:
The Annie books are about right for Kit fans. The two I have (there were three...I didn't get Little Orphan Annie in Cosmic City, Dover item number 24421-0) are:
Little Orphan Annie by Harold Gray. The ISBN is 0-486-24420-2 and the original Dover item number is 24420-2.
Little Orphan Annie in the Great Depression by Harold Gray. ISBN 0-486-23737-0 and Dover item 23737-0. These were published in 1931. I think these are interesting because you certainly wouldn't have thought Daddy Warbucks would be effected by the Depression, but he was!
If you can't find them at the library, check http://www.isbn.nu . You can copy and paste the ISBN in the search box and see if any online bookstores still have copies left. The books are paperbacks and very short (around 30 pages or so)...be sure to keep that in mind with the prices being asked.
<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ June 03, 2004 11:18 AM: Message edited by: Melissa ]</font>
My daughter will be 40 this August. She had very narrow feet as a little girl. The shoes that fit her the best were made by Buster Brown. I remember the commercial for these shoes. It was like this:
I am Buster Brown, I live in a shoe, my dog Tighe lives there too.
I remember the shoe store that sold Buster Browns when we were little, too! And a few years ago, a friend of my oldest daughter wore his hair in a Buster Brown cut-although not as long as the pictures on the sites Johanna posted and not curled. I had never heard of a Buster Brown cut until his mom told me that's what it was. Must be a modern version.
<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ June 03, 2004 02:27 PM: Message edited by: OSusannah ]</font>
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">It all sounds right to me, Mary! I remember wearing Buster Brown shoes, but we couldn't afford the Buster Brown clothes. They were real "preppy-looking" outfits back in the '50's. [img]tongue.gif[/img]Originally posted by marymax:
of course I am suffering from slight short term memory loss but since this is old info it may or may not be correct
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