I know that there are a lot of sources out there,these days,what with the Internet and all,that you can use to get a detailed history of the blanket sleeper,but here's my attempt at giving a detailed history of the blanket sleeper,and what I think was what led to the many features on them that you see today,and for decades now,being employed and used on blanket sleepers, including those made and used today,so here goes,my attempt at a detailed history of the footed pajama:
Almost everyone alive today who can recall their youth and particularly their baby and toddler years,can recall wearing footed pajamas,especially those born into colder climates in Canada and the northern US,for example,like myself.The blanket sleeper,which is known by many other names,from footed pajamas to Doctor Denton's,is an especially warm sleeping garment worn mainly during the winter-time (though may also be worn in the spring and fall,depending on the climate during a particular year),and usually by young children,although that is increasingly becoming no longer the case,especially as more and more clothing companies and/or manufactures learn that blanket sleepers aren't for babies and toddlers anymore, that there is a market for blanket sleepers for teens and adults,as well.The main purpose of the blanket sleeper is to provide all over warmth for the wearer,mainly in cases where the wearer is an active sleeper, who tends to toss and turn around a lot in their sleep,and therefore kick their blankets and bed-covers off themselves during the night.The blanket sleeper has been around for over 150 years,first coming about in the mid 1800's,though parents might've been making similar garments for their children at a considerably earlier time (some say as far back as the 1400's,or 1500's),back before there were clothing companies that mass-produced clothing for the public,as I'm sure the problem of keeping warm in the absence of bed-covers has been around since the beginning of time,and certainly for millenias, let alone centuries.The first company to come around to mass-produce blanket sleepers was the Denton Sleeping Mills company,founded by a textile-worker,Mr. Whitley Denton, around the time of the American Civil War (late 1850's,or early 1860's).Presumably,Mr. Denton had discovered that many in the general public were having issues,mainly parents, as far as keeping their youngsters warm at night in the absence of bed-covers,so he designed a sleeping garment that catered to those needs.Also presumably,Mr. Denton designed this new garment of his based on the undergarment known as the union-suit,an undergarment that has many of the features that a blanket sleeper has today,from the one-piece,full-body design,to the button-closure that goes from crotch-to-neck,and what used to be on blanket sleepers back in the late 1800's,and early 1900's,the drop-seat, butt-flap,or trap-door in the back,to allow the wearer to use the bathroom without having to even unbutton the garment.Early union-suits even had attached feet,which was probably where Mr. Denton got the idea to add feet to the legs of his new garment.Now,back in the 1800's,blanket sleepers closed with buttons or snaps,mainly because the zipper wasn't even invented until 1907,but before long, possibly by as early as the 1920's or 1930's,blanket sleepers started being made with zipper-closures,and as the 20th century progressed,blanket sleepers with zipper-closures started becoming more popular, and zippers became more widely used as the closing device on blanket sleepers than buttons or snaps,but it wasn't until the 1950's and 1960's,that many of the well-known feature on the blanket sleeper,from the neck-to-ankle zipper, the zipper-tab,toecaps and skid-resistant,vinyl soles,being used on the feet,and the applique,usually placed on the left-chest,or lapel, came to being more and more widely used by blanket sleeper manufacturers.Of course,the reason for these features coming into existance is not well-known,and many people have their own theories for the purposes for them,and the reason for why these features came into being,so here's my theory on each:
1) The zipper-tab: Some contend that this feature was invented to prevent the wearer,mainly young children and babies,from unzipping their blanket sleepers during the night,as young children and babies tend to strip their clothes off at night,whether because they're too hot,or because due to their curious nature,they play around with their clothes and ultimately find ways to take them off.Others contend that the zipper-tab is simply there to protect the wearer's chin from the harsh, scratchy surface of the zipper-pull.The fact that most blanket sleepers that have this particular feature are on baby and toddler sizes may suggest the former reasoning may be correct,but the fact that some manufacturers of adult-sized blanket sleepers also add zipper-tabs to their garments,I'd have to say that the latter reasoning is more likely correct.
2) Toecaps: Most likely came about due to tiny holes developing in the toes area of the sleeper-feet prompting blanket sleeper manufacturers to decide to make the top tips of the feet,where the toes of the wearer are most likely to be positioned,out of the same,skid-resistant material as the soles of the feet,so as to make that part of the garment more durable.
3) Skid-resistant,vinyl soles: Like the toecaps,used,or designed for improving the durability of the soles of the feet,as well as added traction for the wearer on smooth floors, such as tiled bathroom-floors and linoleum kitchen-floors.
4) Applique (usually on left-chest): Mainly for decorative purposes,mainly to make the garment more attractive to the wearer,since seeing their favorite cartoon character on their clothing is supposed to make children want to wear the particular garment more.Many sleepers,including and especially adult blanket sleepers, instead use a print design for this purpose,like all-over flowers,ducks,teddy-bears,etc............
5) Zipper-closure: Not sure on this one,though it might have become more popular than snap or button closures since the zipper,by its design,doesn't allow gaping to occur in the garment,as compared to the little gaps that occur between buttons,or snaps in the middle of the garments that use such fasteners,or closure-devices, mainly because,usually, the fastener on most articles of clothing go down the middle,mainly for ease-in-dressing purposes.
6) Mittens: Presumably used to keep the wearer's hands warm,though this may also serve the same purpose as the zipper-tab,in making it more difficult for the wearer to unzip the garment during the night,due to the mittens making it more difficult to grasp the zipper-pull,or the buttons required to unfasten them.
7) Hoods: Mainly used on custom sleepers (blanket sleepers designed also as animal costumes),presumably to keep the wearer's head warm,usually when sleeping out-of-doors on a camping-trip,for example.
In the 1960's all the way to the 1980's,a very popular brand of blanket sleepers was the one made by Sears,which used this polyester-pile fabric made of 35% polyester,and 65% of what's called modacrylic,a sort of modified acrylic fabric,a self extinquishing fabric,making these sleepers flame-resistant,which was becoming more and more of a concern with parents at that time.These had the famous cartoon character Winnie-the-Pooh as the applique embroidered on the left-chest in various designs of the famed cartoon character, either holding his famed honey-pot,eating from it,or holding a balloon as he soared in the air,based on the famous book and movies of the famed character.Then,in the 1990's,Sears dropped the modacrylic fabric and changed the cartoon character from Winnie-the-Pooh to Paddington Bear,possibly because Sears lost the right to use Winnie-the-Pooh in their sleepwear,but in an event, the new line of blanket sleepers weren't nearly as popular, and soon they changed to brand names like Lands End for the sleepwear that they sell in their stores.As a young child,I was one of those children that wore the Sears Winnie-the-Pooh blanket sleeper to bed on certain cold,winter nights.
