50s Men's PJs? Micarelli Roma & Rusco Elastic

50sVintage

50sVintage

Registered Guest
50s Men\'s PJs? Micarelli Roma & Rusco Elastic

Good evening All,

In an estate of an Italian friend who died already 20 years ago I found in never used condition a black cotton set of men's pjs. The elastic shriveled out when I opened the waistband to see inside, but the cotton and tags are crisp.

There are three tags: (1) Micarelli via condotti 32 Roma (2) Rusco Products Elastic Webbing Manufactured by Amex and (3) a hard tag stamped Amex. Additionally there is a tag marked "4" which I take to be the size. The pjs fit today's men's Large.

I googled but found nothing for Micarelli Manufacturing or Rusco Elastics or Amex Manufacturing.

First, am I correctly dating this set to the 50s or 60s?
Second, does anyone recognize any of the manufacturers?

As always, many thanks.

Mia











 
I don't recognize any of the labels, but the labels and fonts all look prewar to me and I have seen similar elastic webbing on 1930s clothing. If it were 50s I would expect it to be within a shirred casing. Are the buttons shell? If so, I think these were high end men's pjs probably from the 1930s.
 
Jonathan -

Thank you so much for your comments. Regarding the buttons - I don't know. I examined them and took additional photos but I just don't know if the buttons are shell. Particularly the pants button does have a translucence/sheen, moreso than the shirt buttons. My added photo below was the best of my not-good-at-all attempt to get a closeup. I will take a better closeup photo tomorrow in sunlight and post it. Meanwhile, is there a home test that I can do to identify whether the buttons are shell?

Many thanks.
Mia

 
Julie -

Thank you for the suggestion. My untrained teeth didn't get all that different a feel when I tried to compare the click of a known plastic button against a button from this set. However I turned over these buttons and did find that uneven, variable shell effect on the back sides. Still I will examine and photograph them in sunlight tomorrow.

Mia
 
I keep coming back to look at these to double check if I still think they are 1930s... they might be post war but to find a pair of pyjamas of this quality after the war seems unlikely and I really don't think these are into the 1950s because they are too tailored and I would expect plastic buttons or smooth white shell or bone buttons if they were post war. Also I think its just too weird for Italians to be making black shirts, even if they have pale blue trim and are intended for pyjamas after the 1930s. They might even be 1940ish. Italy didn't enter the war until June 1940, and there were a lot of people travelling through Italy to get out of Europe until the U.S. entered the war in December 41...
 
rusco and especially amex sound like american manufacturing companies to me. seems odd the name of the manufacturer who produced the elastic is the most prominent, being in two places.
 
Okay! Finally, I have closeups of the buttons under natural daylight. Yes, they all have the multi-colored translucence of shell. I took pics underneath, too. I definitely now believe they are shell but defer to the experts for final opinions.









 
P.S. I see on upload that my pics still don't do justice. In daylight, the buttons are various shades of grey and lavender - beautiful.

Mia
 
Jonathan,

Do I understand correctly that you still believe they are 30s into maybe early 40s, but before America entered the war? And, do you agree with Joan that they are American-made, imported to Italy, partly because of the color?

Thank you for your further thoughts.

Mia
 
I am not committing myself to origin of manufacture, but for the label to be in English suggests they were made in England or the U.S. but Italy is generally not a country that imports clothing and textiles (still aren't.) You would really need to find one of those names registered somewhere.

In short... I don't know for sure and am open to any theory!
 
The label for Rusco refers to The Russell manufacturing Co. established in 1834 which produced cotton and elastic woven goods. There is a reference that indicates the company closed in the 1960's.

The company I believe originally also had a manufacturing base in China - which might account for the styling.

I've seen men's pyjamas from the 1950's -1960's with the elasticated waistband exposed like that but for sure the labels take you on a bit of a global trip. Although, even though the square Amex label looks older it could have been used on much later products. The collar and the piping look 1950's and later. China produces Abalone buttons.

It wouldn't surprise me if they were made in China and shipped to Italy for Micarelli.
 
I found this at the US trademark database website




ImageAgentProxy


Word Mark AMEX
Goods and Services (EXPIRED) IC 025. US 039. G & S: OUTER AND UNDER SHIRTS, COLLARS, PAJAMAS, DRAWERS, NECKTIES, WAISTCOATS, DRESSING ROBES, HANDKERCHIEFS, GLOVES OF LEATHER, WOOL, COTTON, SILK OR A COMBINATION THEREOF, FOR MEN; BLOUSES, SKIRTS, DRESSES, DRESSING-GOWNS, PAJAMAS, HANDKERCHIEFS, SCARVES, GLOVES OF LEATHER, WOOL, COTTON, SILK, OR A COMBINATION THEREOF, FOR WOMEN. FIRST USE: 19380101. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19510101

Mark Drawing Code (5) WORDS, LETTERS, AND/OR NUMBERS IN STYLIZED FORM

Serial Number 71639403

Filing Date December 13, 1952

Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Registration Number 0592219
Registration Date July 6, 1954
Owner (REGISTRANT) "AMEX" AMBROGIO MEZZADRI & C. S. P. A. CORPORATION ITALY VIA PROACACCINI 11 MILAN ITALY
Assignment Recorded ASSIGNMENT RECORDED
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Affidavit Text SECT 15.
Renewal 1ST RENEWAL 19740706
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD
 
Thank you all so very much for your input!

It's been a bit of "round the world" and now there is a workable explanation for the different labels appearing on the same garment.

If I understand correctly, the Russell Manufacturing Co. was in business for 130 years until the 60s, and Amex products were manufactured for 16 years before the company applied for its first trademark that became valid for 20 years (1954 - 1974).

Do I understand correctly then, that it would be correct to list these pajamas as having been manufactured some time from 1938 - 60s in a country other than Italy (China? UK?) and then imported to Italy?

Thank you all so very much for your help.

Mia
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top