Grew up in VT - recall both union suit and long johns being used to refer to winter underwear. Don't recall being told how to verbally distinguish the one-piece and two-piece varieties. Most from my youth I recall as one-piece.
Don't recall hearing union suit much if at all for a very long time. I noticed, growing up, a lot of advertisement encouraging folks to shop for underwear and other garments with a union label on them. I assumed "union suit" came from something similar, but if it is 19th century, I presume it predated a lot of union activity.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2009-03-30 02:48 am (UTC)Don't recall hearing union suit much if at all for a very long time. I noticed, growing up, a lot of advertisement encouraging folks to shop for underwear and other garments with a union label on them. I assumed "union suit" came from something similar, but if it is 19th century, I presume it predated a lot of union activity.