Angelica white uniforms. [The lure of color]. . .

[St. Louis, MO: Angelica Jacket Co., 1929]. 4to. 9 x 12 in. 28 pp. Colour-illustrated title, colour-illustrated throughout, double-page centerfold illustrations for Angelica wait staff uniforms. Colour-illustrated softcovers, Art Deco Cover art w/ montage of wait staff, kitchen staff, and medical uniforms, photo illust. of women working the Angelica Factory on back cover (minor rubbing, edgewear, curling to fore-edge, minor dampsoiling to upper right corner), still G copy. First edition of this brightly illustrated catalogue for uniforms and service apparel during the 1920’s, featuring stylish uniforms for men and women wait staff, as well as doctors, nurses, hospital attendants, utility dresses, chef’s aprons, and more. With most sewn from durable and long wearing cotton duck cloth, the company presents here multiple service ensembles for kitchen staff, dining rooms and taverns, many with decidedly Art Deco lines and patterns. This catalogue presents colour buttons & piping to be added to white Duck and Galatea cloth uniforms. Of special interest is the Angelica’s Book Store with cook books for hotels and restaurants. The company originated in 1878 when Carmine Ostari Angelica (1850-1883) created an entirely new cook’s uniform for her husband Cherubino Angelica (d. 1898) while cooking for the railroad in St. Louis, MO. Featuring a tall white hat with a crown, double-breasted white coat, cloth buttons sewn to the sides, and reversible layers of cloth to protect from heat and grease splatter, and even cuffs which could be turned down to function as hot pads. Within a couple years Cherubino with Carmine supplying the uniforms founded the Angelica Corporation, and after her death his second wife Therese Hirsch del Angelica (b. 1855) would join the company, and oversaw the introduction of the iconic Harvey Girls uniforms. After Levy and his brother purchased the business and the sewing machines in 1903, the company quickly expanded to dominate the service uniform market, and still is one of the primary suppliers of uniforms across the country. See: Angelica Corporation History, International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 15 (1996).