I recently came upon a number of frocks made by Lanz in the early to mid 1940s, all from the same household. Somebody must have had a great affection for Lanz.
But after looking at these, I have to ask, who wouldn’t fall for these charmers?
I want to show you the items, but first, a little about Lanz:
Joseph Lanz and Fritz Mahler founded the company in 1922 in Salzburg. It started out as a purveyor of ski togs and traditional Austrian clothing (Tracht). The founding corresponded almost exactly to the start of the famous Salzburg Festival, the music and drama event portrayed in The Sound of Music. Tourists from around the world, including many Americans, flocked to the festival and purchased Lanz clothes in the 1920s and 30s.
In 1925, Fritz Mahler left the enterprise, while Joseph Lanz expanded his operations. In the mid 1930s, he left the outfit in family hands, while he immigrated to the U.S. He set up Lanz manufacturing in New York, followed by Los Angeles.
From The Morning Call Allentown, Pennsylvania, 13 March, 1938:
Those blond Austrian mountain lads, who have made many an American girl’s heart skip faster, have now inspired some of her new spring clothes.
Lanz, of Salzburg, who began his career as a designer of ski clothes in his native Austrian village, has launched his first American-made collection with togs influenced by the clothes of Tyrolean mountaineers and peasant girls.
The clothes have zip. Some of them are made of rustic linens and rayon suits, others of cotton prints, whose light grounds are splashed with figures from the picturesque Austrian Tyrol. Among them are “beer wagon prints” patterned with mugs of foaming ale and pretzels and “Tyrolean siesta prints” strewn with cows, milkmaids and boys dozing in haystacks. There is also a “Hansel and Gretel print” brightened with the fairytale children, gingerbread house and witch.
Here are the printed cottons used for the items I have for sale:
Teenage and college-age young women flocked to Lanz. They were manufactured in junior sizes, sold in the youth-oriented departments of stores, and advertised to the young.
From The Morning News (Wilmington, Delaware), 17 June 1941
From The Los Angeles Times, 4 June 1944
Even though these were popular with younger women, they were not inexpensively made clothes. I can say from looking at them up close that they have lots of bells and whistles, including very nice quality fabrics and trims, signature heart logo buttons in silver metal, and cotton bias tape covering inseams that could both receive a lot of wear and could irritate the skin, such as waist seams. The zippers are good quality, the sewing and sizing is very consistent.
Amazingly, two of the dresses I am offering have their original hang tags—never used and stored to keep them as if they were just made!
This circus print dress? Never worn.
And the contented cows and milkmaids? Never worn!
These two sundresses came to me used, but certainly well kept.
The skirt and dress with the oh-so Sound of Music goat, chicken and flower print cotton have the sweetest red trims. The white eyelet cotton blouse has mother-of-pearl buttons and lovely flaring cuffs.
After Joseph Lanz left Austria, the traditional Tracht clothing was still made by Lanz in Salzburg, while the American branch became more fashion-oriented. These two divergent paths have continued for most of a century now and the story behind each vintage garment with a Lanz label can be challenging to distinguish. I rely heavily on the Vintage Fashion Guild Label Resource for this and all label referencing. You can see more about the history of Lanz and its numerous labels there: https://vintagefashionguild.org/label-resource/lanz/ while the Visit Salzburg website has a few words to say about the Lanz of Salzburg flannel nightgowns currently being made: http://salzburg-visit.com/travel/lanzofsalzburg.htm.
You can find these 1940s Lanz items in my Etsy shop while they last: etsy.com/shop/denisebrain
Many thanks to Roxy Louise Webster for her spot-on modeling of these wonderful togs. She looks like she was born to wear 1940s Lanz!