Traditional White Clothing for Bricklayers, Stone Masons, and Plasterers

Universal Overall Co., Chicago

Traditional clothing for bricklayers, stone masons, and plasterers was more formal than it is today. Plasterers and some stone cutters and masons customarily wore white or cream-colored shirts, pants, and coats. In the USA today, some painters wear white work clothing, but the other trades do not. White painter’s pants, shirts, and overalls are still sold and even made in the US.

Credit for the 1913 Philadelphia photograph is here on Flickr and for the 1976-77 Brooklyn photograph is here on Flickr.

Bricklayers, Frankford Ave. El construction, Philadelphia, 1913

Goldblatt Tool Co. 1939

Goldblatt Tool Co. 1939

Italian bricklayers in Brooklyn, NY, 1976 or 1977  

Practical Bricklaying by Howard L  Briggs

Goldblatt Tool Co. 1939