Sears Catalog

[rusty pins]

Not what you think the topic is going to be about.

Many may already know I was a bedwetter until almost age 6 in the early 1960's.  I wore thick cloth diapers and Gerber plastic pants to bed every night.  We have home movies Christmas morning when I was 4 or 5 in my footed pajamas and thick diapers.  I looked like I had a bowling ball in my pajamas!

Anyway, I was pondering like I often do.  I remember as a kid (pre teen) looking at the cloths for toddlers and young boys in the Sears catalog.  The catalogs were indexed in sections, and on the first page of the young children's clothing, there was a paragraph stating, "Clothing has been cut fuller in the seat to accommodate children who have not lost their baby roundness or who still wear diapers."  Anyone remember seeing that in the old Sears catalogs from the 1960's?  Now, as I was pondering, I remember how I was mornings as a 5 year old, thick wet and heavy cloth diapers and plastic pants and the home movies at Christmas.  Toddlers and some young boys would definitely need baggier full cut pants to accommodate the typical cloth diapers worn before Pampers and other disposables became the norm.  Just like many AB's and DL's here will wear a size or two larger pant to help make their diapers more discreet.

When Pampers and Kimbies first came out, they were thick and bulky too, like cloth diapers.  Now days baby diapers are thin with super absorbent gels and cloth like backing.  I seriously doubt clothing manufacturers need to make their toddler and young kids pants "full cut" in the seat anymore to accommodate diapers.  Just another way the evolution of diapers has changed from the old ways of the past.  Again, I ponder how actual disposable baby diapers have gotten super thin while we still like our adult disposable diapers thick!  I guess not everything has evolved with us older folks!    

[Amixofthings]

In the 1960s the start of my existence was some decades off.

Still, in the 1990s I was kept in cloth diapers while at home (disposables on outings), though I don’t really remember those days.

But even some younger folks got an interest in thick diapers. One source there might be depictions of thick diapers in cartoons.

[Gejoe]

Ah, the good old catalogs, my mothers were the Wards and Penney catalogs. I about wore them out looking at the baby diapers and plastic pants. Then I discovered the incontinence section, WOW diapers and plastic pants for youths and adults. That is where I got my first real diapers and plastic pants in 1963.

[Slomo]

I remember the Sears catalog from the early 80's. We always used them to get stuff you couldn't get locally. It was the 80's version of Amazon. They had the perfect setup and could have doubled their in-store sales had they gone online in the 90's. It's hard to believe it only took 1 CEO to bring that all crashing down.

[DiaperboyEddie12]

On 1/31/2026 at 8:53 AM, rusty pins said:

Not what you think the topic is going to be about.

Many may already know I was a bedwetter until almost age 6 in the early 1960's.  I wore thick cloth diapers and Gerber plastic pants to bed every night.  We have home movies Christmas morning when I was 4 or 5 in my footed pajamas and thick diapers.  I looked like I had a bowling ball in my pajamas!

Anyway, I was pondering like I often do.  I remember as a kid (pre teen) looking at the cloths for toddlers and young boys in the Sears catalog.  The catalogs were indexed in sections, and on the first page of the young children's clothing, there was a paragraph stating, "Clothing has been cut fuller in the seat to accommodate children who have not lost their baby roundness or who still wear diapers."  Anyone remember seeing that in the old Sears catalogs from the 1960's?  Now, as I was pondering, I remember how I was mornings as a 5 year old, thick wet and heavy cloth diapers and plastic pants and the home movies at Christmas.  Toddlers and some young boys would definitely need baggier full cut pants to accommodate the typical cloth diapers worn before Pampers and other disposables became the norm.  Just like many AB's and DL's here will wear a size or two larger pant to help make their diapers more discreet.

When Pampers and Kimbies first came out, they were thick and bulky too, like cloth diapers.  Now days baby diapers are thin with super absorbent gels and cloth like backing.  I seriously doubt clothing manufacturers need to make their toddler and young kids pants "full cut" in the seat anymore to accommodate diapers.  Just another way the evolution of diapers has changed from the old ways of the past.  Again, I ponder how actual disposable baby diapers have gotten super thin while we still like our adult disposable diapers thick!  I guess not everything has evolved with us older folks!    

Interesting post @rusty pins.  I remember the sears catalog.  But I don’t remember browsing the catalog for clothing.

[AbabeBill]

I remember looking at those catalogs, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, and I remember the statements for the clothing being more accommodating for diapers too.