The Dr. Jaeger's Sanitary Woolen System Co by JAEGER, DR. GUSTAV - 1909

Washington DC, 1909. Staple bound booklet of 40pp, illustrated throughout, fine in original wrappers. Accompanied by a printed sheet of nine Jaeger samples each measuring 35 mm x 35 mm. Dr. Gustav Jaeger (1832 - 1917) pioneered woolen underclothing using advanced weaving techniques that allowed for exact body fitting and full-length 'step-in' garments. Manufactured under license from the 1890s in Britain and North America, Jaeger woolens were soon worn and championed by, among others, Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw. Meanwhile, the indefatigable Dr. Jaeger was developing a super-insulating woolen fabric which was used by success Polar expeditions as standard issue. Mawson and his colleagues survived the debilitating Antarctic cold in no small part due to their choice of Jaeger undergarments. The rear cover of the booklet proudly boasts Artic and Antarctic expeditions that have used Jaeger woolen products, including the British Antarctic 'Nimrod' expedition led by Shackleton, the Ziegler Polar Relief expedition, and lesser-known attempts such as the Argentine Antarctic expedition of 1903. A curious relic relating to early Antarctic expeditions including those led by Mawson and Shackleton, these branded Antarctic-grade Jaeger woolen samples are a tangible connection to the Great Age of Polar Exploration. Examples of this booklet and the accompanying sample sheet (intact and uncompromised by silverfish activity) are almost unknown.