Figure 1.--The photo shows the Sievan Family in 1917. It was taken on their small farm near Helsinki. Notice how they vare proudly vshowing off the family cow. The children's bare feet and not very stylish clothing probably suggests poverty to the modern reader. This family, however, was probably a reasonably prosperous farm family. Note that at the beginning of 1917, Finland was still part of the Russian Empire, but because of the Russian Revolution and World War I was able to break away a achieve its independence.

We have begun to collect some information on Finnish families. The family segment of HBC provides a wealth of date about Finnish society, The family images for various decades provide interesting information about family life and social trends as well as the clothing and hair style fashions. They also provide insights as to the fashions worn by other members over time. It is interesting to see what adult and girl fashions were associated with the various styles that boys wore over time. We are collecting information on families from different regions as well as various demographic segments to provide a complete view of Finninsh society over time.

Sievan Family (1917)

The photo here shows the Sievan Family in 1917 (figure 1). It was taken on their small farm near Helsinki. Notice how they vare proudly vshowing off the family cow. The children's bare feet and not very stylish clothing probably suggests poverty to the modern reader. This family, however, was probably a reasonably prosperous farm family. Note that at the beginning of 1917, Finland was still part of the Russian Empire, but because of the Russian Revolution and World War I was able to break away a achieve its independence. This was enormously important for families like the Sievans. They are just the kind of family that Stalin labeled kulaks and that the NKVD drove off their land, in many cases in the snow. The Ukranians were unble to resist. The Finns did resist in the Winter War (1939-40) to preserve their independence.

Rastaan Family (1920s)

This photograph shows the Juho Rastaan family from Rautu, a village in the southern Finland. The family photograph is undated, but looks to have been taken in the early-1920s right after Finland became independent from Russia at the end of World War I. Rautu is a village near a lake. One of the boys looks rather dapper in his homberg and long pants suit. His little brother wears a long pants sailot suit. The sailor suit is interesting, because they were generally not as common among farm families as with city families. b bThe children, except for the dapper boy, and women went barefoot.

Unidentified Family (1920s)

We note an unidentified family duting the 1920s in a village near Keuruu (central Finland). It shows a grandmother with her many grandchildren. It seems that the two younger boys are wearing jackets without any shirt. That seems rather unusual. We suspect that their mothers told them to put on the jackets for the photograph. The younger boy seems to be wearing a tunic. That was a style that began going out of style after World war I. A reader asks, "Is the boy on the right wearing strap shoes? How old would you guess he was?" Yes he is, although we see them more as summer sandals, albeit a children's style. Rather unusual for a boy in long pants. He looks to be 16-17 years old to us.

Mäkinen Family (1920s)

The Mäkinen family looks more like a rural family. They lived near Keuru during the 1920s. The mother's scarfe was commonly worn by rural peasant women. The mother's name was Julia. We do not know the children's name. Note the boys' varied hair styles.

Jokinen Children (Early-1930s)

We note the five Finnish siblings--the Jokinen children. They were the children of Väinö and Hilma Jokinen. They live near Keuruu, a town about 270 km north of Helsinki. The photo is undated, but looks like the early 30s. Notice the birch trees in the background, very common in northern forests.

Unidentified Grandmother (2000s)

In Finland it is quite common to take off shoes entering in the house, as we can see in the photo showing a grandmother with her five grandchildren. The children are barefoot. Notice the shoes at the door. Grandmother wears socks. Notice the hard wood floors. The children all wear the same pan-European fashions now common throughout Europe.

Related Style Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Long pants suits] [Knicker suits] [Short pants suits] [Socks] [Eton suits] [Jacket and trousers]
[Blazer] [School sandals] [School smocks] [Sailor suits] [Pinafores] [Long stockings]

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Created: 7:29 PM 9/14/2009
Last updated: 5:44 PM 10/19/2009