Figure 1.--Elementary age school boys in the late 1940s and 50s commonly wore flannel-lined jeans, always in a plaid, during the Fall and Winter months. |
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Jeans are of course most associated with America where they originated and were first worn. For nearly a century after they were created, jeans were primarily worn in America and to some extent neighboring Canada by working men. Thus the early history of jeans is primarily an American story. American boys began wearing jeans more commonly in the 1910s with the development of Kovealls. Boys except in rural areas did not wear ovealls to school. Boys wore commonly wore corduroy knickers, but after World War II jeans were very commonly worn to ele,entary (primary) schools. They wre not generally allowed in secondary school until the 1970s. Quite a range of different types of jeans and overalls begin to appear by the 1970s. One common ferature was that until the 1970s and apperance of cut-offs thery were almost always long pants. Bu the 1970s designer jeans began to make their appearance.
Overalls were invented in the mid-19th century by a German immigrant. They were for the most part a garment for workers and miners, later adopted by farmers. And a little after the turn-of-the 20 century, boys began wearing them. We see both play garments and children in rural areas wearing them to school. Then movie cowboys began wearing jeans without the bib-front. This led to them becoing increasingly popular as did the military using them for fatigues during the War. After World War II jeabds became popular with teenagers, although many schools prohoibited them. Finally they became a fashion phenomenon in the 1970s.
Thus the early history of jeans is primarily an American story. The history of jeans on the main jerns page essentially tells the story of 19th century trends in America. The first jeans were bib-front overalls created by Levi Strauss in the 1840s as work clothes. They were widekly worn by working men, first in mines and than in factories. We see them being very commonly worn by miners and factory workers by the 1880s. We are less sure just when American farmers began to wear overalls. Eventually overalls became associted more with farmers than any other workig group. them. Notably we do not see children in rural areas wearing them to school in the 19th cetury. We are not sure about Western mining towns. The ophotographic record, however, clearly shows that American boys did not commonly wear overalls to school in the 19th century. For nearly a century after they were created, jeans were primarily worn in America and to some extent neighboring Canada by working men.
American boys began wearing jeans more commonly in the 20th century. We note rural boys wearing overalls to school for the first time in the lste 1900s and it was common by the 1910s. We are unsure why this occurred so suddently at this time. About the same time Kovealls appeared. Thus we see city boys wearing these overall-styled garments as well. City boys did not wear ovealls to school. Boys wore commonly wore corduroy knickers, but after World War II jeans were very commonly worn to elemntary (primary) schools. They were not generally allowed in secondary school which had stricter dress codes until the 1970s. Quite a range of different types of jeans and overalls begin to appear by the 1970s. One common ferature was that until the 1970s and apperance of cut-offs thery were almost always long pants. Bu the 1970s designer jeans began to make their appearance.
A reader tells us about cusomizing jeans. "An interesting phenomenon I remember as a kid growing up in the 50s in California was how many of the high school boys in my California town, a representative middle class, middle American town, customized their Levis once they got them home from the store. They removed the 'tan' label from the waistband, removed (carefully) all the belt loops and also removed completely,(carefully) all the V (accurate, I believe it's called in the Levis literature) stitching on the back pockets and then washed them the first time. They also rolled up the cuffs in very tight fashion. This all was considered cool looking. All the more so if you, as many but not all boys with these customized Levis did, wore them low on the hips. This "customizing" was done by boys in the San Francisco area, the Los Angeles area (my cousin living there being one of them), and the New York area....and probably in other areas too but I can only testify for a fact that it was done in the three above mentioned areas. The 'customizing' went out of style somewhere in the latter half of the 60s."
Massengale, Marshall. E-mail, October 2, 2002.
Morton, Craig. E-mail, October 3, 2002.
Shuman, Steven. E-mail, May 30, 2009.
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