Figure 1.--We think this Belgian boy, probably about 1930 had his portrait taken in his First Communion suit--a sailor suit. Notice the black long stockings for formality. We have found a lot of similar portraits from the 1920s-30s. The boys look old enough to be doing their confirmatin, but we do not notice comparable images og younger boys. We think ghat before World war II, that Belgian boys my have done their First Communion later than after the War. Hopefully our Belgian readers can provide some insights.

Sailor suits were especially popular in the early 20th century. Most were dark suits, but we note some white suits as well. Most boys wore sailor caps with these sailor suits. We do have one undated photograph of an unidentified Belgian boy taking First Communion in an elegant kneepants sailor suit. I am not sure if it is black or navy blue. We would guess that the portrait was taken in the 1930s. The sailor suit the boy wears is a rather elegant one. It is worn with a matching soft top black cap. There is a jacket which buttons rather than a middy blouse. It is worn with a plain white shirt with clored detailing at the collar, rather like a dicky. Also notice he is wearing a white button front vest under the middy jacket and over the white shirt or dickie. It is worn with matching dark kneepants and long black stockings. He has lace-up shoes. He has white gloves and even a hankerchief in his sailor jacket. HBC rarely noted hankerchiefs being worn in sailor jackets. This suit was a dark suit, but we note white suits being worn in France during the 1930s-50s and the same was probably true of Belgium. On rge page here we see another sailor suit, again probably from the 1930s (figure 1). This boy's sailor suit is different, looking more like a short tunic. Notice the black long stockings for formality. We have found a lot of similar portraits from the 1920s-30s. The boys look old enough to be doing their confirmatin, but we do not notice comparable images og younger boys. We think ghat before World war II, that Belgian boys my have done their First Communion later than after the War. Hopefully our Belgian readers can provide some insights.

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Created: 2:52 AM 12/7/2007
Last edited: 5:15 PM 12/7/2007