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We have little definative chronological information available as this time, primarily becuse few of the available image are actually dated. We have made some general chromnolgical assessment of trends based on an estimates of images used in this section. We note in the inter-war years boys wearing a range of First Communion outfits. We see many white suits. I am not sure about the jacket styles yet. We do see a variety of pants style, including knicker, short, and long pants suits. Short pants outfits first became common in the 1920s, but we also see knicker suits. . We do not have any image of kneepants suits, but am sure they were worn in the early 1920s. One notable change from the pre-World War I era was some boys, but certainly not all, did their First Communion in dress shirts without suit jackets. Often these outfits were decided by the local Church so the children were all dressed alike for the service.
The standard dark suit declined in popularity after World War I. We see a wider range of suits. Many boys got new suits for First Communion, but now more were no longer specifically styled for First Communion. Rather than a standard navy blue suit, we see a rane of materials that could be worn for many occassions after First Communion. We are not sure what caused this notable shift. Norfolk styling, especially during the early-20s. We also see white suits which were not very common in the 1910s. And these were suits that were primarily for First Communion. We see quite a number of boys with whirwe suits for First Communion in the 1920s. Most were still knicker suits, but we begin to see some short pasnts suitsas well. And quite a number of boys did their First Communion with just a white shirt and not a suit. We note a First Communion class--both boys and girls--taken at St. James's Church, St. Louis, in 1929. The outfits are all white. The boys wear entirely white suits with knickers, white long stockings, and white shoes. The children seem quite young--perhaps 7 or 8 years old.
We note most American boys wearing knicker suits in the 1930s. They were often dark knicker suits. Thse dark knickers suit seems to be the most common outfit, although not as pervasive as these suits were in the 1920s. We also notice boys wearing white short pants suits. The whire suits were often short pants suits. Knickers suits wee less common in white. They were not as common, however, as the dark suits. A good example is an uninidetified Catholic school, although we are not entirely sure just when the portrait was taken. The children are having a First Communion dinner. The boys wear white long stockings with what looks like long short pants, but with black shoes. Not all First Communions outfits involved suits. Suits were expensive. Many boys made due with less expensive alernatives. We also see boys wearing shirts and dress trousers. Earlier blouses were more common for these informal outfits, but by the 30s we see more shirts. We also see more boys wearing socks than was the case for the 1920s when the children mostly wore long stockings.
The early-1940s are the Workd War II war years at least in Europe. America was still at peace in 1940 amd most of '41 until the Japanese carrier attack on Pearl Harbor (December 1941). The War years lasted until the Japanese surrender (August 1945). Unlike many other countries, life in America went on relatively unchanged, except for the the fact that large numbers of men were drafted andnd volunteered and were shipped overseas. Large numbers of young women relaced them in factories. Catholic Americans were fir the most part more recent immigrants than Protestants. Most (except for the Irish) came from countries involved in the War, either Axis coyntrie (Germany and Italy) or counrties occupied by the Axis. Thus the War was especially traumatic for them. None more so than Polish Americans and than Italy surrenderd and was not only occuopied by the Germans, but became an important theater of the War. For children, however, school and church contuinued largely unchanged. So Catholic children did their First Communiins as they had in the 1930s. Most Catholics still lived in the major cities. The movement to the suburbs was just beginning. This their schools and churches were still in the cities. Thevchildren all dressed up for the event. White suits had become very popular. And we see quite a few boys wearing white suits, often shirt pants suits for their First Communions. We see boys weaing both knee socks and ankle socks. We see both white shoes and saddle shoes which were partially white. The girls as before wore white junior wedding dresses.
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