Let me give you some of my recollections of the clothes my
brother and I wore in the early and mid 1940's in suburban Philadelphia.
My family was mid-middle class, and I presume my experiences are not
unique or different than others of my age.
I can remember from my
earliest memories, always being dressed by my mother in nice outfits,
from one piece sunsuits and cordouroy overalls and a matching hat when I
was very young. I remember seeing pictures of my dad and his family at
the beach in the 30's, with the men wearing one piece bathing suits. But
I wore a brief style swim suit when I was young, and then a boxer type
swim suit as I got older. The only dress I ever wore as a child, was my
christening dress, which we have quite a few pictures of.
I remember when I was a tyke wearing a camel hair coat, with matching
leggings and hat, which had a little flap on it. I also had a dark blue
outer coat with sailor insignia silver buttons, and I believe a matching
cap, like a beanie.
The sunsuits I wore as a young boy had button-on pants as part of
the whole suit. The blouse and the pants matched, and the pants were
buttoned on to the blouse.
When I was older, I and my brother usually wore shirts with shorts, not
short short, but above the knee. Actually I don'y recall thinking about
clothes a lot as a boy. I wore what mom purchased for me and didn't
give to much thought to it. Didn't dislike them, didn't love them. just wore them, as the
natural order of things!
2. Do you remember any discussions of clothes with your friends,
brother, or parents?
No, I don't think I had any discussions. My mother purchased our
clothes, and we were content with them.
When I went to school in 1945, for
first grade, I would wear a white shirt with a clip on tie (!), shorts,
and knee socks. When the weather got colder, I wore
knickers with long
socks, and also a navy blue beanie cap. I think I didn't wear long pants
until maybe the third grade. Some boys in my class in first and second
grade wore shorts, some knickers, and some long pants. At First
Communion time, in the second grade, we wore white cotton in a choice of
these, shorts, knickers, or pants. I wore white shorts, with a white
jacket, white shirt and white tie, and white knee socks with white
shoes.
I can remember that I and my brother went to a photographer's studio in
a department store, to have our pictures taken in our matching
During the summers, we would wear blouses and shorts. No t-shirts of
course. I remember we wore athletic t-shirts and white briefs, but I
never recall wearing the athletic t-shirt by itself, even when it was
hot. Sometimes, we might might go topless, but not too often.
I think looking back now that I remember mostly the different blouses
that I wore, that kids today, with their omnipresent sweatshirts,
wouldn't wear. They were I imagine cotton, of different patterns and
colors, always starched, even in the summertime. Our short pants were
somewhere in length between European short shorts and the knee length
shorts we wore as we got older, eight or nine or so. In the summer, I
remember the shorts were sometimes made of
seersucker.
I was a Cub Scout for several years. In fact, my mom was our Den
Mother, and my Dad was also active in the Cubs. Sometimes we wore short
pants, and sometimes long pants. The short pants were longer than short
short, but shorter than knee pants. We of course wore the blue shirts
with the yellow bandana around our necks, with a holder to keep it in
place. We had a patch on our arm to show our Pack Number.
When I was younger I wore sunsuits in summer, with short
cotton pants, then when I was older I had a wool suit with short wool
pants, and a wool suit with knickers. Then a suit with long pants, but I
don't recall when I had my first suit with long pants. I think it was
actually a jacket with flannel pants, not an actual suit.
I do not remember the time we switched to wearing long pants. But since
it was not a big deal, I probably don't recall it. Even when we wore
long pants in the winter, we still wore shorts in the summer. We did
not wear any
http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/canterbury/28/jean.html">denim jeans
until maybe about the time I was eight or
nine. Denim then though was rather stiff, not like the soft jeans of
today. We would sometimes wear wool plaid shirts with the denims, I
imagine to identify with our cowboy heros, Roy Rodgers for me, Hopalong
Cassidy for my brother! Complete with cap guns!
Switching to long pants didn't seem to be much of a deal
for me, so it is hard for me to remember when I first wore long pants.
But there was nothing special about them. Since my brother is two years
younger than I, and I and my classmates were probably the last ones to
wear shorts and knickers to school, it is possible that he wore long
pants at an earlier age than I did. Whether we both switched at the same
time, it is possible, but since it was not a big thing, I don't remember
if we did at the same time or not.
I have a photo (or my brother has it, and he can't locate our family
photos!) of my confirmation in I believe the third grade, and I was
wearing wool knickers in the photo. I also had a nice patterned wool
suit with knickers. About the same time. 1947 or so.
I don't recall one iota of conversation along these lines. We wore
whatever our mothers bought us. There was a choice to wear either
shorts, knickers or pants. I don't recall any feelings among us boys
that one was preferable or "older" than the others. I know some of us
wore white shorts, while others white knickers, and others long white
pants. All with a matching white jacket.
About this time, in the winter, we also wore pea jackets, with cordouroy
pants. We were quite fond of our pea jackets, and wore them to school,
shopping, ice skating, to building a snowman in the yard! Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
Summer wear
Cub Scouts
Suits
Long pants
First communion
Winter wear
Jack Preston
Christopher Wagner
[School uniforms]
[Ring bearer/page costumes]
[First communion]
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Created: January 12, 1999
Last updated: January 12, 1999