Figure 1.--Here we see two French Canadian boys in a family snapshot taken duriung World War bII about 1944. Both boys who look to be about 4-7 years old wear short pants for the Summer, one with a striped T-shirt, the other with a collared shirt. The clothing is indistinguible from American styles.

Canadian boys in the inter-war period wore varied styles, including short pants, knickers, and long pants. Reflecting the English and French influence, short pants were worn by some boys, but not nearly as commonly as in Europe--probably due to the severe winters. The primary pants styles, as in America was knickers. One view of the 1920s can be seen in the French Canadian family photographed in 1926. Knickers were widely worm, but had begun to decline on popularity by the late 1930s. Canadian catalogs provide useful information on available clothing styles in the 1920s. A Canadian reader recalls wearing T-shirts and short pants during the Summer. He also had short pants suits which he wore with both kneesocks as well as long stockings. A reader writes, "You can see myself at left and my older brother with whom I was always fighting. A cousin is seated. She is like a concentration camp inmate but she was only anorexic. If you look closely you will see that under my T-shirt, I wear suspenders for holding up my short pants. During the autum, my mother added garters to the waist belt connected with the suspender for long stockings and during the winter I wore longjohns under the stockings. It was an outfit nearly the same as my father and my grandfather wore when kids. But I was at the end of this chain because 10 years after kids like me began to wear breeches at 6 and long pants at 10-11."

The 1920s

We have some limited information about the 1920s. We suspect that trends were similar to American styles. One view of the 1920s can be seen in the French Canadian family photographed in 1926. Knickers were widely worn, but had begun to decline inn popularity by the late 1930s. Canadian catalogs provide useful information on available clothing styles in the 1920s. We note that long stockings were still very common in the 1920s and not just in the winter. We note a 1929 snapshot in which girls are wearing light-coloref long stockings during the summer. A decade earlier, black long stockings were more common. The boy with them is wearing short pants and ankle socks.

The 1930s

The Early-1940s (1940-45)

Here we see two French Canadian boys in a family snapshot taken during World War II about 1944 (figure 1). Both boys who look to be about 4-7 years old wear short pants for the Summer, one with a striped T-shirt, the other with a collared shirt. The clothing is indistinguible from American styles. A Canadian reader recalls wearing T-shirts and short pants during the Summer. He also had short pants suits which he wore with both knees socks as well as long stockings. A reader writes, "You can see myself at left and my older brother with whom I was always fighting. A cousin is seated. She is like a conentration camp inmate but she was only anorexic. If you look closely you will see that under my T-shirt, I wear suspenders for holding up my short pants. During the autum, my mother added garters to the waist belt connected with the suspender for long stockings and during the winter I wore longjohns under the stockings. It was an outfit nearly the same as my father and my grandfather wore when kids. But I was at the end of this chain because 10 years after kids like me began to wear breeches at 6 and long pants at 10-11."

Created: 3:26 AM 5/30/2005
Last updated: 5:38 AM 4/11/2021