Figure 1.--Our photographer here has not learned not to shoot into the sun, but we can still make out some of the clothing details. These brothers both wear knickers in a photograph taken about 1954. Note the heavy kneesocks they have pulled up over their knickers.

Knickers were very common in the 1920s and 30s, but by the 1940s long pants became inceasingly important. Pre-teen boys from affluent families often wore short pants. I'm less sure about French-Canadian boys who often came from low-income families. Boys that wore short pants commonly wore them with kneesocks or even long stockings. Modern Canadian fashions are today little different than American fashions, although the summer clothes, especially short pants, are somewhat less common because of the climate. Candian boys continued wearing knickerts longer than Amertican boys. Photographs sunbitted by Canadian readers show boys wearing knickers in 1955 when they were no longer worn in America.

Kneepants

HBC is not yet sure how common kneepants were in the Canada during the late 19th and early 20th century. Our archive is limited, but some available photographs suggest that they were commonly worn until replaced by knickers and short pants. We believe that the pattern was similar to Britain, but influenced by American trends, especially American mail order catalogs. We note a Montreal boy wearing kneepants with long black stockings in 1885.

Knickers

Knickers were very common in the 1920s and 30s, but by the 1940s long pants became inceasingly important. They have worn different styles of knickers. In the early 1920s, above the knee knickers were worn with both kneesocks and long stockings. By the late 1920s, below the kneeknickers and kneesocks had become more common. Candian boys continued wearing knickerts longer than American boys. Photographs subitted by Canadian readers show boys wearing knickers in 1955 when they were no longer worn in America.

Breeches

We see many Canadian boys wearing breeches. "Breeches" (known in Anglophone slang as "breeks") are a style we do not notice in either America or Britain at the time. The pants fastened below the knees like knickers but were not blousy or bloomer-like, and, instead of knitted cuffs to hold them in place, were usually fastened by buttons (usually several buttons) on the side of the lower leg. Boys wore them with knee socks, usually with turnover cuffs, but it was not unusual for boys to wear the tan long stockings that they had been wearing with shorts a year or so earlier and to turn over the tops so that they resembled knee socks. We are unsure when breeches first appeared in Canada. We notice them in the 1930s. A good example is Quebec boys in 1942. This appears to be the fashion in this photograph. The boys here in 1954 are wearing them.

Short Pants

Short pants began to appear after World war I. Conventiins were a little different than the knee pants worn before the War. Pre-teen boys from affluent families often wore short pants. I'm less sure about French-Canadian boys who often came from working-class families. Short psants seem common before World War II. Boys that wore short pants commonly wore them with kneesocks or even long stockings for formal occassions. Modern Canadian fashions are today little different than American fashions, although the summer clothesm especially short pants, are somewhat less common because of the climate. We note the same stule shorts as worn in Britain during the 1920s and 30s, but after World War II American styles become increasingly popular. As in America and Britain we rarely see Canadian boys wearing Lederhosen.

Long Pants

Canadian boys commonly wore long psants in the 19th century. After mid-century we see some younger boys wearing bloomer knickers and knee psnts. We do not see large numbers of school-age boys commonly wearing knee psants until the 1890s. Knickers became popular in the 1910s as occurred in America. For the most part only older boys wore long pants. This began to change in the 1930s as more boys began wearing long pants.

Created: September 18, 1998
Last updated: 4:18 PM 5/26/2009