Figure 1.--Most British boys in the 1950s wore short pants and kneesocks to school.The boys were photographed in 1954. There school was probably a grammar school--a academically selective secondary school.
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Figure 1.--Most British boys in the 1950s wore short pants and kneesocks to school.The boys were photographed in 1954. There school was probably a grammar school--a academically selective secondary school. |
Most boys, including quite old boys still wore short trousers in the early 1950s. They were worn for both dresswera and casual wear. Fewer boys wore short oants all year round, but they were still commonly worn in the summer. Corduroy shorts were popular for casual wear and were even adopted at some schools. Styles finally began to change by the mid-1950s. The most notable changes were the declining popularity of school caps and the a shift toward long pants suits. Many schools comtinued to require short pants school uniform. Even state secondary schools often required shorts for the junior boys. Some private schools requited then even for the older boys. Short pants suits became less and less common. While British boys commonly wore blazers and ties to school, many boys rarely dressed up for other occasions. Church attendance, for example, was much less common than in America. As a result, many boys did not have a dress up suit. Casual clothes became increasingly popular Jeans and other American styes were not common in the early 1950s, bit were increasingly worn by teen agers by the end of the decade.
A HBC reader has provided this view of boyhood in the 1950s: Close your eyes and go back in time.... Before the Internet or the Apple Mac. Before semi-automatics, joyriders and crack.... Before SEGA or Super Nintendo... Way back........ I'm talking about Hide and Seek in the park. The corner shop. Hopscotch. Butterscotch. Skipping. Handstands. Football with an old can. Fingerbobs. Beano, Twinkle.
Roly Poly. Hula Hoops, jumping the stream, building dams. The smell of the sun and fresh cut grass. Bazooka Joe bubble gum. [HBC had thought this was American.] An ice cream cone on a warm summer night from the van that plays a tune Chocolate or vanilla or strawberry or maybe Neapolitan. Wait...... Watching Saturday morning cartoons....short commercials, The Double Deckers, Road Runner, He-Man, Tiswas or Swapshop?, and Why Don't You or staying up for Star Trek. When around the corner seemed far away and going into town seemed
like going somewhere. Earwigs, wasps and bee stings. Sticky fingers. Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians, and Zorro. Climbing trees. Building igloos out of snow banks. Walking to school, no matter what the weather. Running till you were out of breath, laughing so hard that your stomach hurt. Jumping on the bed. Pillow fights. Spinning around, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for giggles. Being
tired from playing....remember that? The worst embarrassment was
being picked last for a team. Water balloons were the ultimate weapon
Football cards in the spokes transformed any bike into a motorcycle. I'm not finished just yet..... Eating raw jelly. Orange squash ice pops. Remember when... There were two types of trainers - girls and boys, and Dunlop Green Flash - and the only time you wore them at school was for "gym". You knew everyone in your street - and so did your parents. It wasn't odd to have two or three "best" friends. You didn't sleep a wink on Christmas eve. When nobody owned a pure-bred dog. When 25p was a decent allowance. When you'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny. When nearly everyone's mum was at home when the kids got there. It was
magic when dad would "remove" his thumb. When it was considered a
great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents. When any parent could discipline any kid, or feed him or use him to carry groceries and nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it. When being sent to the head's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited a misbehaving student at home. Basically, we were in fear for our lives but it wasn't because of drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs etc. Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat! - And some of us are still afraid of them!! Didn't that feel good? Just to go back and say, Yeah, I remember that! Remember when.... Decisions were made by going "Eeny-meeny- miney-mo." "Race issue" meant arguing about who ran the fastest. Money issues were handled by whoever was the banker in "Monopoly". The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was germs. And the worst thing
in your day was having to sit next to one. It was unbelievable that
British Bulldog wasn't an Olympic event. Having a weapon in school, meant being caught with a catapult. Nobody was prettier than Mum. Scrapes and bruises were kissed and made better. Taking drugs meant orange-flavoured chewable aspirin. Ice cream was considered a basic food group Getting a foot of snow was a dream come true Older siblings were the worst tormentors, but also the fiercest protectors If you can remember most or all of these, then you have LIVED.
Figure 2.--This photograph is unidentified, but we think it was taken at an English prep school in the late 1950s. |
Most boys, including quite old boys still wore short trousers in the early 1950s. They were worn for both dresswera and casual wear. Fewer boys wore short pants all year round, but they were still commonly worn in the summer. Corduroy shorts were popular for casual wear and were even adopted at some schools.
Styles finally began to change by the mid-1950s. The most notable changes were the declining popularity of school caps and the a shift toward long pants suits.
Many schools comtinued to require short pants school uniform. Even state secondary schools often required shorts for the junior boys. Some private schools requited then even for the older boys. Short pants suits became less and less common.
While British boys commonly wore blazers and ties to school, many boys rarely dressed up for other occasions. Church attendance, for example, was much less common than in America. As a result, many boys did not have a dress up suit.
Casual clothes became increasingly popular Jeans and other American styes were not common in the early 1950s, bit were increasingly worn by teen agers by the end of the decade.
English mail order catalogs offer a very useful time line on changing fashion trends.
English mail order catalogs and newspaper ads provide great detail on fashion trends. Littlewoods was the principal company selling mailorder clothing in Britain during the
1950s. Their catalog offers a wide range of boys clothing, including suits, coats, shirts,
trousers, and hosiery.
Massive Northsea floods devesrated the coat of East Anglia in 1953. The flooding occurred on January 31. As it moved southwards down the English coast, each town along the coast was flooded. The testruction was enormous. Many families were devestated. The Netherlands was even more seriosly impacted because part of the country is below sea level.
Beginning in the 1950s, HBC has much more detailed personal accounts on boyhood recollections from HBC readers. Quite a few English readers have kindly provided interesting accounts describing the clothes that they wore as boys. Many of these accounts concern school uniform, but they all include descriptions of the play and dress up clothes they wore as well as Cubs and Scout uniforms and other topics converning clothing.
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