Figure 1.--I think it is interesting to compare German and English boys Summer clothing-- although the boy here is older than me. He was 14 which seemed almost a man to me at the time. Notice in particular the difference in our socks and sandals.

The German boy in the family I stayed with was older than me by about 4 years. The photograph here shows how much older (and taller) he was than me. I got on a lot more with his younger cousin who lived on the same housing estate and his mates, even though we couldn't speak each other's languages. Besides football - which was common to all of us. We also got up to all the sorts of things that I was used to at home in England--and which the older boy I was staying with disaproved of - so - in short we didn't get along that well. I think it is interesting to compare German and English boys Summer clothing - although the boy here is older than me--he was 14 which seemed almost a man to me at the time.

German Boy

The German boy in the family I stayed with was older than me by about 4 years. The photographb here shows how much older (and taller) he was than me. I got on a lot more with his younger cousin who lived on the same housing estate and his mates, even though we couldn't speak each other's languages. Besides football - which was common to all of us. We also got up to all the sorts of things that I was used to at home in England--and which the older boy I was staying with disaproved of - so - in short we didn't get along that well. He was older than me--he was 14 which seemed almost a man to me at the time.

Model Airplanes and Toy Guns

reading HBC has gotten me thinking about toys/games etc. I recall there the German boys had no toy guns--quite a contrast to Britain at the time. The other point is that this German boy was into model aircraft. S was his best friend who was making one out of balsa wood . I was never into this stuff but, relating to the gun thing, in England , boys who made model aircraft would buy Airfix kits and these would be of World War II military aircraft (Spitfires, Lancasters, bombers,Flying Fortresses and the like). my brother would make them and try to hang them from the ceiling of our bedroom, which annoyed me. These German boys models (like the one in these photos) were pretty innocuous by comparison--nothing to do with war. Just another thought .... how the times and countries you live in can affect what you play with ... and wear. I believe political uniforms were banned in West Germany after the War.

Clothing Comparison

I think it is interesting to compare German and English boys Summer clothing. Here there was both this German boy and boys more my age that I played with.

Tanned Legs

Notice how well tanned the German boy's legs are in the photograph here. . It shows how he always wore shorts. When I wore short socks I remember it looked like I was wearing two pairs because my legs were white up to the knees as I rarely wore short socks. I remember thinking how funny I looked. The same at the tops of my legs as the creme shorts were shorter than my school ones. I think I also got a bit sunburnt there which was why I was glad his mum washed my school socks and shorts so I could wear them the next day.

My German Playmates

The boys I played with more, who was closer to my age, often wore lederhosen as did many of his friends. (I stayed in Southern Germany.) The German boys always wore short socks as far as I recall in various colours like shown here and a variety of shorts and shirts - some of the boys in our group wore jeans in the cooler evenings when we met up but I don't recall any of the younger German boys wearing them. The younger boys, like his cousin who I played with more and was about my age, wore rough leather lederhosen for play or denim-type shorts - but striped not blue like jeans. (I told you I changed into a pair after I refused to wear the lederhosen.)

Boy's Clothes

The boy's shorts here are similar in colour to the new ones my mum had packed for me - although mine were a lot shorter and more lightweight. He never wore long pants while I was there. His friends also all wore shorts. But it was during the Summer. I'm not sure how they dressed when the weather turned cool. He always wore clothes similar to those shown here. The German boy's sandals had hard soles (wooden I think) as I rember the racket they made on the paving stones and had just one strap so he could slip them on and off when he went in and out of the house. I'm not sure how the German boy felt about his sandals - I just thought them odd compared to mine.

Meeting the Mayor

The only time the boy I stayed with wore anything other than the type of shorts and socks shown here was the day we went to meet the mayor. That day he wore a sort of formal suit - it was a dark greenish material,quite heavy, with matching shorts but the jacket was of an odd cut. He also wore white kneesocks with that and proper shoes, like I did, but his were brown. I don't think he liked dressing up either but his mum seemed really proud that we were going to be presented to the town's mayor and fussed over us for ages that morning. I was quite pleased to see him having to do what his mum told him because I thought he'd been laughing at me the day before when his aunt was teliing about my refusing to wear his cousin's lederhosen. I thoght white socks and brown shoes were really odd - I only ever had black shoes. It was ironic that that day we met the mayor and went on a tour of the town he was dressed up in this best suit with kneesocks yet, as my "best" clothes - my school shorts and kneesocks were being washed - I wore the, to me,more casual shorts that my mum had bought me - which were similar to his shown in this photo but shorter cut and more lightweight. I suppose they looked fairly smart as they were new but his mum didn't seem a hundred percent satisfied with them. I also wore short socks that day - so the usual situation was reversed - he in long socks and me in short and neither of us was happy with it. We both wore white shirts and ties. I don't know what he normally wore out of Summer. His mum did try to get me to wear an old jacket of his - it was grey and again a heavy material with leather strips at the breast and cuffs but I made a fuss as it was itchy and too heavy so she let it go eventually but she wasn't pleased. It also buttoned up funny! I remember - sort of double buttons so once she got me into it I felt trapped in it and started to take it off.It was quite a tight fit on me so it must have been his when he was younger - unless his mum had borrowed it from his cousin for me while I was in bed. I don't know. The cousin was not in the swimming club so he didn't come to meet the mayor. I think the lederhosen his mum had tried to get me to wear were his "best" rather than the ones he normally wore and he normally seemed to wear short socks too - which is why they found me wearing my school socks in Summar odd,

Dinner

After we came in for the evening meal after his dad got home, the German boy always changed upstairs and we had a shower but he always put on clean clothes similar to those shown here, nothing formal, but I always put my same clothes back on. He also put on these slippers or "houseshoes" as they seemed to call them but I stayed in my stockinged feet. I remember those meals as they were quite formal to me and it's when they'd try to talk to me in English and teach me German - I only remember "Brot" and "Bier". Like I said the German boys drunk beer with their evening meal, but I didn't like it. A couple of times I ate lunch at his cousins and he intoduced me to a drink - Coca-Cola mixed 50-50 with Fanta orangeade which he had a name for which I forget. I asked for it back at my friends house but the German father said I should drink beer to get strong. His mum did buy in some Fanta for me specially though - they normally had Coke anyway - as well as a German brand of Lemonade which I didn't like.

Bed Time

I recall the German boy I stayed with wearing a nightshirt. At the time, it struck me as odd. As I say I never saw them in England at the time except on Christmas cards showing Victorian scenes! I don't know if this was only a Summer thing over there or whether it was a general fashion as I didn't see any of the other German boys in their nightwear. It wasn't a long white nightshirt like I'd seen in picture books we had (like one we had of nursey rhymes - "Wee Willie Winkie" or "The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe") or Scrooge wearing in "A Christmas Carol" (with those tasselled hats) on T.V. but shorter - about to the knee and striped - a bit like our pyjamas but his had single blue stripes on the white background.He just pulled it off over his head so it didn't button or anything like my pyjamas did.

Bill