Unknown German Family (1920s)


Figure 1.-- Here we have a substantial middle-class family. We would guess from the clothing which was not elegant, that they were a family in comfortable, but not affluent circumstance. Unfortunately the snapshot portrait is unidentified. Thus we do not know where they lived or their name. We would guess the photograph was taken in the 1920s.

Here we have a substantial middle-class family. We would guess from the clothing which was not elegant, that they were a family in comfortable, but not affluent circumstance. Unfortunately the snapshot portrait is unidentified. Thus we do not know where they lived or their name. We would guess the photograph was taken in the 1920s, probably the late 1920s. One reader thanks it might have been taken in the early 1930s. We would not take issue with this, but think the late 20s is more likely. There were four boys and a girl along with grandfather. The two older boys wear short pants suits with sports collars and short pants with long stockings. It does not seem to be particularly cold. So the long stockings do not seem to be worn for warmth. Here the long stockings seem to be worn more for formality. They are somewhat lighter colots than the black long stockings commonly worn before World war I. A reader writes, "The two older boys both wear long stockings. Their mother has chosen colors to match their suits. I thought at first that the younger boy has a short pants suit. It looked rather like an Eton jacket without lapels, but note that he has ticked the jacket into his waist so it appears to have been more like a heavy shirt. He has a Peter Pan collar which unlike his brothers he wears with a tie. Also unlike his older brothers, he wears kneesocks. The conventions here are interesting. By the 1920s it was becoming more common for the younger boys to wear long stockings. Axreader writes, "Notice the x or cross drawn on the boy on the left. I've seen this on a lot of photos, and suspect that it often indicates someone who has since died." We had thought that these x's in group photographs marked individuals. The way this x is made in a small group portrait may well mean that the little boy has died.









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Created: 11:38 PM 3/21/2005
Last updated: 5:09 PM 3/22/2005