German 20th Century Boys' Hosiery: Chronology: The 1930s


Figure 1.--This German family snapshot was taken in 1931. Here we suspect that the boys are not from the same family. It shows that both kneesocks and long stockings were commonly worn. Note thast this appears to be a mild summer day. The boy in the center is not wearing long stockings because it is cold.

Hosiery conventions only begin to become more established in the 1930s. We still commonly see both knee socks and long stockings being worn. Here there were variations from family to family, although we also see variations within the same family. The variations were often, but not aslways age bassed. It became increasingly less common for older boys to wear long stockings. Knee socks gradually were more popular with older boys, but they might wear knickers rather than shorts during the winter. We do not commonly see ankle socks, but we are not entirely sure what kind of hosiery boys wearing long pants wore. The keesocks boys wore were normally solid colors, although we do see someboys wearing patterened knee socks or kneesocks with colored bands at the top. Long stocks were virtually all solid colors, usually light brown or grey shades. Black long stockings might be worn for formal occasions. Seasonality was another factor in the selection of hosiery. A HBC reader writes, "This is a good illustration of stocking color--the tendency of boys wearing long stockings to have beige or brown as the dominant color. Many mothers seem to have felt that boys should have their knees covered regardless of how warm the weather was--as a matter of propriety. I think this was often an issue of class, of long stockings being worn by boys from middle-class and upper-class families, or by boys whose families wanted to be so regarded."

Types

Hosiery conventions only begin to become more established in the 1930s. They were somewhat affected by the type of pants a boy woreworn. We commonly see boys wearing short pants and they wore both kneesocks and long stockings. Almost all boys wore one of these two types of hosiery. We see many boys wearing long stockings in the early 30s, but this was much less common by the late-30s. We think the Hitler Youth program was a factor here. Boys joined the Hitler Youth at age 10. We rarely see boys wearing long stockings with the Hitler Youth uniform. Almost all boys belonged to the Hitler Youth by the late 30s. We are less sure about boys wearing knickers. We rarely see boys wearing ankle socks. Nor do we any longer see three-quarter socks. We are unsure what type of hosiery boys wore with lon pants. Most younger boys wore shorts, but by the lte 30s some were wearing long pants, especially during the winter. Some of these boys wore long stockings.

Variation

Here there were variations from family to family, although we also see variations within the same family. We do not fully understand the variations. We think they were in part seasonl with chikldren having both long stockings and knee socks. Ankle siocks were less common. There were no written rules about such matters. There were popular conventions, but we see considerable variation from family to family. This included both on what was purchased for the children as well as to the degre mother decided as toallowing the childen to dcide what was worn. And the children as they go older did have preferences. You can see that in the photographic record. We seea lot of children, both boys and girls, in the 1930s rolling down their stockings especially during the summer. Social class may have been a factor. We think that long stockings may have been more common with working-class families. But we are not entirely sure about this. The variations were often, but not aslways age bassed. It became increasingly less common for older boys to wear long stockings, especially by the late 1930s. Knee socks gradually were more popular with older boys, but they might wear knickers rather than shorts during the winter. We do not commonly see ankle socks, but we are not etirely sure what kind of hosiery older boys wearing long pants had. We see very little disctive variation based on gender, at least for pre-teen school children boh boys and gurls wore long stockings. The only difference we can see is that white long stockings seem more popular for the girls. We do see boys wearing white knee ocks, but jite long stockings were more common. Basically we see children commonly wearing both knee socks and long stockings. Beginning with the teen years, long stiockings begin to be less popular with the boys. We do see teenage guirls continuing to wear long sockings. Seasonality was another factor in the selection of hosiery. It may well have been thevmajor fctor, at least with younger childen. We see long stockings being worn much more commonly during the winter.

Colors

Assessing colorsin 1930 photographs is difficult because virtually all of the images are black and white. It is possible to pick out black and hite hosiery and both colors were worn. Other colors are much more difficult. The knee socks boys wore were normally solid colors, although we do see someboys wearing patterened knee socks or kneesocks with colored bands at the top. Long stocks were virtually all solid colors. We see darl stockings in the ealy 30s, but by the late-30s, usually light brown or grey shades. Black long stockings might be worn for formal occasions. A HBC reader writes, "This is a good illustration of stocking color--the tendency of boys wearing long stockings to have beige or brown as the dominant color. Many mothers seem to have felt that boys should have their knees covered regardless of how warm the weather was--as a matter of propriety. I think this was often an issue of class, of long stockings being worn by boys from middle-class and upper-class families, or by boys whose families wanted to be so regarded." White hosiery was also worn. White was most common for girls, but boys also wore white. This was almost alwats white knee sicks. White long stockings were mostly worn by girls.





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Created: 1:02 AM 3/15/2007
Last updated: 14:45 AM 10/30/2012