Figure 1.--German boys after World War I, especially in the 1930s, began to look in long stockings as for little boys or girls. Older boys, however, might still wear them for formal occassions or in cold weather. Here a portrait taken in the 1920s shows the little boy wears socks while the ilder boy who looks about 11 years old wear long stockings. He wears them with a rather formal looking sailor suit with a watch fob--or for a boy that age perhaps a whistle. I believe the childreb were from Köningsberg in East Prussia (Königsberg, Preußen) which is now Kaliningrad.

Almost all German boys at age 11 wore long syockings before World War I. After the War it was more mixed. We see some 11 years old wearing kneesocks and others long stockings. It became to an extent seasonal. Another factor was formality. This produced some curious portraits and snapshots. After World War I we see long stocking becoming gradually associated with younger boys, yet for formal occassions even older boys might wear them. They alsp become increasingly seasonal. We note two brothers wearing long stockings in the 1920s. They look to be about 8 and 11 years of age. We notice a 1930s classroom with children who look about 11 or 12 years old. About half the boys seem to be wearing long stockings. We note an East German boy in a tree. He looks to be about 11 years old. We see a German boy dressed for First Communion at about age 11 in 1932. The younger boy wearing suspender shorts and ankle socks seems to be wearing a Leibchen for long stockings under his clothes. Notice the two little white tabs at the hem of the shorts which are peeping out when the boy is in a sitting position. I think these little white projections may be there for attaching to the tops of long stockings when the boy is not wearing short socks. We notice something similar in another photo of a German boy at the zoo whose Leibchen strap is also showing under shorts, presumably because he was wearing long stockings earlier in the day or will switch to long stockings in the evening when it gets cooler. Apparently German boys sometimes changed back and forth from long stockings to knee socks or ankle socks during the day so that when they were getting dressed they would put on the Leibchen in case they later changed from, or to, long stockings on a given day. This custom would allow for greater flexibility at different periods of the same day and would not require a boy to remove his outer clothes when he changed from one style to the other. The white underwear that shows underneath the shorts may have loops or buttonholes on it so that buttons sewn onto long stockings can be attached. It would be interesting to know if our German readers have any insights to offer.