Figure 1.--This boy German boys in 1933 wears long stockings with a short pants suit. We think it may have been more for formality than warmth. This does not look like a cold day. The boy is not identified. We note his age is not indicated, he looks to us to be about 15 years old.

This unidentified German boy was photographed in the backyard of the family home. We do not know where in Germany the snapshot was taken. The background suggests a small town in a rural area. The snapshot was taken during 1933 and the foliage suggest it was taken during the summer. We know nothing about the family background, but the nicely tailored suit and house pet suggest to us a middle-class rather than a farm family. The teenage boy wears a Norfolk style short pants suit. He wears a Schiller collar rather than a more formal tie. He wears long stockings rather than knee socks. We think it may have been more for formality than warmth. This does not look like a cold day. The boy is not identified. We note his age is not indicated, he looks to us to be about 15 years old.

Location

This unidentified German boy was photographed in the backyard of the family home. We do not know where in Germany the snapshot was taken. The background suggests a small town in a rural area.

Chronology

The snapshot was taken during 1933 and the foliage suggest it was taken during the summer.

Family

We know nothing about the family background, but the nicely tailored suit and house pet suggest to us a middle-class rather than a farm family.

Identity

The teenage boy here is not identified. While his age is not indicated, he looks to us to be about 15 years old. A ewader writes, "The boy here looks more like he is 16 years old to me." Yes, could be. Estimating ages is very subjective. I would guess 15, but he indeed vey well could be 16. Very hard to tell.

Clothing

The teenage boy wears a Norfolk style short pants suit. The jacket does not have the vents common in Norfolk suits, but there is a self-belt. Notice that there are buttons on the flap pocket. Also there is someyhing dangling from his lapel--I'm not dure what that was. He wears an open Schiller collar rather than a more formal tie. The short pants are cut long to the knee. He wears long stockings rather than knee socks. We think it may have been more for formality than warmth. This does not look like a cold day. They are light colored long stockings, probably either gray or tan, that coordinate well with the tweed texture and color of the suit. Light colored long stockings had begun to replace the black stockings that had been more common for older boys during the 1920s. He wears low-cut Oxford-style dress shoes, probably brown, that were beginning to replace the more common hightop style shoes of earlier periods. His age is another factor in the choice of low-cut shoes.

Haircut

This teenager has a fairly long forelock on top but closely trimmed on the sides. This hairstyle reminds one of Hitler's, and we note that the photo was taken the same year that Hitler came to power in Germany. But it is essentially a military hair cut. Perhps the boy came from a military damily. And is similar to the British short back-and-sides cut. I'm not sure what it was called in Germany. We see many Hitler Youth boys with this cut.