Figure 1.--Most Isrealis have parents or grand parents born in Europe. This portait was taken in the 1890s, but we are not yet sure in what country it was taken. The child wears a hair now with bangs and a rather short hair cut. He appears to be wearing kneepants and long stockings. This almost certainly is a boy. We doubt if a girl would have worn kneepnts. In addition, tricycles were more common for boys than girls.

We see Isreali boys wearing a wide range of outfits. The political changes make it complicated to assess clothing styles. They affected the garments worn. The Jewish population was realtively small before the Zionist movement began to promote Jewish emigration during the late-19th century. Palestine at the time was a province of the Ottoman Empire. We do not know how Jewish boys dressed during this period. The Jewish immigrants to Palestine came mostly from Europe and thus their clothing would have reflected the popular styles in the countries from which they came. We see portraits taken in Palestine that are indistinguishable from European portraits. The only way we can tell is these wee taken in Palestine is if they are indentified. We note sailor suits and other popular European styles. Over time as the number of Jews increased and children were born in Palestine, clothing more in keeping with the local condotions developed. The Britis seized Palestine during World war I which added another fashion influence. Short pants were very common reflecting both European styles and the warm climate.

Historical Background

By the 19th century there were very few Jews living in what is now Israel. Continuing anti-semitism in Europe encouraged the growth of the Zionist movement in Europe and small numbers of Jews began to emmigrate to. Such movements, however, were limited by the Turkish control of the area. After World War I, the area became the Bitish protectorate of Palestine and Jewish emmigration from Europe increased. Thius most of the Isreali population is of European ancestry. The Europeamn emmigration casused friction with the existing Palestinian population. This led to substantial Arab support for the NAZIs in World War II. Following World War II, the British withdrew from their mandate of Palestine, and the UN partitioned the area into Arab and Jewish states, an arrangement rejected by the Arabs. Subsequently, the Israelis defeated the Arabs in a series of wars without ending the deep tensions between the two sides. The territories occupied by Israel since the 1967 war are not included in the Israel country profile, unless otherwise noted. In keeping with the framework established at the Madrid Conference in October 1991, bilateral negotiations are being conducted between Israel and Palestinian representatives (from the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip) and Israel and Syria, to achieve a permanent settlement. On April 25, 1982, Israel withdrew from the Sinai pursuant to the 1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty. Outstanding territorial and other disputes with Jordan were resolved in the October 26, 1994 Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace. On May 25, 2000, Israel withdrew unilaterally from southern Lebanon, which it had occupied since 1982.

Chronology

Almost all Isrealis are related to parents or grandparents born outside Israel. Most are Europeans, but there are also Isrealis that have come from other areas of the Diaspora, including the United States and various Middle Eastern countries. We have not been ale to find any images of Jewish boys before the Zionist sponsored emigration from Europe. The political changes make it complicated to assess clothing styles. They affected the garments worn. The Jewish population was realtively small before the Zionist movement began to promote Jewish emigration during the late-19th century. Palestine at the time was a province of the Ottoman Empire. We do not know how Jewish boys dressed during this period. The Jewish immigrants to Palestine came mostly from Europe and thus their clothing would have reflected the popular styles in the countries from which they came. We see portraits taken in Palestine that are indistinguishable from European portraits. The only way we can tell is these wee taken in Palestine is if they are indentified. We note sailor suits and other popular European styles. Conduitions were a first very primitive. Over time as the number of Jews increased and children were born in Palestine, clothing more in keeping with the local condotions developed. The British seized Palestine during World war I which added another fashion influence. Short pants were very common reflecting both European styles and the warm climate. Since the 1970s, Isreali boys have adopted the same popular styles worn in the United States and Europe.

Garments

We see Isreali boys wearing a wide range of outfits. We note many of the same styles popular in Europe which was where most of the Jewish immigrants came. We see boys wearing sailor suits and other popular styles. Many of the immigrant were from northern Europe with very cold climates. Thus the garments worn tended to change the longer the familiy lived in Israel. We see boys commonly wearing open-collar shirts. Garments like long stockings became less common. Boys after World war I were commonly wore short pants, often with ankle socks when not dressing up. Formal styles seem less popular than in Europe. Long pants became more common after the 1960s.

Created: February 23, 2002
Last updated: 1:32 AM 8/13/2008