Figure 1.--This Polish television show depicted boys playing on a boat orbarge. It appears to be a clip from a movie, but we do not know the title of the film. One boys wears the short cut shorts that became common during the 1950s.

Historical Background

Russian "liberation" resulted in the reserection of an independent Poland. The border was pushed far to the west. Territory adquired by the Soviets in the east was replaced by former German Silessia and other territories in the East. Millions of people were forcibly moved, the Poles by the Soviets in the east and the Getrmans by the Poles in the west.

A provisional government was set up under Soviet auspices. Government-controlled elections in 1947 ensured that the Communists could seize full control, and in 1952 Poland became a People's Republic on the Soviet model. The following years were a cycle of Soviet mandated supression followed by brief periods of relaxation. The Russians did all they could to recast Poland in the Soviet mold. The Church and the strength of Polish nationalism made this difficult from the start. It was eventually Poland, spearheaded by the Solidarity movement, that led to the unraveling of Russia's Eastern European Empire in the 1980s and eventually the Soviet Union itself.

Figure 2.--Many boy in the cooler weather continued wearing short pants, but might wear them with long stockings and later tights.

Clothing Trends

I have few details so far on Polish clothing trends. Some basic information, however, is available. As in Western Europe there appears to have been a major shift in clothing styles in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Post War era (1945-70)

Poland was desvestated by World War II and the organized NAZI plunder of the country. No country suffered more. In addition to the horendous lost of life, the economy was devestated. Factories were in ruin and few jobs existed. Families were separated. Conditions were very poor after the war as so much of the country had been damaged. Millions of Poles were packed into boxed cars and shipped west by the Russians. The Poles inturn expelled Germans.

Figure 3.--Many boy in the cooler weather continued wearing short pants, but might wear them with long stockings or tights.

Parenrs had little money to buy clothes and thus could not afford stylish clothes even if the wanted to do so. In addition, the new political regime affected clothing styles. The Soviet controlled Communist Government distrusted people from weatly bourgeois families. People were sent to concentration camps on the merest suspicions. Thus it was not wise to dress children in stylish suits drawing attention to the family.

Boys commonly wore short pants. The style was for quite short cut shorts in the 1940s and 50s. Many boys in the difficult years follow the War wore their clothes even after they had grown out of them. Thus quite old boys in the 1940s and early 1950s were wearing short pants--even short pants suits. Kinckers went out of style and were rarely seen afterthe late 1940s. Even older boys wore shorts through the 1950s and into the 1960s. Little boys might wear short pants even during the cold winter months. The idea apparently was that short pants were boys clothes--not seasonal attire.

Figure 4.--Polish boys commonly wore long over the knee stockings and tights in the 1950s. They were eventually replaced with tights, but HBC is unsure of the precise chronology. We believe that tights began to replave long stockings probably about 1970.

The long stockings that boys had worn during the winter were replaced by tights by the early 1950s, but by the 1960s were becoming less common for boys, although girls still wore them. The sandals that boys had often worn before the War disappeared. Boys wore canvas shoes for play, but leather shoes for school or special occasions

Later Era (1970-89)

Even the Iron Curtain, however, could not keep out poweful lure of western fashion. Many observers believe that the alure of western consumerism was the principal reason for the fall of Communist Governments in Poland and other Eastern European countries. Boys clothes began to change in the 1960s and older boys by the 1970s were no longer wearing shorts. Gradually blue jeans became the fashion of choice, although for many years they were mostly worn by teenagers and were enormously expensive.

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Last updated: March 15, 1998
Last updated: January 30, 2002