Tthe great change in American boys clothes was a silent revolution. Knickers disappeared in the 1940's. I was born in 1944 and never saw a kid wearing them--except in comic strips. And by 1950 almost no boys over the age of maybe seven would be caught dead in shorts. But, unlike the changes in boys' hair styles, the Greaser look in the 1950's. The hippie look in the 1960's, very little was made of it.

Knickers

Knickers disappeared in the 1940's. I was born in 1944 and never saw a kid wearing them--except in comic strips.

Short Pants

By 1950 almost no boys over the age of maybe seven would be caught dead in shorts.

Hair Styles

Unlike the changes in boys' hair styles, the Greaser look in the '50's. The hippie look in the '60's, very little was made of it.

Contrast with England

There are basic differences in the perception of short pants in the U.S. and England. In AMerica short haircuts were de rigor. Schools did not insist, for the most part, on short pants--in fact many schools required long pants. In England it seemed to be the opposite. Compulsory shorts, not compulsory crew cuts was the big issue.

American Schools

There were a few American schools that required short pants, byrt they were not common. Their rarity demonstrates just how pervasive long pants were by the mid-1950s in America. Let me illustrate with two documents describing social mores in the U.S. in the late '50's early '60's. Reading these makes it all the more remarkable that on a recent Sunday afternoon on the streets of a major American city fully half the males of all ages and persuasions were in short pants.

Catholic school

A Catholic school is described in the novel, Minions of the Moon published in 1999. The narrator has been sent to a Catholic military school for disciplinary reasons. "Summer term was a black hole, punishment detail. The summer uniform featured khaki shorts. In 1961 being a teenager was defined by jeans, black chinos, pegged pants. The only guys between six and thirty who wore shorts were dorks ...."

"The second week of June, Uncle Bob deposited me at the Park Square Bus Terminal. He looked as amused as a lawyer ever gets at my public depantsing. I tried to hide my bare knees with my luggage as he drove away. A car full of kids came by. They honked and when I looked their way, they [made a rude gesture]. With my boy scout pants and mandatory crew cut, I was a scary and disgusting sight, a tamed teen who had lost control over his life."

St James School

The other example is from a discription of St. James school which existed in the later 1950s in in Connecticutt. "Shorts were also mandatory most of the years for all but the top upper-class men. Old fashioned knickers and high laced boots were allowed in winter. Day students who had to walk any distance were particularly embarrassed by the attire. Boarders who had earned a rare weekend home were especially challenged not to have to arrive bare-kneed before whistling and finger-pointing peers... . A photo from 1957 showed three St. James teenagers at a town-sponsored event. Wearing dress-shirts and ties with their shorts and knee-socks the trio look the acme of acute self-consciousness ...."

Created: September 29, 2000
Last updated: September 29, 2000