Figure 1.--Here we see a class in San Francisco during 1949. It looks looks like a 1st grade class. Notice the approach to suspension. We see bib-front pants and lots of clip-on suspenders. We suspect that some of the boys wearing sweaters have clip-on suspenders underneath. Also notice the girls suspender skirt. The other girls are mostly wearing dresses, although the sweaters complicate assessing this.

We know much more about the 20th century. Nit bobnkyndo we havemany more photographs, but photography thanks to the Kodak Brownie and similar camera no longer primarily limited to the photographic studio. Younger boys at the the turn of the 20th century wore knee pants or knickers with blouses. We note suspenders rather than belts in the early 20th century. Trousers comminly knee pants (1900s), but were mostly knickers (1910s). In the early 20th century boys pants were still not made commonly made with belt loops. Belt loops were becoming common (1910s). We see them with suits offered by Sears (1910). We note rural bots wearing nib-front overalls. Belts were becoming standard after Word War I in the 1920s. We note button-on styles being worn by younger boys very commonly during the 1920s-40s. Younger boys began wearing bib-front overalls. Suspenders continued to be worn through the mid-20th century, but by the 1930s had become elastisised clip on sispenders. Suspender pants in various forms were worn in the mid-20th century, but were not as common as in Europe. Shortalls were quite popular for younger boys at mid-century. After World War II boys mostly wore belts, although we see some pre-teen boys wearing suspenders. This was mist coimmon with the yiunger primary school boys. Suspenders have never disappeared, but belts are by far the dominant type of trouser suspension for boys. There were also elastisied pants, commonly casual short pants. This included partially elasticized pants. Girls had similar issues with skirts which were much more cpmmon in the 230tyh centurty. We see hirls wearing sisdpender skirts, but not the clip on suspenders that boys commonly wore.

Created: 11:34 PM 11/16/2021
Last updated: 11:34 PM 11/16/2021