Figure 1.--This is the Sixiéme A class at the Lycee St. Malo in 1920-21. The boys wear a military-styled uniform, mostly with short pants and kneesocks. A few boys wear sailor suits and regular suits. The boy in the lower right corner appears to be wearing a smock with a white collar and bow, the only boy in the school so dressed.

This is the Lycee de St. Malo. We have images from 1920-66. We know only alittle about the school. St. Malo is on a peninsula on the coast of Brittainy. The school was named after the town. It is clearly a Catholic school, presumably a private school. It appears to have both primary and secondary classes. We note in 1920 most of the boys wear uniforms. We are not sure if this meant that it was a military school or that the school just had a uniform with a military look. Hopefully our French readers will be able to tell us something about this school. We have images of different claasses in the school in 1920-21, 1945-46, and 1965-66. The school in 1920-21 appears to have had a school uniform, but did not rigidly enforce it. A few boys still wore the uniform in the 1940s, but it had disappaered by the 1960s.

Location

St. Malo is on a peninsula on the coast of Brittainy. The school was named after the town.

Type of School

It is clearly a Catholic school, presumably a private school. It appears to have both primary and secondary classes. We note in 1920 most of the boys wear uniforms. We are not sure if this meant that it was a military school or that the school just had a uniform with a military look. Hopefully our French readers will be able to tell us something about this school.

History

The actual name of school is "Institution St-Malo La Providence". It was apparently founded in 1802, the actual building being built in 1898. It is a catholic boarding school. The "College de Saint-Malo" was founded in 1802 (1 year after the concordat was signed between Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pious VIII in which the Catholic religion was recognized as the major religion in France) by Abott Etienne-Pierre Engerran (1742-1806). It was both an école primaire (elementary school) as a petit seminaire (prepschool for boys who wanted to become Catholic priests). It might also be that at origin the school was intended to form sailors, what could explain the type of uniform.

Uniform

The school in 1920-21 appears to have had a school uniform, but did not rigidly enforce it. A few boys still wore the uniform in the 1940s, but it had disappaered by the 1960s. One reader writs, "Yes some boys look like wearing military uniforms, but I don't think they do. The school has nothing to do with military as far as I know. The shorts and some boys wearing sailor suits make me think it was just common to wear that kind of coats or maybe it was a kind of school uniform some boys (maybe seminarists) did wear." Another reader writes, "I think that the reason that not all the boys in the early class portraits do not wear the uniform is possibly that they were day boys not boarding at the school." Reviewing the various available class photos beginning as early as 1888 up to 2001 reveals interesting trends in the modification of the pupils' clothing during more than a century. The uniform was slowly replaced by casual wear. The younger boys frequently dressed in short pants and heavy coats.

Garments

Besides the school uniform, the boys at the school wore a widerange of outfits providing a marvelous record of French boys clothes and changing fashions over time.

Chronology

We have images from the school for several different decades. For many of these years whave pictures of different grades or forms. We have images of different claasses in the school in 1920-21, 1945-46, and 1965-66.

1920-21

These photographs show the boys at Lycee St. Malo only a few years after World War I. There appears to have been 10 different grades or forms. There may have been more than one class at each grade level as there are letters after some of the class names. The grades or numdered in reverse order thus the 10 grade (Dixiéme) looks to be the entry level at about age 6. We note in 1920 most of the boys wear uniforms. We are not sure if this meant that it was a military school or that the school just had a uniform with a military look. The school in 1920-21 appears to have had a school uniform, but did not rigidly enforce it. Few of te youngest boys wear the school uniform and instead wear sailor suits and other outfits. The older the boys are the more common the uniform is. Most boys wear short pants and kneesocks with their school uniform. but this apparently was not a requirement as some boys wear knickers or long pants. There does not appear tpo have been any hair style regulation as the boys have a variety of different hair styles.

1945-46

1965-66

1970

An American reader writes, "In 1970 I was part of the Foreign study program at the Lycee St. Malo. It was a private boarding and day school. When I was there, it was during the summer break so the facility did not have any students or teachers just American students and teachers. When I attended in the summer I was unaware it was a Catholic school; though I did know it was a private school."

Created: January 15, 2002
Last updated: January 17, 2002