Figure 1.--We note German children starting their school careers with these Zuckertüte or gift cones throughout the 20th century. Many of the portraits we have found are undated, but we can roughly estimate the date using the children's clothing. We see both studio portraits and snapshots as well as commercial post cards which I assume were were sent to the children by family members. Often the children pictured in the commercial cards were dressed in fancier clothes than children actually wore to school. I can't quite make out the German script at the bottom of the card, but it presumably is wishing a boy well on his first day of school. A reader tells us that it says, " Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum ersten Schulgang. " That translate as : Warm congratulations at your first going-to-school. We are often unsure about the authenticity of the clothing. The boy's outfit here looks a little fancy. But we have seen actual portraits with very similar outfits. Click on the imasge for an example.

Images from the early 20th century show that this was a very popular custom. I am not sure when it began. We are not positive about the chronology of these cones. The custom of giving these cones appear to have begun in the late 19th cenury, although most of our actual photographic images date from the 1920s and 30s. A good example is an unidentified boy wearing a sailor suit. Many of the photographs are undated. We note some commercial postcards, but we are often unsure about the authenticity of the clothing. The boy's outfit here looks a little fancy. But we have seen actual portraits with very similar outfits. A good example is an unidentified boy in the early 1920s. The photographic image we have begin at the turn of the 20th century. This suggests that this was when this custom began widespread. A German reader writes, "HBC uses Zuckertüte for it, a term I'm less familiar with, but it's also used. These Schultüten are common since the late 19th century, they first were hanged on Christmas trees, besides other itemsnt, later they were used as special present to sweeten the first day at school." Some of these images have been used in the German first day of school section. German readers tells us that these conens continue to be given to children on their first day of school. A German reader writes, "This custom did not end! Still every child gets his/her Schultüte to start school. I had even three of them when I began school in the mid-1980s. One was from my parents, one from grandparents and one from the kindergarden I hade to leave. I still keep two of them in the loft (attic)."

The 1900s

Images from the early 20th century show that the school gift cones were a very popular custom. We are unable to assess just how popular. We do have several images from the 1900s, although not as many as after World War I. But this may simomply reflect the fact that our archice is much larger for the period after the War. We are not sure yet just when rhis custom began. We are not positive about the chronology of these cones. The custom of giving these cones appear to have begun in the late 19th cenury. The photographic image we have begin at the turn of the 20th century. This suggests that this was when this custom began widespread. A German reader writes, "HBC uses Zuckertüte for it, a term I'm less familiar with, but it's also used. These Schultüten are common since the late 19th century, they first were hung on Christmas trees, besides other items, later they were used as special present to sweeten the first day at school."

The 1910s

We are not yet sure how common Zuckertüte were in the 1910s. We have quite a number of images we think could have been taken in the 1910s, but as they are not dated, we can not be sure that they are from the 1910s. Many may be from the early 20s. The 1910s included the World War I era. The difficult economic conditions would have reflected traditions like this. Candy in particular became hard to get. Sugar was a product Germany imported and these imports were largely cut off by the Royal Navy blockade. And the Zucker in Zuckertüte meant sugar. We do not have a lot of Zuckertute portraits during the 1910s, but we have found a few. Some of them show very small Zuckertüte. As we have relatively few portraits from the 1910s, we are not yet sure how common this was.

The 1920s

Most of our actual photographic images of Zuckertüte date from the 1920s and 30s. Most of these photographs are not dated, but we feel fairly commfortable in our ability to estimate the dates. A good example is an unidentified boy wearing a sailor suit. Many of the photographs are undated. We note some commercial postcards, but we are often unsure about the authenticity of the clothing. The boy's outfit here looks a little fancy. But we have seen actual portraits with very similar outfits. A good example is an unidentified boy in the early 1920s. The boys wear various styles. Most are dressed up in suits of varying descriptions. Sailor suits are common., Boys wear military and sailot caos with them, but no longer sailor hats.

The 1930s

We continue to see lsarge numbers of children in the 1930s with their Zuckertüten for the first day od school. The outfits they wear are more standard and modern looking than un the 1920s. But we still sdee some of the boys in the fancy suits that were more common in the 1920s. Many boys wore suits, bit not as many as in the 1920s. We see a slight;y more informal approach toi the first day of school. Sailor suits continued to be a popular choice. Most boys wore short pants outfits. The shorts were shorter than in the 1920s, butv still tended to be relatively long. They were usually with knee socks or long stockings. High-top shoes were still common, but we see some boys wearing low-cut oxfords. We also see strap shoes and to a lesser extent sandals.

The 1940s

The 1940s included both World War II and the very difficult post-World War II era when a devested Germany was occupied by the Soviet Union and the western Allies. The Germans were not at first deprived by the War. NAZI policies of exploiting occupied countries meant that food was not a first short in Germany. Sugar was another question. Again the Royal Navy blockade cut Germany off from imported sugar. We have very few Zuckertüte portraits during the 40s. We have found a few portraits during the very early 40s, but after the War turned against Germny they bcome rare. This reflects the difficult conditions, especially beginning in 1943. Of course candy was only one of the items that children looked for in their Zuckertüten, but there were other items such as small toys and school supplies. Younger German children grew up with very few sweets and no chocolate at all. This is one reason why the American flyer, the Chocolate Uncle, made such an impression on the Berlin children during the Berlin Airlift.

The 1950s

After World War II we note fewer formal studio portraits and more family snapshots. As far as we can tell the custom of gift cones ( Zuckertüte )continued to be very popular. We continue to see large numbers of First Day children with their cones and very pleased about it. One aspect of this we are not sure about is that we do not know if it continued in East Germany as well as West Germany.

The 1960s

We continue to see goodie cones in the 1960s. The number of such photographs has declined from the 1950s, but we still a few photographs. German parents seem to no longer take the kids to a photographic studio to take a portrait. We are not sure if this reflects a declining popularity of the custom or the fact that virtually every German family had a camera and took snapshots of the chilldren. Another factor may be that with these more modern years, fewer snapshots have entered into the market for old photographs. Thus it is very difficult to assess the popularity of the custom by countging the number of actual photographs we have archived. The children seem dressed a little more informally than earlier, but the scarcity of images makes it difficult to assess clothing trends with any surity. . Some boys wore Tracht such as Bavarian jackets and Lederhosen. We see some boys wearing the increasingly popular open-toe sandals. We also notice white knee socks. We no longer see long stockings, but do not notice tights.

The 1970s

The 1980s

A German reader writes, "This custom did not end! Still every child gets his/her Schultüte to start school. I had even three of them when I began school in the mid-1980s. One was from my parents, one from grandparents and one from the kindergarden I hade to leave. I still keep two of them in the loft (attic)."

First Day Portraits

Some of these images have been used in the German first day of school section. German readers tells us that the goody cones continue to be given to children on their first day of school. Many but not all of the children had Zuckertüte.

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Created: 7:51 PM 8/14/2006
Last updated: 4:45 AM 10/29/2010