Figure 1.--Here we see a German boy with his traditional leather school satchel. Notice how this one has been hand tooled. He also has a first day treat cone. The image is undated, but we would guess it was taken in the late 1950s. |
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Boys over time have addressed the problem of taking their books to school in a variety of different ways. There are several different types of book bags. The most traditional one has been a leather one worn on the back. We have few portraits taken from the back, so at this time we only have limited information on the design of these bags or satchels. Interestingly, many of the boys wearing these over-the-shoulder bags also wore a smaller bag at the front. Some boys wore a belt to strap up their books. This was especially popular in America. Book bags are still popular, perhaps even more so among older boys. Today the back packs as they are often called are made out of tough synthetic fibers, often in bright colors. Bags for the younger boys might have popular cartoon characters. British boys at private schools are often seen with folding attache cases, rarely the rectangular ones.
The most traditional one has been a leather one worn on the back. We have few portraits taken from the back, so at this time we only have limited information on the design of these bags or satchels. They were very common in Europe. We notice in particulr at British, French, and German schools. These were leather bags and solidly built. Many portraits of German boys with their first day cones also show them wearing a school satchel. The time line is different in various countries. We do not seem them very much in France after worlkd War II, but were still used in Britain and Germany into the 1960s. We are unsure as to other countries in which they were worn. They would normally last a boy throughout primary school. We see fewer images of girls wearing them. A British reader tells us that they were still worn into the 1960s. And we notice them in Germany into the 1970s.
Interestingly, many of the boys wearing these over-the-shoulder bags also wore a smaller bag at the front. We are not sure what these smaller bags are for. Available photographs show them being worn at the turn of the century, but we do not yet have any chronological information. Probably they were for pens and pencils or other small items the boys used at school. We do not, however, know how common they were. We also do not have any written information mentioning these bags.
Some boys wore a belt to strap up their books. This was especially popular in America in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
British boys still commonly used the over-the-shoulder satchels into the 1960s. Then the brief case style briefly became common. British readers tell us that they were used at both state and private schools. They were much less well made and durable as the old satchel style. The style used was the folding attache cases, rarely the rectangular ones. A British reader tells us that they were much less common with girls. By the 1970s, vinyl sports bags began to replace them. These brief cases were not commonly used at American schools. I do remember some boys in high school had them in the 1950s-60s, but back packs were much more common.
We begin to seen sports bags at British schools in the late 1960s. They were first seen at secondary schools, but soon became popular at primary schools as well. There were two types. A smaller bag that could be carried over one shoulder and a larger type tha almost all boys carried by hand. We note a boy with a smaller bag in a school image. You can't see the bag, but you can see the slender strap. The boy has a sports bag with a single shoulder strap.
Book bags are still popular, perhaps even more so among older boys. Today the back packs as they are often called are made out of tough synthetic fibers, often in bright colors. Bags for the younger boys might have popular cartoon characters.
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