Figure 1.--This German ad, probably from the 1970s, shows lederhosen worn by younger boys. Note the red gingham shirt this boy wears with his lederhosen. I'm not sure what the cartoon script says. A German reader tells us, "I would decipher it as 'short pants do not become you'." We don't understand why there would be a caption like that on page designed to sell Lederhosen.

This German ad, probably from the 1970s, shows lederhosen worn by younger boys. Unfortunately we only have a clipping of the full page. Note the red gingham shirt this boy wears with his lederhosen. Before World War II we never saw this, but it became a popular convention after the War. I'm not sure what the cartoon script says. A German reader tells us, "I would decipher it as 'short pants do not become you'. The German text (and that is only my interpretation): "Kurze Hosen stehen Dir nicht."" We don't understand, however, why there would be a caption like that on page designed to sell Lederhosen. Our reader writes, "You can tell from the picture that it was cut out from a larger page and I have the feeling that the cartoon is not complete. The figure seems to be addressing someone else (possibly a short, fat, old man who tried them on) who is missing from the picture." It is difficult to interpret without the entire page. A German reader explains, "The cartoon figure is grandmother Eusebia from the German comic strip "Fix & Foxi". She is stingy, ultra conservative and bakes the best cake ever in "Fuxholzen". What she says makes sense. As in a catalog fashionable things are offered and she is ultra conservative her comment is typical. Here is another picture grandmother Eusebia.

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Created: 6:54 PM 1/25/2006
Last updated: 3:15 AM 1/26/2006