Long Stocking Social Class Connotations: Countries--United States

long stockings Eton collar
Figure 1.--This Boston boy had his portrait taken at the turn of the 20th century. He looks to us like he was from a Bramin Protestant rather than an Irish Catholic family. Notice the Eton collar. We do not notice any social class connotations with long stockings in the 19th century, almost all American children wore them. We do begin to notice differences after World war I when boys began wearing short pants with knee socks.

We are not sure at this tome about socil class connotations with long stockings in America. A German reader writes, "I assume that in North America that short pants with long stockings were worn more by affluent children than working class children." HBC is not sure that this was the case. One complication is not so many American boys wore short pants. Many boys did wear knickers and in the 1920s they were commonly worn with long stockings. This includes both children from affluent and working-class families. Boys in the 1930s more commonly wore knickers with knee socks, but I don't notice a social class factor here. It is true that boys from affluent families were more likely to wear short pants suits than boys from working=class families, but we see knee socks most commonly being worn with short pants suits. Here the fashion influence I think was Britain where boys mostly wore knee socks rather than long stockings. We have seen boys wearing long stockings and short pants suits, but this was often Catholic boys involved with some kind of church event. Here there was also a social class aspect in that most American Catholics were working class before World War II.

Knickers

One complication is not so many American boys wore short pants as was the case in Europe. Many boys did wear knickers and in the 1920s they were commonly worn with long stockings. This includes both children from affluent and working-class families. Boys in the 1930s more commonly wore knickers with knee socks, but I don't notice a social class factor here.

Short Pants: British Influence

It is true that boys from affluent families were more likely to wear short pants suits than boys from working-class families, but we see knee socks most commonly being worn with short pants suits. Here the fashion influence I think was Britain where boys mostly wore knee socks rather than long stockings. Long stockings with short pants were quite common in Germany, but in Britain most boys wore knee socks. We do notice British girls wearing long stockings, but they were not very common for boys. This I believe affected American fashions. The American upper-class was strongly influenced by British fashion. This was especially the case for men and boy's fashion. This British influence probably affected attitudes toward lon stockings among the upper class.

Church Events

We have seen boys wearing long stockings and short pants suits, but this was often Catholic boys involved with some kind of church event. Here there was also a social class aspect in that most American Catholics were working class before World War II.

Catholic Working Class

There appears to have been a strong preference for long stockings among many Catholic families, but this is a trend that needs to be confirmed. We think this was not as pronounced among the Irish and Italians. We are not entirely sure as to the reason for the Catholic preferences. Religion may have been a factor because long stockings were considered more modest. Here the primary concern was with girls. Another factor is that many Catholics were immigrant families from countries where long stockings were commonly worn. And because these Catholic immigrants mostly entered the American working class, there may have been were social class conotations to long stockings.

Personal Experience

A reader writes, "My family was Episcopal, not Roman Catholic, but the two churches (especially the Anglo-Catholic wing of the Episcopal Church) were liturgically quite similar in those days and went in for conservative dress for boys. I was an altar boy (an acolyte), and when we were serving at Mass we had to wear black shoes. I think my altar boy buddies often wore long stockings under their cassocks although it wasn't exactly a requirement. Many of the elite boarding schools in the eastern United States were associated with Anglicanism, although these schools did not typically have uniforms or insist on long stockings. Some of the boys I knew who wore long stockings were indeed Catholic and went to parochial primary schools where discipline (including dress) was probably stricter. Also Pittsburgh was a city with a great many central European families (Polish, Slovenian, German, Russian, Hungarian, Czech, etc.) who came from cultures where long stockings and short trousers were common. Even in Pittsburgh, long stockings for older boys were a minority style, regardless of class, so I suppose it comes down to what individual mothers preferred and what they considered appropriate. We used to go to Boston, New Hampshire, and Maine quite a bit, and one also saw some boys wearing short trousers with long stockings there, especially in autumn and winter. But the custom, as I recall, was not all that common at the time. I am guessing that it was more common earlier. After World war II (1945), however, all this changed radically. Both shorts with long stockings and knickers with knee socks disappeared quickly. Canada, especially French Canada, was slower to change I think. I think my mother's attitude to wearing long stockings was partly class-based although I can't be absolutely sure of that. I would say it came in the same category as ladies wearing white gloves to go shopping, which was an upper-class or at least upper-middle-class thing. But boys from less affluent families than mine also wore long stockings so I think class was only one factor out of several. Ethnic background, religion, and general conservatism were also partly responsible, I suspect. "






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Created: 12:36 AM 6/3/2007
Last updated: 4:47 PM 6/4/2007