Figure 1.--Here is a color photo from 1939 from a family album. It is rare color photograoh showing the girl wearing chocolalte-colored long stockings. The color photograph shows the actual shade. The tan and light-brown colors, however, were more common. She is a farm girl pictured with her doll. She seems to be about 8 years old. She is wearing long brown cotton stockings with supporters. The photo also illustrates nicely the longer length of long stockings in the late 1930s and early 1940s when children wore quite short dresses and short pants. Notice also the print dress and the cardigan sweater.

Various shades of tan and brown replaced black as the dominant colors. There were quite a number of these shades which are a little difficult to assess, but the light brown or tan shades seem the most common. These were colors that were similar to flesh tones. We see some darker brown colors like chocolate, but the lighter colors seem nore common. In 1930, for instance, we already see boys wearing brown long stockings with their knickers rather than black. Younger boys are seen wearing the new patterned hosiery with short pants (striped and checked stockings). But, as noted above, the patterned stockings seem to have gone out of fashion fairly quickly. Considerable details are available in the Sears 1931 catalog. In 1931 tan stockings dominated the catalog ads for full length hosiery for children. Camel, French tan gray, dark brown, and white were the choices (in addition to black), but only one grade of stocking came in black, whereas several grades had the lighter colors. The same trend is also notable in 1936. Now a new color called "French nude" (flesh color) is being offered along with French tan, camel, white, dark brown, brown. The photographic record mostly shows children wearing these light brown shades. A good example is the Barad twins in 1931. Black could still be had, but is clearly in the minority. Mosdt photograophs we note of boys wearing long stockings during the 1930s are younger boys and the almost alwats are wearing light-brown/tan colored stockings. A good example is a 1934 nursery school. We also see somewhat older children in primary chools wearing tan long stockings. An examole is the Perkins School in 1934. Another indication of the change in color preference is the garter waists ads of the mid-1930s. Wards garter waists for 1936 show the boys and girls wearing only the tan or light-colored long stockings with their supporters. This is also true for the 1937 garter waist ads. Sears showed one boy wearing Sears "Dandy" garter waist with black stockings, but in its more typical ad for garter waists the same year (Sears Suspenders and Stocking Supporters, 1939), the two boys in the illustration are both wearing tan long stockings--now the commonly worn color.

Created: 8:44 PM 10/29/2005
Last updated: 8:44 PM 10/29/2005