Figure 1.--.

Short hair had become standard for boys in the 1930s. Most available images how boys with short hair. Some younger pre-school boys might have curls, but short hair was much more common even for little boys. The boys that did have curls most had natural curls. A few boys may have still have had their hair curled. The curls would have at most been of ear length and not done in ringlets as at the turn of the century. As always, however, there were difference from family to family. We have, however, very limited information.

A HBC reader writes. "As 4-5 years old boy in the early 1930s, my hair was curled by my mother with a hot iron curler. I have no informaton about other boys, but I donīt think it was very common. I don't know how to explain in precisely in professional hair dressing ternms, but my hair was plain at the top and curled at the lower curled with waves. My hair was done to the half neck, sometimes almost down to shoulders. It was not done this way for special occassiins, but this is how I ore my hair all the time. My clothes might in clude some kind of a tunic and knee-breeches well over the knee. Long stockings fastened with suspenders to a so-called Liberty bodice front-fastened with buttons. These bodices were once common and used both by girls and boys wearing long stockings. My curls and these Liberty bodices came to an abrupt end when I started school in 1936. But still I very well remember my long stockings and the bodice! I donīt actually remember but when people looks at a photo of me from 1932 or 1933 they say: 'you look like a girl'. Maybe my mother wanted it that way--I donīt exactly know."

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Created: September 23, 2002
Last edited: September 23, 2002