Boys' Jewelry--Watches: United States, 1940s


Figure 1.--This boy wore a tie to school to have his photograph taken. Like all but one of his classmates, he does not wear a wristwatch. Click on the image for a vieew of the entire class.

Types of Wrist Watvhes

Wrist watches were worn by boys in the 1940s. Children's novelty watches with cartoon characters, the Mickey Mouse watch, had appeared in the 1930s. Even so, it was relatively rare for boys to wear them. While they were not enormously expensive, they were not cheap. I'm not sure what age child that these novelty watches were aimed at or that they appealed to. Older elementary boys might not have wanted to wear novelty watches. Thus most boys did not wear them, even the novelty watches. Regular watches in boys sizes were also available, but even more expensive than the novely watches. Thus watches for boys were considered an unecessary extravagance for many families. This was especially true during the Depression era of the 1930s. It was only with the upsring in War production in 1939 and the 1940s that the Depression really ended.

Popularity

Boys liked wrist watches as they thought it was acgrown up item. They were bnot, however, a high priority item for most boys.

Wold War II

Althought I have no details, the Japanese attack on Pear Harbor on December 7, 1941, brought about a massive reordering of the American economy. It is likely that boys' wrist watches were not produced in quantity during the War years (1942-45).

Prevalence

Only one boy in this elementary school class wore a wrist watch. It looks to be a class of about 4th graders, 10-year olds. A class of 6th graders (the last year of an American elementary school) might have had more boys wearing wristvwatches. An older boy, serving as a Saftey Patrol, who is probably a 6th grader (12 year old) raises the flag, but he also does not wear a wrist watch. The children are presumably reciting the pledge of allegience. This looks to be a school in the South as the younger boys are all wearing short pants, except for one boy wearing knickers. None of the boys wear kneesocks.


Figure 2.--This is the only boy who wore a wrist watch to school. It does not look to be a novelty watch.

Gender Differences

I'm not sure about gender differences. I believe that boys more commonly wore wrist watches than girls. None of the girls in the class wear wrist watches.

Watch Practicality

One factor limiting watch purchases for bots was that the watches were not very durable. They were very easy to break, especially the crystal. They could be ruined by overwinding. This discouraged parents from buying them.






Christopher Wagner

histclo@lycosmail.com


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Created: March 23, 2000
Last updated: March 23, 2000