Figure 1.--Here we see siblings from Valparaisdo, Indiana. They were probably photographed in the 1890s. The boy looks to be about 11 years old. |
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Boys in the America and Europe commonly wore knee pants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This was the dominant style of pants for boys in most Western countries for most of the late 19th century and the early 20th century. We have archived thousands of images from many different coutries. Many were American boys. They were very common in America in the late 19th century. More boys and we think older boys wore knee pants than in any other country. A good example is a chicago boy, Robert Mason Hamilton, in 1897. We have not yet developed many country pages on kneepants, but this is one of the many projects underway at HBC. They were commonly worn in many other countries. We note a Canadian boy in 1885.
Knee pants appeared in the mid-19th century. They were first worn by younger boys and cut rather long, often to calf level. They were very common in America during the late 19th century. More boys and we think older boys wore knee pants than in any other country. American boys began wearing knnepants after the mid-19th century. We see younger boys wearing kneepants in the 1860s, but the fashion did not become widespread for even older boys until the 1890s.
A good example is an unidentified boy from Boston, Massachusetts about 1890. Another example is a Chicago boy, Robert Mason Hamilton, in 1897. Kneepants become shorter in the 1890s, commonly cut to knee lengths.
Early kneepants were long, often cut at calf lebel. Kneepants by the 1880s began to be cut shorter and by the 90s knee level was the standard. By the 1890s even older boys were wearing knee-length knee pants. This varied, however, from family to family. Social class factors were involved. In the 1910s knickers began replacing kneepants, but kneepants were still worn in the early 1920s, but primary by younger school-age boys. American boys commonly wore knee pants with long stockings.
Belgian boys mostly wore kneepants in the late 19th century, but short pants became more common by the 1910s, and were mostly worn by Belgian boys after World War I. It is often difficult to identify the two as the first short pants were quite long. We note boys for formal occassions wearing kneepants as late as the 1930s, or at least long short pants with the ornasmental knee hem buttons.
Cnadian boys commonly wore knee pants. We note a Canadian boy in 1885. A reader writes, "YOur statement that American boys wore knee pants longer, i.e., at ages older than elsewhere, is interesting. Note the Beckett boy in Montrealng 1899, who wears knee pants into his upper teens--perhaps as old as 16. I don't think there was much difference agewise between American and Canadian boys in this respect." Yes HBC is inclined to agree with this. We were basically thinking about Europe when we made the comparison vout American knee pants.
Kneepants appeared in the mid-19th century. French boys in the late-19th century wore both kneepants and knicker-type blouced pants. Some kneepants in the mid-19th century were rather baggy, and fashionable pants might have embroidered or other decorations such as stripes. Kneepants became more trim tailored by the late-19th century and were worn without decorative trim. They were commonly worn with three-quarter socks, but long stockings might be worn in the winter.
We have relatively limited information on kneepants in Germany. We are unsure if there were any destinctive aspect of German kneepants. German boys began wearing kneepants after the mid-19th century, although HBC has little information on this period. By the late 19th century, kneepants were very common among German boys, even teenagers. We note many schoolboys wearing kneepants at the turn of the 20th century. This appears to have varried from family to family. Social class factors apparently were important. They continued to be worn through the 1910s, although short pants and knickers were becoming increasingly popular in the 1910s. We are unsure about the age conventions which apparently varied over time.
We notice Salvadoran boys wearing kneepants in the late 19th century. A good example is an unidentified Salvadoran boy, we think in the 1880s.
