Figure 1.--German boys in the 1950s were still commonly wearing short pants, even when it was chilly out and a jacket was needed.
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Figure 1.--German boys in the 1950s were still commonly wearing short pants, even when it was chilly out and a jacket was needed. |
This not very notable children's film does provide a good overview of the clothes West German boys were wearing in the 1950s. The film centers on a group of children so there are many scences showing the ordinary clothes worn by German boys. Movies made in Germany provide some insights into contemporary boys clothing. Because of the language barrier, these films have not been widely circulated in the United States. I know little about the movies, but they do provide useful glimpses into clothing trends.
HBC's movie consultant provided the following information on this film:
I am begining to realise that this childrens fable is one that was introduced to me quite young, I think by a smashing teacher I had at primary school who read the
book to our class a bit at a time and it left a lasting memory for me. I have since mentioned the book/film to several people over time and none of them had heard of
it whereas I had always thought it was as well known as Tom Sawyer or Winnie the Pooh. The plot is about a young boy who is sent for some reason by his parents to his grandparents house someway away alone, using a tram (street car). The original story was set in the 1920s, the German production in the 1950s. Emil was carrying a large denomination bank note pinned inside his jacket. Emil falls asleep during the journey and a thief who has noticed the boy alone
manages to pinch the money. The rest of the story is about how he manages to recover the money aided by a lot of help from many other youngsters. (The pin holes in the bank note prove that it belongs to Emil.)
There are four versions of this film: German (1931), English (1935), German (1954), and U.S. (Disney, 1964. HBC is familiar with the last two which are loosley similar. Disney, however, always takes diabolicle liberties with any film adaptation .
Figure 2.--In this pictures boys can be seen wearing patterened kneesocks, lederhosen, and suspender shorts. Many of the boys in this film were not costumed, but rather just wore their ordinary clothes. |
The most noticeable aspect of the German 1954 version is that the plot requires a hundred or more junior extras quite extensively used throughout the film and there has
been no requirement for any special costumes the kids being told when and where to turn up thus making it a pretty reliable glimps of the styles at the time
Some of the insights concerning clothing noted in the movie include:
German boys by the 1950s are no longer wearing sailor suits. This was once a style which dominated German boys clothing.
Most boys wear colored shirts of various colors and styles. A few boys wear American-looking "T"-shirts.
German boys are still commonly wearing lederhose. A few boys wear long panmts, but most wear shorts even though it is no real hot out because some boys are wearing jackets. The shorts look rather baggy. The most common colors are khaki and black shorts. Several boys wrar suspender shorts.
Few of the boys are wearing sneakers. This still seems to be a mostly American style. The boys seem to be wearing mostly leather shoes. One boy wears sandals.
Figure 3.--Most of the boys here wear short pants. One boy wears white kbeesocks. Most wear colored ankle socks. One boy is barefoot. |
None of the boys are wearing long stockings. Most wear ankle socks, usually colored ankle socks. A few wear kneesocks. One boy wears patterned kneesocks. Another boy wears white kneesocks. While some boys wear white kneesocks, few wear white ankle socks.
My Dad worked for the American Battle Monuments collection in the Netherlands after World War II. Our relatives lived in the Netherlamds. I went to school there and fondly remember the my boyhood there with my Dutch friends. I found your netsite while searching the internet for "Emil and the Detectives". I saw this movie while attending school in Maastricht the Netherlands, . We attended the movie as a class and I remember the German version as a great all-time movie.
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