Figure 1.--.

We have listed here some of the major television child star or characters and how short pants were handled. There where also occassions where short pants suits figured in a single episode and were worn by a minor actor making a brief appearnce on the program. Interestingly the circumstances were almost always tht the boy in the short loants suit was a (usually spoiled rich) American boy or a (nicely behaved) European boy. I can recall ony a few episodes right now, but know there are many more examples.

Episodes

Here are some of the episodes I remember when boys other than the main character were involved.

(The) Beverley Hillbillies (TV, 1967)

"The Beverly Hillbillies" were an instant success when they first appeared in 1962 and for 2 years were the most popular program in America. This American sitcom had a rather long life. It continued tp be well received throughout the 1960s. The show was preposterous, but it had some great characters. My favorite was Mr. Drysdale. While children rarely appeared on the program, there were a few episodes when they did. I do not know the names of most of these episodes. Most were characters associated with Jethro's schooling. One of the funist was "The Little Monster"--Mr. Drysdale's nephew Milby.

Leaver It to Beaver (TV, late 1950s)

Beaver in another episode makes friends with a little Hispanic boy who wears short pants and knee socks. Eddie Haskel, Wally's omnipresent obnoxious friend, comments that it was sissy to wear shorts. (Eddie became a policeman.)

Mama's Family - US, 1987)

"Mama's Family" was a spin-off of the "Carol Burnett Show" and featured Vicki Lawrence as family matriarch, "Thelma Harper". In the episode "Child's Play", which first aired on June 26, 1987, Mama and family are asked to take care of Reverend and Mrs. Meechum's grandson, Eugene. Eugene shows up wearing a white (above the knee) short pants suit, short-sleeved light colored shirt with gray vertical stripes, white suspenders, a dark bow tie with small white stripes, and white and black saddle oxford lace up shoes. Eugene apears cherubic, but he's the proverbial "preacher's son" or in this case, grandson. Bratty and mean, he and Thelma take an instant dislike to each other. Eugene pours tabasco sauce in Thelma's soup, draws a picture in crayons on her white tablecloth, and tapes a sign reading "Caution: Wide Load" on her ample derriere. He even hogties Thelma with a rope after she falls asleep reading him a bedtime story! In the last scene when the Reverend and his wife come to collect Eugene, he appears in a short pants sailor suit, a light blue jersey, trimmed at the sleeves in medium blue, medium blue neckerchief, a light blue dickey with two parallel horizontal stripes that are coordinated with his light blue "Dixie Cup" sailor's cap, also trimmed with blue stripes, medium blue above the knee shorts, white knee socks, and the saddle oxfords. Eugene plays no favorites; he's not ready to go home with his grandparents and emphasizes his willfulness by kicking his grandpa on the leg. Well, that does it for Thelma, who takes a hold on Eugene while the Reverend delivers a spanking. Eugene also appears in one scene in short sleeved and short pants pajamas. The young actor who played Eugene was Ryan Bollman, born on August 9, 1972, in St. Louis. He would have been about 14 and a half when the episode was filmed and a very convincing spoiled brat! his is a typical example of American TV's approch to boys' costuming, especially short pants. Boys almost always wore long pants. Boys in shortswere uually portrayed as spoiled brats or foreigners. Stangely, by the 1980s it was very common for boys to war short pants, even to school.

(The) Waltons (TV, 1970s)

The Walton boys usually wore overalls, but dresses up in knickers. I remember once a German Jewish boy appeared, he was a World War II refugee from a cultured family. If I recall he wore short pants and kneesocks. This is an example of how when Eurpean boys are pictures in shorts in American television that they are often well mannered. Often American boys wearing shorts are depicted as brats and obnoxious.

Main Characters

HBC has noted several television, movie, and other media in America during the 1950s and 60s that addressed the issue of boys wearing short pants suits. Interestingly, boys did appear on American television wearing short pants during the late 1940s and early 1950s. By te mid 1950s, however, as sea-change occurred. American boys were suddenly only pictured as wearing long pants--with only a few exceptions. The Leave It to Beaver may well be the television episode that most Americans remember that addresses the issue of boys wearing short pants suits. It was not, however, the only series that addressed the topic or the only media. HBC also wonders if the impact was not more important on the parents who saw the show than the boys.

Created: October 8, 2000
Last updated: 3:23 AM 3/4/2008