French Youth Group Uniforms: Unknown Groups

Figure 1.--This French boy was photographed in 1935. While the boy clearly wears a uniform, we do not know if he is a Scout or perhaps a member of one of the youth movements of a political party. There were many such groups in the 1930s, but they were generally relatively small and not well known. Although it is not very clear, the boy here seems to be wearing "beret", a cap characteristic of the French Wolf Cub ("Louvetaux") uniform. Also note the buttons on the side of his shorts.

We have noted some French boys in uniforms that we can not readily identify. These may be small Scout groups that had destinctive uniforms of Scouts who are not wearing the correct or full uniform. They could also be a natioanalist group or one related to a political movement. There were also groups based in the different French regions. Our knowledge of these different groups except for a few of the larger ones is still quite basic. Thus we have difficulty identifying the available images of these groups. In this regard the 1930s just before World War II were a particularly turbulent period. These movements were so numerous and varied that they are now difficult to identify. There were political movements which enrolled boys, especially extreme left and right wing parties. Often their uniforms were not elaborate.

Image

The boy hear wears a beret and hat looks like a seater with his sleeves rolled up. We can not make out any badges or insignias to help identify the uniform. One interesting aspect of the boy's clothes. Note the two side buttons. A French reader explains, "These pants do not have a front fly. They open at the side and the buttons allow the wearer to adjust the waist size. A little like pants with a bridge which is how they are called in French--culotte "à pont". I wore them as a boy, but did not like them because they were inconvenient." [Cette culotte n'est pas fendue devant, elle n'a pas de braguette. Elle est fendue sur les côtés et les boutons permettent de la reserrée sur la taille. Un peu comme une culotte "à pont" J'ai porté ce genre de culotte dans mon enfance, c'était très incommode dans certaines circonstance.] The boy also wears short socks nd sandals, very common in France during the summer. One possibility is that he may be a Cub.