Figure 1.--This shirt for 13-14 years old boy was advertised in the Dutch-language "Vrouw en Huis" ("Woman and Home") magazine during 1953. A French reader comments, "Notice that this boy's hair is parted on the right which indicates that he comes from an attentive or affluent family." HBC is not sure that this is as true for the Dutch as it was Flemish speaking boys.

HBC is uncertain at this point about conventions for hair parts (raie dans les cheveux) in Belgium. One French reader tells us that with the short hair that was common for boys in the 20th century, especilly after World War II, that the boys in France usually parted their hair on the left and the girls on the right. There was no definitive rule on this and boys could be seen with both left and right oarts. The left part for boys, however, was much more common. This convention not as strictly observed for the boys from affluent family and with especially attentive mother. One could thus see boys with part on both the left or right. Today in France this convention is completely lost. Anymore a boy could have a left part one day and a right part the next. HBC is unsure if this French convention was followed in Belgium. It is likely that it was among French-speaking boys. We do not yet know if the same was true among Dutch-speaking Flemish boys.

We assume that the boy seen here is a Flemish boy as he appears in a Dutch language Belgian magazine. We do no know at this time how the Flemish and Dutch boys generally parted their hair and if they had the same convention as Frebch boys--usually partingv their hair on the right. If so, it may well be true, as our French reader suggests, that the boy seen here in figure 1 "comes from an attentive or affluent family".

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Created: January 26, 2002
Last updated: January 26, 2002