Figure 1.-- Here we see a family porrtrait in 1922 when Rosmarie first arrived, a beautiful little Christmas present for the whole family. |
|
Album1900 has prepared a lovely collection of images of a Germasn family in the 1920s. The collection focused on a new baby--Rosemarie. As Rosmarie groiws up we see her brother, parents, extended family and friends. Album1900 tells us, "Rosmarie's Album invites us to a journey through the 1920ies. The Album is filled with about 160 pictures and lovely poems written probably by her Mum. About 60 of these pictures were chosen to be presented in this exhibition. The album tells us that Rosmarie was probably born in Dezember 1922 somewhere in southern Germany, maybe in the Bavarian town Hof. We can see Rosmarie growing up starting with pictures from Christmas 1922. The journey ends with a picture from Christmas 1929. So we get an idea about family life, toys, fashion, holiday and much more of a time 80 years ago."
Album 1900 provides a wonder view of a little girl, Rosmarie, growing up in the 1920s with her close knit family. It is fascinating to watch her grow up. We not only see Rosmarie but her parents, sibling, grandparents, uncles and aunts, and family friends. These images provide a wonderful view not only of children's clothes in the 1920s, but family life as well. It is a very valuable historical document.
While Album1900 has a wonderful collection of photographs, there is little documentary information available on the family. We do not know the family name. Nor do we know the names of her brothers and sisters. In fact we are not sure that the other children shown are in fact siblings. The posing of the photographs and the frequency of appearance suggest that Rosmarie had two brothers and a sister quite a bit older than she was. Here we see what we thought to be a family portrait in 1922 when Rosmarie first arrived. This is another Christmas scene, and Rosmarie is a beautiful little Christmas present for the whole family (figure 1). The family is peering into the baby carriage which contains his newborn sister. Here Rosmarie younger brother is about 12 years old. He wears knee pants here, a sweater, and long black stockings. Note the typical hightop shoes. Album1900 tells us that the children might not be brothers and sisters. She writes, "The father looks quite old and the mother so young. There
are these rather grown up brothers (so I don't think that the young mother is their mother). A possibility might be that the father is a widower and he married again. The boys are from the first marriage and Rosmarie is from the second marriage and the half-sister of the boys. Well, just one idea."
Rosmarie's younger older brother was about 12 years older than she was. He appears in several of the family snapshots with his little sister. The snapshot here shows a German family scene in 1923. Rosmarie's brother is sitting on the floor in front of the Christmas tree is wearing a singlebreasted short pants suits with what look like dark brown long stockings. German boys in the 1920s wore long short pants, similar to the kneepants commonly worn before World war I (1914-18). Both boys and girls wore long stockings like the boy here. In the early 1920s, black long stockings were still common. Rosemarie's brother seems to be about 12 or 13 years old. The boy's suit coat seems a little tight. I wonder if he is outgrowing his suit. Perhaps he is just a bit plump. It is interesting that he wears a regular shirt and tie with his suit even in what today would be somewhat informal circumstances. I suppose this was quite typical dress for Germany in 1923. In this case the family seems dressed up for the family Christmas celebration.
HBC
|
Album1900
|
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[Essays]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Satellites]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Belgin pages:
[Return to the Main German family page]
[Return to the Main German page]
[German choirs]
[German movies]
[German royals]
[German schools]
[German military schools]
[German youth groups]
[String ties]
[H-bar shorts]
