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German children in the 1940s still wore long stockings, especially younger children in cold weather. They were also more common in less fashionable rural areas. They rapidly fell out of fashion during the 1950s. The photograph here is undated, but we suspect was taken in the 1940s. A reader writes, "I think this image may be post-World War II--perhaps, 1946 or 1947 although it could easily be as early as 1936-37 (figure 1). I base this estimate on the shorter length of the shorts and the color of the stockings, which are beige or very light tan rather than the more common medium tan or brown. The scene is obvious rural. The NAZI regime discouraged the wearing of long stockings for boys, of course, but in conservative, traditionally-minded rural areas of Germany such ideas were often ignored. The design of the halter-style suspenders for the shorts (which look hand-made) and the hightop shoes might suggest the early 1930s, however. The shorts are too short for the 1920s." After World War II, long stockings began to become less common, although we still see the in the late-40s.
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