Figure 1.--We believe that German boys in the 20th century commonly eore brown long stockings. We are not sure what kind of pajnts the boy here is wearing, but we think the stockings were a kind of mid-brown. The photograph is undated, bu we believe was taken in the early-1920s. At about this time we begin to see various shades of light-brown being worn. He looks to be about 13 years old.

HBC has a much larger collection of 20th century than 19th century images, both portraits and snapshots. As a result, we are able to assess both German casual and formal wear in great detail throughout the century. German children began commonly wearing socks in the 1890s and even more so after the turn-of-the 20th century. Long stockings did not disappear in the 20th century, but became increasingly seasonal wear. That is not to say that long stockings became exclisively cold weather wear, but it is the case that they became less commonly worn during the summer and very common during the winter. Color trends for long stockings do not seem to have changes significantly in the early-20th century. We do, however, begin to see changes after World War I in the 20th century. We begin to see children wearing lighter shades. Some are lihjt, but clearly not white. Some were apparently grey, but the tan/beige shades seem to have been the most common of these light shades. Now that it was acceptable to wear short pants with socks, these shades were no longer seen as immodest. We do not know yet precisely how this trend developed in the 1920s, but it was clearly in place by the mid-1920s and 30s. They became the most common shade for casual and school wear. White or black might be worn for formal events. By the 1930s, dark long stockings were much less common. And we do not see many dark stickings except for formal events. As long stockings went out of fashion in the 1950s, it was these tan shades that were being worn.

The 1900s

German children began commonly wearing socks in the 1890s and even more so after the turn-of-the 20th century. Long stockings did not disappear in the 20th century, but became increasingly seasonal wear. That is not to say that long stockings became exclisively cold weather wear, but it is the case that they became less commonly worn during the summer and very common during the winter. Color trends for long stockings do not seem to have changes significantly in the early-20th century. A German reader who collects old photograph reports, "I can't remember having seen these tan stockings in earlier years than the 1920s-30s. They seem to have suddenly appeared in the 1920s.

The 1910s

As was the case in the 1900s, We do not see German children wearing the ligh-brown shades of long stockings during the during the 1910s. Our archive of 1900s and 1910s images is exensive, as a result, we believe the photographic record we and readers have compioled is a very accurate reflection of sctual trends.

The 1920s

We do, however, begin to see changes after World War I in the 20th century. We begin to see children wearing lighter shades. Some are light, but clearly not white. Some were apparently grey, but the tan/beige shades seem to have been the most common of these light shades. Now that it was acceptable to wear short pants with socks, these shades were no longer seen as immodest. We do not know yet precisely how this trend developed in the 1920s, but it was clearly in place by the mid-1920s and 30s. They became the most common shade for casual and school wear. White or black might be worn for formal events. Larger numbers of relevant images are archived on HBC. We see a rather elegant German boy sitting in a chair with his very long tan stockings at some point in the 1920s. A more relaxed boy, also from the 1920s, kicks a ball with his sister, both of them wearing neutral colored, light tan long stockings. We see a a younger primary boy dressed for his first communion with very light beige stockings, probably at some point during the 1920s. Another boy wears white long stockings. A rather grim scene in Berlin, from a 1920 photo, shows us only the legs of an older boy observing a displaced girl playing in the gutter, but the boy is clearly wearing beige long stockings. In the later-1920s we see a German schoolboy, probably standing before his own front door, wearing sturdy cotton light tan stockings on his first day during the same decade. A German boy, sitting on pillows in what looks like the derivative of a Lord Fauntleroy suit, is almost certainly accoutered in long light tan stockings as a substitute for the more old-fashioned black or white ones. A German family portrait shows us two middle-class brothers in short- trousers suits wearing long stockings for the occasion. The stockings of the older boy are pretty clearly tan while his younger brother wears a darker shade of tan or light brown. We see a first-day schoolboy in 1927 wearing beige long stockings that look almost white, although at least one reader has judged them to be white. A 1929 class at Hermsdorf School shows several boys wearing the new beige or light tan hosiery. We also note two German brothers in 1929, photographed with their model railroad, both wearing tan long stockings with sailor suits. And we have two German boys playing with a hobby horse during the later 1920s. They both wear heavy, light-colored woolen stockings of two different shades. The boy riding the horse could have either light gray or light tan stockings, but the boy who is standing beside him seems to have on dark tan hosiery.

The 1930s

Beige and both light and dark tan stockings were common in Germany during the 1930s. By the 1930s, dark long stockings were much less common than had been the case during the early-20th century. We see dark stockings primarily for formal events when the children were dressed up. We see one rather touching example of an unidentified 7- or 8-year old boy in a sailor suit being read to by his father about 1930. Here the long stockings appear to be dark tan or light brown. There was no attempt here to match the stockings with the suit as was often done before World War I. A photo probably taken about 1930-31 shows a group of boys sitting cross-legged on the ground, one boy pretty clearly wearing beige stockings with sandals and another with a slightly darker shade of tan. But variety in school hosiery is notable by the fact that the third boy in the frame has bare knees, apparently with his tan stockings worn as knee socks. Beige hosiery shows up in the case of another German boy in a sailor suit (1931) who apparently wears long underwear underneath his hosiery. Interestingly the photo shows him outdoors, probably on an autumn or early spring day. Another unidentified boy in a sailor suit, seen on a garden path during the 1930s, wears dark tan or light brown stockings. Tan and beige long stockings were fairly common as school wear. Note a primary school boy in 1933 sitting crossed-legged on the right in the first row (in beige) and classmates center and left (in dark tan). One notable aspect of tan stockings in Germany, unlike America, older boys as well as the yhounger boys wore them. We see some of the older boys, in the present case about 11 or 12 years old, in a German school class wearing tan stockings (1933-34). Look at the two on the left. An unidentified boy of at least 14 years wears a tweed suit with short trousers and what looks like matching long stockings. These could be gray, but the likelihood of their being tan is fairly great. Even when German schoolboys attended class in their Hitler Youth uniforms, where knee socks were the normal practice, we occasionally see the dark tan long stockings as an exception, as in this 1937 photo of the Blackenburg Gymnasium. Since the uniforms were tan or brown, the long stockings, if worn, probably were chosen as a coordinating color. A 1938 primary school photo shows two boys in the front row wearing beige and tan long stockings, although we also see black stockings, knee socks, and long trousers in the same class. In more relaxed settings we see two boys playing with their model train in long stockings (note that the younger of the two wears beige) at some point during the 1930s. We also see an unidentified boy of about 10 or 11 at Christmas proudly holding his new skis (1937). Note that he wears light tan or beige long stockings, clearly supported by a Strapsleibchen, with his halter shorts.

The 1940s

We note German children wearing the tan cotton stockings being commonly worn in Germany during the 1940s. We note boys and girls as well as awide range odcfemocraphic and social groups wearing them. The photographic record suggests that the tan colors were the most common color of long stockings worn throughout the decade. We have found worn during both the 1940s and 1950s illustrate the common color as well as the garter button, already sewn onto the top, by which the stocking would be attached to the elastic strap of a child’s Leibchen. A German reader of the period recalls the “brownish” or tan long stockings that he wore as a boy during the late-1930s and into the 1940s. Long stockings were often more common in German rural areas than in cities although they were by no means exclusively a rural style. We note a farm boy of the 1940s in beige stockings with halter shorts who clearly lived on a farm. Two 1947 class about half the boys wear beige or light tan stockings. Note that one of the boys has rolled his beige stockings down to resemble knee socks. We also note the third boy from the right in the first row of a 1948 class, who also wears the lighter color stockings. A 1948 class at the Heinrich Heine School shows one boy (first row, second from the end on the right), wearing dark tan or light brown long stockings. A boy in the same class wears knee socks of approximately the same tan color. We observe three German children (probably in the late 1940s or early 1950s) one of whom is wearing very long tan long stockings. We are not quite sure if this child is male or female, but the shortness of the tunic suggests a boy. The stockings here are so long as to suggest tights, but tights did not become commercially available in the country until about 1957 and even then took a few years to be widely accepted.

The 1950s

Long stockings were still worn in Western Europe (especially Germany) and Canada and Eastern Europe during the 1950s. We mostly see lighter shades which we believe are mostly neutral tan/beige shades. We still see German children wearing long stockings, especially in the early 1950s. Most of our images are from West Germany, but long stockings were also worn in East Germany. We note a rare color image of a German boy wearing long stockings out on a hike in 1954. They look to be a washed-out pair of tan stockings, but we are not positive about the color. We note another German boy wearing tan cotton stockings with corduroy shorts in 1954. We notice a Polish boy wearing a a short pants suit with neutral-colored long stockings in 1956. As long stockings went out of fashion in West Germany during the late-1950s, it was these tan shades that were being worn.

The 1960s

We are not sure precisely what occurred inGermany during the 1960s. We believe that tights rapidly replaced long stockings in West Germany. We than the tan shades were the most common, but tights were less common than long stockings had been. We are not at all sure about East Germany. We think long stockings continued to be worn into the 60s.

Created: 1:37 AM 10/7/2010
Last updated: 10:23 PM 10/13/2010