German Long Stockings: Suspension Devices


Figure 1.--This boy was photographed in 1953 near Hamelin wearing blavk cord shorts, rather like the ones once worn by the Hitler Youth, with long brown stockings. His long stockings had white buttons sewn at the top and attached to garters. It is not known waht the garters are attached to. A boy his age might have worn a formal stocking supporter or Strumpfhalter as were worn in America.

Keeping long stockings held up was a problem for active children. Children whose long stockings fell down were considered untidy, even slovenly. Mothers addressed this problem in several ways. Long stockings were mostly held up with either elastic bands or garters. One method was a "Strumpfband", or a elastic band around the upper end of the Lange Strumpf (sing.) Some mothers opted for a less formal stocking supporter. Some used a rubber ring around the thigh to hold up the stockings. In America saftey pins were also used, I am not sure if thsi was the case in Germany. Another method was "Strumpfhalter" (suspender) also called a "Leibchen". This Strumpfhalter was fixed to the Lange Strumpf by means of either a "???" (clasp, I don´t know the German term) or a "Wäscheknopf" (white button) which is sewn to the stocking. A proper stocking supporter was a kind of reverse jacket affair with buttons in the back, worn under the shirt or blouse and called a Leibchen . The stockings were fixed to the suspender either by buttons or by metal clasps. Plastic was not yet available in the 1930s-40s.

Suspension Methods

Keeping long stockings held up was a problem for active children. Children whose long stockings fell down were considered untidy, even slovenly. Mothers addressed this problem in several ways using different devices. This dependended somewhat on the period chronologically and the age of the child.

Leibchen/Stocking Supporter

A proper stocking supporter was a kind of reverse jacket affair with buttons in the back, worn under the shirt or blouse or dress (in case of a girl) called a "Leibchen". These by the 1930s were only for children below ten or so, although earlier older children wore them as well. Older children by the 1930s began using other devices to support the stockings.The stocking supporters were usually grey or white for boys. older children and women used other devices to support the stockings.There were pink ones for girls. As stocking supporters were esentially the same for boys and girls, it was not uncommon for boys with older sisters to wear hand-me-downs. The Leibchen ordinarily buttoned up the back and was apparently made of some sturdy material (jean cloth?) that would take the strain of the attached hose supporters. This may be the garment which the two cyclists in the HBC pages on German Long Stockings are wearing although a German contributors in "Long Stockings: Length" mentions that older boys "had shorter garters fixed at a waist belt similar to that worn by their mothers, but of course without all the adornment of women's garter belts." Note that the stockings are very long in these pictures and that the supporters fasten very high on the leg under very short shorts. Some of these Leibchens appear to have only two garters in front--one for each stocking--while others seem to have four garters--two for each stocking. This latter is apparently the case with the cyclist pictured in "Long Stockings: German Trends--figure 4.¯ HBC mention that it would be very helpful to obtain pictures of these Leibchens or more grown-up garter belts from some German catalogue of children's clothes from the 1940s or 50s. Perhaps a German reader will eventually supply such images. We have noted few actual images showing a leibchen, but they are depicted in German films with accurate costuming. One example is the World War II drama Aimée & Jaguar (1998).

Strapsleibchen

There were some short comings with the basic Leibchen. During the 1930s German manufacturers improved the design of Leibchen for long stockings in several ways. They replaced the somewhat flimsy button-hole garter straps with better quality commerical hose supporters. These straps were typically made of wider elastic webbing, equipped with buckles for length adjustment, sewn permanently onto the bottom of the Liebchen, and featured sturdy metal loop and rubber-button clasps for attachment to the stocking tops of the same kind that women wore on their corsets. The metal clasps had the advantage of being stronger than sewn-on buttons and didn't come undone as easily under the pressures of sports or other physical activity.

Strumpfhalter / Garter

Another method for holding up long stockings was a "Strumpfhalter". These are called garters in America and suspenders in Britain. This Strumpfhalter was fixed to the Lange Strumpf by means of either a "???" (clasp, I don´t know the German term) or a "Wäscheknopf" (white button) which is sewn to the stocking. The stockings were fixed to the suspender either by buttons or by metal clasps. Plastic was not yet available in the 1930s-40s.

Strumpfband / Round Garters

Some mothers opted for a less formal stocking supporter. Some used a rubber ring around the thigh to hold up the stockings. One method was a "Strumpfband", or a elastic band around the upper end of the Lange Strumpf (sing.) One HBC reader describes this as a "a horrible torture" and says such mothers "did not care much for the comfort and health of her child". Here usually red rubber rings ("Weckringe") were used, originally made for tightening a preserve jars made by the Weck company (Wehr in Baden). This was perhaps the simplist approsch to holding up long stockings. Many children, however, did not like them. They were not restrictive like Strapsleibchen and Strumpfhalter, but they were not comfortable to wear.

??? / Saftey Pins

In America saftey pins were also used, I am not sure if this was the case in Germany.
One German reader reports that clasps on the stocking supporters were considered rather girlish while buttons were looked on as childish.

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We do not have any adverisements from German clothing catalogs and magazines showing what the various mdevices such as Leibchen and Strumpfhalter looked like. Available adverisements and other information from America, however, provide a general idea. Hopefully we will eventully acquite some information from German catalogs.







HBC






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Created: August 16, 2002
Last updated: 8:08 PM 7/15/2010