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The long hair styles worn by some French and American boys do not seem to have been as popular in Germany. We find many more images of boys with cropped hair than long hair. Our information is, however, quite limited. This is not to say, however, that no German boys had long hair in the late 19th and early 20th century. We have few details at this time as to just how the German boys with long hair had their hair styles. We do not know if the French uncurled style or the American ringlet style was more common. Perhaps there were some other German style. While even younger boys might have their hair shaved, other younger boys might wear bangs or natural curls in the early 20th century. A longish, but off the shoulder cut was not uncommon. One German boy in Alsace descibes how in the mid-1930s, he was sent to school with curls, much to his distress. (Alsace at the time had been regained by France, but there were many German-speaking families.) Long hair does not seem to have been very common at all in Germany. So we know that this was not common. Long hair for boys was certainly no favored by the NAZIs and even younger boys during the NAZI era had short hair. Germans boys wore generally short hair in the post-War era. As with the rest of Europe quite long hair was popular in the 1970s, especially with teenagers.
Long is of course an imprecise term. There are many lengths of hair that might be called long hir. We would not classify over the ears styles as long haor. Rather we would use this term for two lengths. Firt syles that approach or reach the collar. Here a good example is German brothers in the 1880s. Second styles that fall to the shoulders or hang below the shoulders.
We have just begun to assess long hair styling in Germany. We have only a few details at this time. Long hair can be done in many different ways. Our information on German long hair is limited. We have found relativly few images in the photogrphic record. This limits our ability to assess styles. There were styles for both long shoulder-length hair and shorter off the the shoulder haor. The younger boy here has long unstyled hair (figure 1). We see this much more in Europe in general than in America. Actually in America it was very rare. American boys with long hair in America during the 19th century had it done in ringlets or other styles. In Europe and Germany we see boys with long, but unstyled hair. We also notice boys with hair that has been minimally styled with waves. we notice two German boys whose long hair has been done in waves, probably in the 1900s.
The boys look to be about 6-9 years old. We think that long hair was more common in southern Germany than the more puritanical north, but our archive is just not large enough to make any firm assessments at his time. The most obviously styled hair is done in ringlets, but we do not see ringlet styles very commonly for boys in Germany. More common than the long sholderlength sty;es were the somewhat shorte off-the-shoulder styles. For the somewhat shorter long hair, we notice what might be called mullets with the hir at the back dome in various ways. The side was also done in different ways. And we see a variety of natural curls and rather unkept mops.
The long hair styles worn by some French and American boys do not seem to have been as popular in Germany. We find many more images of boys with cropped hair than long hair. Our information is, however, quite limited. This is not to say, however, that no German boys had long hair in the late 19th and early 20th century. We have few details at this time as to just how the German boys with long hair had their hair styles. We do not know if the French uncurled style or the American ringlet style was more common. Perhaps there were some other German style. While even younger boys might have their hair shaved, other younger boys might wear bangs or natural curls in the early 20th century. A longish, but off the shoulder cut was not uncommon.
While not as common as in some other countries, we have noted some examples of German boys with long hair.
We have very little information on the boys here. All we know for sure is that they were from
Karlsruhe, The boys wear longish hair down to their collars. Long hair was not as common in Germany as other countries, but it was not unknown as we see here. We suspect it was most common among wealthy families.
We note a drawing of a boy outfitted in his best velvet party suit about to
be presented to Bismarck some time about 1894. The boy is obviously a bit dubious about the encounter and his sister is encouraging him. We can't be sure about the precise date. His sister's dress, for example, looks more like the 1890s than the 1870s to me, but I do nor
pretend to be an expert in lady's dresses. The velvet suit and lace collar certianly looks like a Fauntleroy suit spin off which would date it after 1885. This is interesting because while we known that Fauntleroy suits were widely worn in America, England, and France in the late 19th century, we have little information on Germany. The date is unclear because in the source the drawing is included in a chapter of his life right after the Franco-Prussian war, but then I read that he often went to Bad Kissingen where he took time to talk and meet all kinds of people. [Allers and Kraemer] That was during the last years of his life. Bismarck died in 1898. The parents of this boy were possibly inspired by the Fauntleroy look of upper-class English boys. So the date of this illustration appears to be the 1890s.
This boy is unidentified and the image is undated. All that we know is that the portrait was taken in The only thing we know for sure is that the portrait was taken in Zwickau. The cap and book bag suggest that this is a school outfit. We suspect that this was the boy's first day at school--even thugh he does not have the gift cone boys usually received on their first day of school. An interesting aspect of this portrait is that the boy had long curls. They look like natural curls. Most boys had their hair cut short for school, especially German boys. This boy seems to have naturally curly hair. He wears a military cap with his knickers suit.
We note a German boy photographed in Darmstadt during March 1907. Darmstadt is a city in central Grmany near Frankfurt. We do not know how old he was, but would guess about 6 years old. Erich has long, but not shoulder-length hair. German boys at the time commonly had short even, shaved heads. This portrait shows that some German boys had long hair,
although it was much more common in other countries such as France. Erich's hair looks much more like French than a German style. Erich wears a kneepants white sailor suit with three-quarter length dark socks. These sailor suits were enormously popular in Grmany during the early 20th century. He was photographed with a hoop, a popular play item at the
time.
This boy looks to be about 5 years old. We had at first thought that he had not yet started school--which looks to be the case. We are positive, however, as to wht is written on the slat. The image is undated, but HBC would estimate about 1915. This portrait had an
address which said "Blankplatz". That is a town near Helmstedt. Interestingly, this portrait
has resulted in considerable discussion among HBC readers, both German readers and readers in other countries.
A HBC reader has forwarded images of two German postcards. There are two cards although not probably not the same boy. We think that they are brothers. The cards are unfortunately undated and unidentified. Thise have no idea who the boys are. The photographers information is embossed on the cards but is difficult to read. The boys wear very tradotional sailor suits. A badge is worn on the sleeve, but I am not sure what it means. We believe that the portraits were taken in the early 1920s after World War I. The hightop shoes that the boys are wearing suggest that the portrait was not taken later than the 1930s.
One German boy in Alsace descibes how in the mid-1930s, he was sent to school with curls, much to his distress. (Alsace at the time had been regained by France, but there were many German-speaking families.) Long hair does not seem to have been very common at all in Germany. So we know that this was not common.
Long hair for boys was certainly no favored by the NAZIs and even younger boys during the NAZI era had short hair. Germans boys wore generally short hair in the post-War era. As with the rest of Europe quite long hair was popular in the 1970s, especially with teenagers.
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