Figure 1.--This Dutch boy posed for a snapshot with his scooter. He wears a sweather, cord shorts, long stockings, and high-top shoes. The photograph is undated, but was probably taken about 1930. Given the boy is wearing a sweater, mom surely dressed him in long stockings for warmth.

Dutch children commonly wore long over-the-knee stockings with kneepants during the late 19th century. Thet seem to have been widely worn as was common in neighboring countries. We also note them being worn during the early 20th century. Long stockings declined in popularity after World War I (1914-18) when boys mostly switched to socks. Some yonger boys continued to wear them, with short pants during the winter. As far as we can tell, long stockings were still widely worn by Dutch boys during the 1920s. They seemed to have, however, declined sharply in popularity and were no longer universal. In fact by the 1930s we mostly see boys wearing kneesocks rather than long stockings. We based this primarily on the fact that most images we have found show boys wearing kneesocks. They do not appear, however, to have been as common as in neighboring Germany. As far as we can tell, they virtually disappeared after World War II by the 1950s.

The 19th Century

Dutch children commonly wore long over-the-knee stockings with kneepants during the late 19th century. Thet seem to have been widely worn as was common in neighboring countries. Our information is limited at this time as we have a very small Dutch 19th century archive.

The 20th Century

We also note them being worn during the early 20th century. Long stockings declined in popularity after World War I (1914-18) when boys mostly switched to socks. Some yonger boys continued to wear them, with short pants during the winter. As far as we can tell, long stockings were still widely worn by Dutch boys during the 1920s. They seemed to have, however, declined sharply in popularity and were no longer universal. We still see some boys wearing long stockings in the early-1930s. A good example is the Ronda boys in 1931. The boy here on his scooter is another example (figure 1). In fact during the 1930s we mostly see boys wearing knee socks rather than long stockings. We based this primarily on the fact that most images we have found show boys wearing primarily knee socks. They do not appear, however, to have been nearly as common as in neighboring Germany. Our information, however, is very limited. We note almost all the boys in a village school wearing long stockings during the German World War II occupation, but we are not yet sure how common this was. We suspect that they were more common in rural than urban areas. We do not see many boys wearing long stockings in the early-1040s. And as far as we can tell, long stockings virtually disappeared after World War II by the 1950s.

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Created: 3:48 PM 11/1/2006
Last updated: 12:33 PM 6/7/2013