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Croatia is now an independent state in the Balkans. It was in modern history a province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and then after World War I federated in a new country called Yugoslavia--meaning Land of the Southern Slavs. From the very inception of Yugoslavia, however, trouble developed between the Croats and Slavs. Traditional dress was still common in the 19th century. By the time of World war II, Western dress was worn in Croatia, although there was still some traditional dress in the countryside. Some sources believe that gaily decorated folk costume, folk customs and folk music are the important distinctive features of the Croatian nation. Croats in the 20th century came to see these cultural elements as the way in which Croats could present themselves to the world.
Croatia is now an independent country. This has not been the case for most of the country's history. The country is located in the Balkans. Croatia was at times within the Roman Empire. After the fall of Rome, Croatia was settled by Slavs (7th century). The Croats became Roman Catholic (9th century). There was for a brief period an independent kingdom. For most of Croatia's subsequent history is associated with Hungary. There was a personal union between Hungary also became the king of Croatia. There were exception to the Hungarian connection such as during the Turkish (1526-1699) and the much briefer French (1809-13) invasions and the Austrian annexation (1849-68). Even though Croatian had a Hungarian monarchy, there was a local aristocracy and diet (parliament). The Hungarian monarchy is a misnomer. The last actual Hungarian king was killed defending the country from the Turks. The crown was inherited by the Hapsburg so in fact it became an Austrian monarchy. After World War I, Croatia was united with Serbia and other southern Serbs to form Yugoslavia. The union was unstable because of Croat resistance to Serb domination. The NAZIs established an Croat puppet state after invading Yugoslavia (1941). Tito reunited the country (1945) and although a Croat suppressed nationalist agitation. Croatia succeeded from Yugoslavia (1991), resulting in one of several wars connected with the breakup of Yugoslavia..
Geography has been an important influence on Croatian history. The Adriatic Sea is one of those influences. The Adriatic is a deep cut into southern Europe and provides the area of modern Croatia access to the Mediterranean. The Croatian coast has numerous bays, inlets and coves. This helped develop a significant mercantile and nautical route. Trade routes developed between Europe and the East which after the Arab expansion was dominated by the Arabs and Islam.
Croatia's economic history is tied largely to its national orientation. It was on the front line between Byzantium and Rome and then Christian and Muslim Europe as the Ottoman Empire expanded into the Balkans. As a duchy it was absorbed into the Hungarian kingdom (12th century). It became part of the agriculturally oriented Austro-Hungarian Empire ad there was limited industrial development even in the 19th century. There was a shipbuilding boom and railroads brought important connections to the rest of Europe for the first time. As part of Yugoslavia after NAZI occupation, the NDH briefly implemented socialist planed economic measures (1941). After World War II, the Communists introduced a Soviet-styled command economy (1945). Tito broke away from Soviet control (1948) and while a Communist realized that Socialism did not work. So free of Soviet control he allowed the creation of a mixed economy centered on socialist self-management. Croatia experienced rapid urbanization (1950s) followed by decentralizing reforms (1965). This resulted in considerable diversification and development of an important tourist industry. Yugoslavia like the rest of Eastern Europe freed itself of Communism (1989). This also brought the break up of the country. The Croatian War of Independence (1991–95) devastated the economy. The GDP fell by as much as 25 percent. After the War, Croatian government began to restructuring the economy from the Communist system of socialist self-management to market-oriented capitalism. State enterprises were privatized and functioning markets were set up. Market oriented prices, interest rates, and currency followed. The impact of the War made this more difficult than other European countries. The War scarred away foreign investors as well as damaged critical infrastructure and factories. The war also led to an informal economy and black market.
Croatian sources report that Germany clothing styles influence Yugoslavian styles. A HBC contributor still remembers his mother browsing German fashion magazines and big stores catalogues. Italian styles is now more important because of growing Italian fashion industry, but in the 1960s, Italian fashions were not nearly so important. This is probably because many Yugoslavs worked temporarily in Germany. Usually only the father worked in Germany and the families stayed in Yugoslavia. So when the fathers came home at holidays they would bring German clothes, magazines, cars, etc.
We have only limited information on Croatian boys' garments at this time. We have begun to collect some information. Located in the Balkans, there have been a range of influences, but we suspect the relationship with Austria-Hungary was especially important. In addition, Germany's large fashion/clothing industry also had a major impact throughout the Balkans.
Some boys wore turtle necks during the 1960s which were considered very stylish.
We note younger Croatian boys wearing dresses in the 19th century. This was a common practice in Europe. We do not know how common it was Croatia or how it may have compared to other countries. We suspect that in the major cities the fashion was similar to that in other provincial cities in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. We do not have a sufficient archive of images to make real assessment at this time.
Smocks were not worn in Croatia. There were some similarities between smocks and the uniform school jackets. They were, however, not smocks, but front buttoning jackets.
We believe that sailor suits were popular in Croatia during the late 19th and early 20 century. We note the younger boys in a working class family wearing various styles of sailor suits about 1910.
Some younger boys with stylish mothers wore shortalls during the 1960s.
We have little information on Croatian suits at this time. Our archive is still very limited. We have archived a photograph of an unidentified Croatian boy wearing a short pants junior Eton suit in 1959. As our archive is so small, we have no idea how common this was. It is a style more associated with America than Europe.
Boys commonly wore short pants during the 1960s. Both play shorts as well as dress shorts were worn. Dress shorts were common for younger, but now are rare. Short pants here were not considered as "a young boys style". Young boys started wearing long pants very early, but in the summer everybody wears short pants. Play or casual shorts are common for everybody also now. It is very common to see short pants here especially in Mediterranean part, because it is rather hot in summer. It is was not just younger boys wearing short pants. Today just about everyone wears shorts--it is quite common to see adults wearing them during the summer.
Lederhosen were worn in the 1960s. They were not a dominate style, but some boys did wear them. It was presumably the German influence. They are now rarely seen.
Knee socks were very common. They were never considered as "girls" fashion in Croatia, like in some other countries. Now they are rare, because in summer nobody wears any socks at all during the summer.
Some younger boys in the 1960s wore tights, although not commonly with short pants. They considered that was more for girls. More common was to wear tights with long pants for warmth during the winter. Many nursery school boys wore white, red or blue tights under long trousers. Some grade school boys also wore them.
Sandals were worn in the 1960s. Some boys wore white sandals with white knee socks. Now sandals are still common, but usually black or brown. Most boys wear them without socks.
Family images are very useful because they provide insights as to what kind of clothes and fashions the rest of the family was wearing. Family images can also provide some useful life-style insights. We do not have many Croatian images at this time, but have begun to collect some for this section. At this time we only have an image of an unidentified Croatian family, probably taken about 1910. It looks to us like a working-class family.
As with other countries, we have noted images of Croatian children wearing costumes. Some of these are difficult to interpret. Some are clearly costumes for play acting or parties. Others are rather unusual and we find difficult to interpret. One such image shows a girl wearing long baggy pants rather than a dress in the early 20th century. Hopefully our Croatian readers will offer their insights here.
Some sources believe that gaily decorated folk costume, folk customs and folk music are the important distinctive features of the Croatian nation. Croats in the 20th century came to see these cultural elements as the way in which Croats could present themselves to the world. We know, however, very little about Croatian folk costumes at this time. We note Croats wearing traditional outfits in the 19th century. This included plain white shorts and trousers, a style we see throughout the Balkans. We believe that these outfits were still worn to some degree before World War II, especially in rural areas. Dress in the cities was westernized by the time of World War II. It is less clear when Croats began wearing fancy folk costumes to fairs and festivals and on important festivals. Although many started wearing traditional folk costumes for folk festivals and, even, holidays, there were no confirmations of the use of these fancy folk costume in everyday life. There were many common elements to Balkans folk costumes. This reflects the centuries of Ottoman rule. We do not yet have details on specific Croatian costumes. We note a lot of red and white shirts or blouses. While red was important we see many white costumes as well. We have noted striking gold embroidery on white garments. Embroidery and lace are important elements as is the case elsewhere in the Balkans.
Croatia is one of the European countries from which emigrants have flowed through much of recent history. There was a major wave of immigration with the Turkish conquest (l6th century). About 0.5 million people emigrated from Croatia during the late 19th century up to the start of World War I. This seems a large number and we can not yet confirm this, especially as many of the immigrants came to America. American data suggests much smaller numbers. Even so, Croatia is not a large country and emigration did represent an not inconsequential part of the population. A major reason reason for the emigration was economic conditions and this in part affected annual fluctuations. Another factor was the desire to avoid military service. This was part of the reason that most of the emigrants to America were men.
We do not have much information on Croatian boys' activities yet. We do note a group preparing for an Easter holiday skit during the Communist era.
Yugoslavia students in the 1960s and 70s did not have any schools with individual school uniforms. In primary school we all wore blue jackets especially made as school jackets. It was something like workers jackets (blue collars). They were common in some high schools also, but not in mine. The purpose of these school jackets was to cover socially differences on which socialistic government was very sensitive. These jackets were worn by boys and girls. The girls' jackets were just a little longer than those worn by the boys--just above the knee. Since the 1990s there are no any kind of school uniforms at Croatia or Bosnia. School jackets were worn over ordinary clothes, so it was worn also with short pants and knee socks. Jackets were more like tuxedo (but made of cheap material). That means it was not buttoned to the collar, it had only three or four buttons (also blue) and three pockets (two bigger on sides, and one small at chest - for pencils). Material was not heavy - cotton, little heavier than for shirts, so in winter we all wore coats over this jackets on our way to school.
Croatia as part of Yugoslavia had both Pioneers and Scouts--rare for a Communist country. In most Communist countries Scouting was banned. The situation in former Yugoslavia was different than in other communist countries. That is because our government in 1948 broke all connections with Soviet Union--a dangerous step at the time. But they didn't invade us militarily as they did in Hungary during 1956. Although after World War II, Yugoslavia was one of the most extremely fanatical East Block countries, after the break Marshall Tito increasingly allowed western influences and contacts with western countries. As our Croatian contact reports, "we did things our way". So they were in many cases unique in everything.
Everyone joined the Pioneers in first grade of elementary school. It was especially important in the early years after the World War II, but by the 1960s our Croatian correspondent reports, "I can remember that we went from school to a city theater where there was a large celebration. They give us pioneer caps and scarfs (caps were blue and
scarfs were red). They then took a few photographs and we went home. When I came home, I
put my cap and scarf in the drawer, and never worn it again." The Pioneer uniform was only hat and scarf, worn usually on white shirt and blue short or long trousers, and skirt for girls. Worn in very rare occasions. The Pioneers "disappeared" 15-20 years, but I do not have precise details. HBC wonders why the Pioneer Movement was so weak in Yugoslavia. Our Croatian correspondent reports, "Really, I don't know why we did wear our uniforms much. I think, because it was not obligatory. In my time there were very much influence from "western" countries, so if somebody can avoid "communistic" things without getting into trouble--they would. In Yugoslavia you can find very interesting combinations. For example, Pioneers in white shirt with caps and so, but wearing jeans (Levi's or Lee) which was considered forbidden in other "eastern" countries. Scouts wearing jeans were also common."
Scouts wore berets and scarves, green shirt and trousers of your own. Scouts were very different than pioneers. It was not obligatory for everybody to participate. Only those really interested did so. Our HBC correspondent reports, "I was there few times, we learned knots, camping skills, etc... I was never in camping with Scouts, but many of my friends were. Scouts, unlike the Pioneers, is today an active program in Croatia.
Stylish mother: A boy with a stylish mother describes the clothes he wore during the 1960s.
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