Figure 1.-- Here we see a groupm of American Sunday School children, we believe in the 1940s. The girls all wear prim dresses. The boys' outfits varyu. We see some boys wearing simpkle button-on shorts sets. Ohervboys wearing Eton suits.

We do not yet have much information about Sunday school in the 19th century. We know that people dressed formally in the late-19th century. And Church was a an event for which people put on their best clothing. The term 'Sunday best' appeared at this time. We believe that children were also dressed up in their best clothes for Sunday school, although we are not entirely sure how common Sunday school was during the century. We suspect that many children cane dressed in kilt suits, Fauntleroy suits, and other formal wear. Formal dress continued to be de rigor for the early-20th century. Available images confirm that this was the case. We see school age boys wearing fancy blouses without suit jackets during the summer at the turn of the century. The photographic record is much more complete as we now have family snapshots. After World War I we begin to see greater informality. Church and Sunday school outfits followed general trends, although formal attire in here persisted longer then in other areas. Boys still mostly wore suits in the 1920s, but we begin to see less formal outfits by the 1930s. More comfortable two piece button-on outfits became common for younger boys. After World War II we see bots appeararing with perhaps a white shirt perhaps with a tie and dress pants rather than a suit. This varied greatly from family to family. Church was one of the few places where boys might wear suits by the 1970s. Generally speaking, dress for Sunday school was somewhat more informal than for actual church attendance.

The 18th Century

Sunday School began in Britain (late-18th century). Robert Raikes (1735-1811) was a British journalist, philanthropist, who became a pioneer of the Sunday-school movement. His philanthropic work began with a concern with prison reform, but expanded into other areas, including education. He published articles on the problems of youth crime. Working with Pastor Thomas Stock, they registered a hundred children from 6-14 years of age. Baptist deacon William Fox a the Prescott Street Baptist Church of London took an interest in what Raikesand Stock were doing. Fox founded the Sunday School Society (1785).

The 19th Century

We do not yet have much information about Sunday school in the 19th century. As far as we know, there was little to no provision for children at churches in the early-19th century. We know that Sunday Schools were springing up in Britain, but these were different than modern Sunday Schools. Britain unlike America did not yet have free public schools. British Sunday Schools in the early 19th century were operated by the churches , but were for poor children to learn to read and write. We believe this was less common in America, and are no sure just when the modern type of Sunday School, church related sessions for children first appeared. We think parents either left the younger children at home or made very young children sit though long-boring sermons. We would be very interested in details on how the children were handled and how this changed over the century. We know that there were Sunday Schools for the children by the end of he century. We believe his was common, but have very few details at this time. One source report that the "Sunday school movement spread quickly, and by the mid-19th century, Sunday school attendance was almost universal for children. The movement expanded into rural and western areas, and became a core part of almost every church program." The purpose of Sunday schools also changed as the century progressed. The first Sunday Schools focused heavily on teaching reading along with the the basics of Christian theology. Gradually Sunday schools began to transition to age-appropriate presentation of Christian theology (1820s-30s). Thre was a gradual transition to molding children into becoming good Christians (late-19th century). We know that people dressed formally in the late-19th century. And Church was a an event for which people put on their best clothing. The term 'Sunday best' appeared at this time. We believe that children were also dressed up in their best clothes for Sunday school, although we are not entirely sure how common Sunday school was during the century. We suspect that many children cane dressed in kilt suits, Fauntleroy suits, and other formal wear.

The 20th Century

Sunday school was well established at the turn of the 20th century. And they were entirely focused on teaching children about Christianity. Sunday schools had become closely associated with their affiliated churches and were usually located within them. Sunday Schools moved from the afternoon to the morning to align with church service times. Sunday School Unions appeared to support teachers, but some say they became authoritarian and critical of teachers. Sunday schools at the beginning of the century were for children. Churches began to adopt All-Age or Family Services (1980s). The idea was to encourage families to worship together. Sunday School became increasingly important as the century unfolded. After World II in the post-War era religiosity began to decline in America. This affected Church and Sunday School attendance. A new development was Socialists organized Sunday Schools to compete with Christian Sunday Schools. We see this being organized.d by the Finnish, Ukrainian, Hungarian, and Lettish Socialist Federations, as well as the Socialist Party of America and the Workman's Circle. Formal dress continued to be de rigor for the early-20th century. Available images confirm that this was the case. We see school age boys wearing fancy blouses without suit jackets during the summer at the turn of the century. The photographic record is much more complete as we now have family snapshots. After World War I we begin to see greater informality. Church and Sunday school outfits followed general trends, although formal attire in here persisted longer than in other areas. Boys still mostly wore suits in the 1920s, but we begin to see less formal outfits by the 1930s. More comfortable two piece button-on outfits became common for younger boys. Here we see children at Sunday School in the 1940s (figure 1). After World War II we see boys appearing with perhaps a white shirt perhaps with a tie and dress pants rather than a suit. This varied greatly from family to family. Church was one of the few places where boys might wear suits by the 1970s. Generally speaking, dress for Sunday school became more informal than for actual church attendance.

Created: 5:02 AM 6/26/2013
Last updated: 6:16 AM 12/29/2024