Figure 1.--Here we see what we were sure was part of a 4th of July celebration, but it is marked 'Anniversary Day'. This generally refers to marriage. It is all marked 'Dr. Addy's Church' so it might refer to the church. We do know it was taken June 9, 1921 so we see dressup summer wear. The younger boy wears a white short-sleeve, short pants sailor suit. Short sleeves were not common before World War but became standard summer wear in the inter-War era. The older boy wears a flat cap with a white norfolk knickers suit and long black stockings. The children in the middle wear patriotic costumes.

The most significant fashion trend during the inter-war era was a shift toward increasingly less elaborate and more casual styles that we saw beginning after the turn-of-the 20th century. Boys dressed more formally than modern boys, but much less formally than before Word War I. An this trend continued throughout the inter-war era. And we see it in all kinds of clothing situations, including dressup occassions, school, and play/casual, and camp/Scouting. And we see this this in important garments. Informal caps became standard. Flat caps were particularly popular. Large neckwear disappeared. We see some floppy bows in the 1920s, but smaller ones and only for younger boys. More important were the open sports collar. We also see short sleeve shirts and even sleeveless tops for younger boys, mostly button-on outfits. Boys pants were largely knickers. They were virtually universal in the 1920s and widely worn in the 30s. Short pants became increasingly common. Here there were age and social class factors. We still see a lot of suits, even at school in the 1920s. By the end of the 1930s suits at school were more an exception, except for older secondary school boys. Suits were commonly worn for dress up. Younger boys might wear button-on sets like sailor suits or Oliver Twist suits. Tunics suits were widely worn in the 1910s, but we see a few in the early-20s. There was a transition from long stockings which were virtually universal in the 1910s to first knee socks and then and than ankle socks. Footwear also changed. We continue to see hight-top shoes in the 1920s, but there was a gradual change to low-cut shoes which were standard by the late-30s. Some younger boys continued to wear high-tops, mostly pre-school boys. We note saddle shoes. Sneakers appeared in the 1910s, but became much more popular in the inter-war era as play/casual footwear.

Dressup Occasions

Boys still commonly dressed up with suits in the inter-War era. The occassions for dressing up, however changed markedly during the inter-War era. We also see yonger boys wearing suits, but there was a range of less formal outfits that younger boys might wear such as sailor suits and Oliver Twist suits for church and for parties. Boys during the summer might just wear white shirts and ties, Bow ties were popular in the 1920s. Tunics were no longer common by the early-20s. Virtually all boys had suits on the 1920s, by the late-30s mothers might not buy suits for younger boys. We note Eton collars in the early 20th century. They were much less common in the inter-war period, but did not disappear entirely. Insted we see many boys wearing suits with open sports collars. e lso noticed closed collrs with ties. We note short pants, knicker, and long pants suits, byr knicker suits were the most common. The choice of suit pants varied from family to family, but age and social class were other factors. Knicker suits were worn worn with long stockings in the 1920s, but boys began to change to knee socks at the ends of the decade. Short pants suits were usually worn with knee socks. The knee socks for knickers tended to be loud patterns. The knee socks for short pants suits usually were flat colors matching the suit. Boys generally wore shoes when dressing up. The sandeles and strap shoes worn in Europe were not very common in America.

School

Boys commonly still wore suits to school in he early-20s, but by the late-30s this was much less common. Mothers generally bought nw school clothes at the beginning of the school year and these outfits were reserved for school. This mightbinclusde a new suit annd certainly new shirts and pants. The common school garment was probably corduroy knickers worn as part of suits ot with sweaters or just shirts. They were so common that school zone speed signs for decides showed a boy wearing knickers. Younger boys might wear short pants, but knickers were much more common, especially in the 1920s, but they were also very common in the 30s. Boys generally wore leather shoes to school. Here social class was a factor. Boys from low income families were the most likely to wear sneakers to school. There was a considerble difference beyween urban and rural schools. Many boys in rural schools wore overalls and short pants and knickers were less common. We pages for both 1920s schools and 1930s schools.

Play/Casual Occassions

We see all kinds of play tops. Younger boys wore button-on play suits, often with short sleeves and even sleeveless tops. "T"-shirts became very popular in the 1930s. Knickers standard during the 1920s and still very common in the 1930s. Youner boys were the most likely to wear short pants. they were most common with affluent families which were more apt to follow English and other European styles. Shorts were most common in the Southern states and California. A variety of play clothes for little boys coveralls were also worn. We do not yet seen many jeans, but younger boys might wear denim or corduroy coveralls some of which had bib front. Boys wore rompers in the 1910s, but by the 1920s had become more trim and were only worn by girls. Rural boys commonly wore overalls. Most older boys wore knickers for both school and play. In the early 1920s knickers were worn with long stockings or knee socks, but by the 1930s it became common to wear them with ankle socks--especially during the summer. Knicker suits were usually not worn with ankle scks, but play and casual knickers commonly were by the end of the 1930s. Overalls were commonly worn by rural boys, but city boys had not yet begun to wear what we now call jeans. Sneakers became very common for play, but were not very common for school. Unlike Europe, strap shoes and sandalsere not common even for play, but younger mostly pre-school boys might wear them. They were common for girls which is probably why the boys did not want to wear then.

Camps and Scouting

Summer camping began in the late-19th century and had become a popular summer activity for children by the 1920s. Many camps had uniforms, notall camps, but many did. The uniforms were mostly T-shirts and short pants. Sneakers were common, but many boys wore learher shoes at camp. Boy Scouts were founded (1909) and were a great sucess. By the 1920s many boys were active in Scouting. Cubbing was added for younger boys (1930). The Scout uniform was knicker-like breeches. The boys wore shorts at camp. The Cubsduring the inyer-war era wore mostly knockers, but some Cubs wore short pants.

Created: 11:50 AM 11/26/2017
Last updated: 11:50 AM 11/26/2017