Figure 1.--Here we see children dressed up for some unknown occassion in the 1930s. They are at home, but dressed up. We are not sure if they are all from the same family. The children look to be about 5-9 years old.

Boys of course dressed differently depending on the occassion. Here there were both dressup and casual occassions. Although casual trends continue to mke unroads as the decade profressed. Outfits varied a good bit depending on these two circumnstances. Boys wore suits and ties commonly when dressing up, but there were fewer dressup occassions. And some boys might just wear a dress shirt and tie rather than a suit when dressing up. There were a wide range of casual outfits, especially for the summer. This depending somewhat on age. Some outfit ha a kind of crossover usage such as sailor suits. There were fewer dressup occassions han earlier in the decade. Boys wore short pants, knickers, and long pants for both dressup anbd casual occassions. Here age was often more important than the occassion. Girls still wore mosly dresses even for casual wear. They would have a special party dress when dressing up. Girls might have summer frocks for play or wore just wore older dresses. We do see some casul garmnents being win incluing rompers and shorts, but dresses were more common. Anther category of clothing usage was school wear. Most children got a brand new set of clothes for each school year. Suits and ties were no longer very common at schol, but nether did childrn where casual clothes very commonly. Boys did not yet wear jeans to school and we see fewer boys in rural areas wearing overalls, especially by the end of the decade.

Parties

Most girls had special party dress when dressing up. Boys often wore suits or at least ties durung the summer.

Play

Girls might have summer frocks for play or wore just wore older dresses. We do see some casul garmnents being win including rompers and shorts, but dresses were more common.

Religious Events

Parents still commonly dressed children up for church and Sunday School. Thy often wore suits, although during the summer a white shirt and tie might do. We see formal dress at weddings. Catholic children did formal First Communions.

Schoolwear

Another category of clothing usage was school wear. Most children got a brand new set of clothes for each svchool year. Suits and tis were no longer very coimmon at schol, but nether did childrn where casual clothes very commonly. Boys did not yet wear jeans to school anb we see fewer boys in rural areas wearing overalls, especially by the end of the decade. Major changes were observable in American schoolwear during the 1930s. The most observable difference was that it was becoming much less common for primary-level boys to wear suits and ties to school, although there were some schools where suits were expected. and we still see some worn where they were not expected. Suits were worn at private schools or some primary schools in better neighborhoods. They were also still commonly worn secondary schools, especially by the older boys. Boys in primary school dressed in short pants or knickers, often with sweaters. Usually only the yojunger boys wore shorts although there were some regional differences. There were also social class diiferences. Boys in the South or from well-to-do families were more likely to wear short pants. There were also seasonal differences. One of the most popular style in the 1930s was corduroy knickers. Knickers were the dominant pants at the beginning of the decade, but steadily declined in popularity as the decade progressed. We see more and younger boys weaing long pants. One observable change was that long stockings declined in popularity. Most boys wearing knickers in the 1930s wore them with knee socks, often with loud patterns. Long pants gradually became more common during the 30s, even for younger boys. So we see many primary boys wearing long pants by the end of the decade.

Travel

Children increasingly wore more casual styles during the 1930s, although dressing up was still much more common than is the case today. Most boys had suits and wore them on various occassions. One of those occassion was when traveling. This was very common for both train and bus travel. Rail travel was the primary way that Americans traveled long distances in the 1930s. Bus travel was also important, often for shorter distances, often for towns without rail connection. Air travel was not yet very common. Many period photographs show boys dressed up in suits for travel. We see both family snap shot and travel ads. We see a range of short pants, knicker, and long pants suits, depending on biys ages and social class. Few parents would dress boys in suit for travel, but this was very common in the 1930s. And generally poor roads outside cities meant that traveling long distances was not yet very common, except perhaps for the migrants fleeing the dust bowl and they obviously did not dress up. Mamy Amerian, unlike Europeans, howeverm had cars. Inexpeniveve cars thanks to Henry Ford were avibke nd american wages were higher thn in Europe. The Germans were building Autobahns, but this would only begin in America after world War II in the 1940s. Even so, traveling by family car was not unknown and we see motels sprining up all over the country.