When I was a student at a Catholic parish elementary school, back in Rhode
Island in the late '40s and early '50s, I was an altar-boy, and my best
friend Brian was a choir-boy.
The Catholic Church did not allow girls to be
altar-servers at the time, and likewise there were no women or girls in the
parish choir--there were boys for the soprano and alto parts and men for
tenor and bass. All the choir members wore floor-length red cassocks in
the Roman style--that is, with buttons from the collar to the hem. Over
the cassock they wore white surplices with square-yoked necklines; the
surplices were mid-thigh length and had wide full sleeves. In addition to
the cassock and surplice the boys (but not the men) wore stiff white
starched linen (later some kind of plastic/cloth composite) collars and
large red satin bows at the throat.
Costume for the altar-boys during my first few years was a black
floor-length Roman-style cassock with white surplice. Later on, a white
linen collar was added with a large black satin bow. The altar-boys looked
just like the choir-boys, excep in black/white instead of red/white. Choir
and altar-boy costume among Catholics varied widely from parish to parish.
I understand that there is a similar variety of choir and altar-server
costume among Anglicans/Episcoplians. For instance, in some parishes the
altar boys wore white albs with cowls (the cowls are rarely worn on the
head; they are simply draped over the shoulders as decorative), wooden
crosses on a cord around the neck, and a rope cincture in the color
prescribed for the priest's vestments that day. When I was an altar server,
athletic footwear and jeans were verboten. You had to wear dress shoes,
generally black, with dark socks and dark trousers. I imagine the rule was
the same for choir members.
By the time the collar and bow was added for the altar-boys, I had graduated
from the 9th grade, and gone on to high school at the diocesan seminary. It
was my intention at the time to be a priest. For all liturgical functions
all the seminarians, whether in high school or college, wore the black
cassock and white surplice. High school students as well as college
freshmen and sophomores wore jacket and necktie to classes. College juniors
and seniors (known among us collectively as 'philosophers') dressed like
priests full time; they wore black cassocks in one of three styles current
at the time: Roman-style (with buttons full length in front) with or without
a wide waist sash; Jesuit-style (with right panel wrapping over the left and
buttons on the right from shoulder to waist) with a narrow sash; or
semi-Jesuit-style (right wrapping over left - but not so far as the Jesuit
style, and without buttons; it had hidden snaps under the wrapped portion)
with a wide sash. I wore the semi-Jesuit-style for dressy ocassions when I
became a college junior, a Roman-style for classes and hanging around in.
The Roman cassocks I had were cheap, off-the-shelf garments. My semi-Jesuit
cassock, on the other hand, was custom tailored by M.H. Gerritts (if I
recall properly) in Boston, and it was a beautiful garment. It was made of
a heavy men's suiting fabric, hand-fitted and double-lined to the waist.
The full skirt had a heavy edging along the inside hem (I don't know what
the technical term is for sich an edging) to protect the hem from raveling
and to have the cassock hang properly. I wore this cassock for dressy
occasions, as I mentioned, because it fit so well and was very flattering.
At the time I was slim-waisted (no longer), and the wide sash and long
draped-lines of the skirt made me look even slimmer and taller. There was a
deep vest pocket, two pockets just below the waist on either hip, tucked
inside the skirt, and very deep cuffs on the sleeves which also could be
used for pockets. American seminarins customarily wore black pants and
white shirt under the cassock, and my cassock had side slits 7 or 8 inches
long just behind the cassock-pockets so that I could put my hands into my
pants pockets, too. So I had six pockets just below the waist (2 in the
cassock, four in the pants), a vest pocket, a shirt-pocket, and two
cuff-pockets. European seminarians, I'm told, went without pants or shirts
under the cassock - they just wore their underwear. In hot weather American
seminarians woyld 'fudge'and bend the rules a little by not wearing a shirt
underneath, just a t-shirt, and by wearing bermuda shorts instead of
full-length trousers. Our cassocks had the Roman collar, with the little
square cut-out for the starched white shirt-collar to show in front.
Collars worn by diocesan seminarians and priests (who belong to no religious
order, but are secular clergy responsible to a local bishop) are generally
the Roman style. Collar styles of religious orders differ, and many of them
have their own 'habits'. Seminarians in religious orders wear the habit of
their order, or some variation on it. Franciscan seminarians, for example,
wear the brown robe with rope sash, and brown sandals.
I was a sandal-fan as a boy. I still don't much care for standard men's
shoes or athletic shoes. I generally wore black leather sandals (instead
of the customary black shoes or loafers) with my cassock when I was in the
seminary - just because I liked to. The other seminarians thought it was
something of an affectation on my part, and teased me about it. Dr. Scholls
made several styles of men's sandals back then and I had a couple of pairs.
Most of the other seminarians wore ordianry men's shoes. One other boy in
my class had a pair of beautiful black sandals hand-made by the Trappist
monks in Spencer Massachusetts. I dearly wanted a pair like his, but I cold
never get up there to buy them.
For liturgical services I wore a white surplice over my cassock, and also
had a biretta, the black hat with pom-pom that priests use; bishops wear
purple ones, cardinals red ones, and the Pope a white one.
When I was growing up boys no longer wore dresses. They went out of fashion
for small boys just before WWII, I think. Christening dresses are, of
course, an exception - though the trend even there has been toward little
shirt and pants outfits. My father, born in 1917, and my father-in-law,
born in 1925, wore dresses when they were infants and toddlers. We have a
photo of my father-in-law at perhaps 6 months old in a plain white dress,
white tights, and black-patent-leather Mary-Janes. Details are hard to make
out, since we only have an enlargement of a very old studio photo. We
don't have any childhood pictures of my own father.
As a Catholic elementary (or primary, or grammar) school student I wore a
very conventional uniform: navy-blue trousers, white shirt, blue necktie
with the school seal, blue socks. We never wore uniform shorts. The girls
at our school wore a dark blue plaid jumper - in the US sense of the term,
meaning a sleeveless dress with a bib-type bodice - (younger girls) or
skirt (older girls), white blouse with Peter Pan collar, small black
tab-tie, white knee-socks or tights. Like the boys, the girls didn't have
uniform shorts. We didn't have uniform jackets or blazers either, and
didn't wear uniform shoes (most any dark shoes would do) - our neighborhoods
were working-class, and perhaps parents couldn't afford many frills like
blazers, caps, uniform footwear, etc. There was a very upper-crust Catholic
all-girls High School in East Providence RI, called St. Mary's Bayview -
where the uniform included a blue blazer, caps, and black patent Mary-Janes
of a distinctive style. The corresponding boys' High School was called St.
Raphael Academy, and wasn't so upper-crust. I'm not sure about their
uniform.
I was a Boy Scout for several years and am quite familiar with the Scout uniforms at the time.
Though I had never been a Cub Scout, while I was an older Boy Scout I served as a Den Chief for a group of Cubs. The Boy Scout Den Chief was actually an assistant of sorts to the Den Mother or Den Dad - the adult in true charge of the den. Cubs were organized in
dens of 10 or 12 boys, and a dozen or so dens would be organized into a
local Pack, which might have upwards of 100 boys.
I was a Den Chief for Pack 15 in Pawtucket RI.
Boy Scouts were similarly organized. 6 to 10 boys belonged to a Patrol, with
a Patrol Leader and assistant chosen from among them. 10 or 12 Patrols wold
be organized into a Troop of 100 or so boys. I was a member of Troop 15
Pawtucket for many years, and then a member of Troop 18. As I grew older, I
served as Patrol Leader, as troop Scribe (the secretary, keeping meeting
records, etc.) and eventually as Senior Patrol Leader (this was the senior
Boy Scout in the troop).
The Boy Scout uniform was tan, the Cub uniform dark blue. We all wore short
pants and short-sleeved shirts in warm weather, and long pants/long-sleeved
shirts in cold. With warm-weather shorts Boy Scouts were supposed to wear
gray-green knee-socks, held up by elastic garters under the folded-down
tops, with green garter-tabs. I always wore knee-socks as prescribed, but
for some reason or other many boys considered knee-socks effeminate, and
just refused to wear them. They often wore white athletic socks instead.
Cub Scouts wore dark blue knee-socks with gold/yellow garter-tabs. Cub
Scouts wore a small blue cap with a narrow visor. Boy Scouts wore a dark
green cap in the military garrison-cap style.
Amid all the badges, medals, and other insignia we wore, the most truly
decorative uniform item was the neckerchief. All Cubs wore a standard
neckerchief that went with their rank/age cohort. Our Boy Scout troop wore
for ordinary use the traditional Boy Scouts of America neckerchief in red
background with black BSA Insignia; other troops wore different color
combinations (white/blue, yellow/green, etc.). A brass slide was worn at
the collar to secure the neckerchief, and the ends were tied at the very
tips to keep the neckerchief neat. For special occasions, we had a special
Troop dress-neckerchief, larger than the ordinary one, of bright red cloth
edged in pale blue with stencilled white '15' on the back. When I went to
a National Boy Scout Jamboree at Vallet Forge in 1952, the members of the
Rhode Island contingent wore a distinctive neckerchief. It was medium blue
in color with red edging, and with a Rhode Island Red Rooster (the State
bird) stencilled in bright red/white/black on the back. Each of the scouts
had several of these to use in trade with boy scouts from other parts of the
country or with foreign scouts. I came back from the jamboree with a dozen
or more colorful neckerchiefs I'd gotten in trade. On occasion, you could
also wear neckerchiefs you had made yourself, with a slide of your own as
well. Most scout camps had craft facilities where you could make such
items. Boy Scouts are very craft-oriented - to keep little minds and hands
occupied usefully, I guess. I made a few of my own neckerchief slides, as I
recall. One was of an eagle carved out of wood and painted, and another was
a painted plaster of paris indian-head molded over a plastic slide-ring.
My troop used to have regular uniform inspections to make sure all the boys
had and wore all their proper clothing and that insignia were placed
properly, etc. Of course the leaders had to make allowances for the state
of a family's budget, the flat refusal of some to comply with rules (as
regards knee-socks, for instance), and the general disorderlyness of teen
and subteen boys, but as a rule Troop 15 was very well turned out and made a
creditable appearance at parades and similar ceremonies.
American Girl Scouts also wear uniforms with lots of badges, medals and
other insignia, but interestingly they don't make as much of the neckerchief
as Boy Scouts do. I don't know why this is, for the neckerchief is such a
bright eye-catching thing.
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Activities]
[Countries]
[Biographies]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web chronological pages:
[The 1840s]
[The 1900s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1950s]
[The 1960s]
[The 1970s]
[The 1980s]
[The 1990s]