Figure 1.--Here we have three unidentified children, presumably siblings. They look to be bout 6-13 years old. the exhibit popular shoe styles at the time. The gurks wer strap shoes. (The miffle girl wars styles tht might be called both soubke-bar straop shies or sndals.) Footwear in the 1920s varied. Girls also wore oxfords. The boy wears low-cut oxfords. High-top shoes which were firky tabdad in the 1910s were also worn in the 1920s, esspecilly the early-20s.

We continue to see boys mostyly wearing high-top shoes, especially in the early-1920s. ther was a generl sgift from button to lave up shoes. It sws in the 1920s, however, that we begin to see modern footwear types and conventions emerging. We see fewer children going barefoot, both in studio portraits,. school pottraits, and family snapshots. We also seem high-top shoes, except for very young children, giving away to low-cut shoes of all styles sandals, and snakers/tennis shoes. Some low-cut shoes were worn earlier, such as strap shoes and sandals, but cvonventions shifted. Both boys and girls wore these shoes in the early-20th century, but by the lre -20s they were increasingly seen as girls' shoes. boys tended to shift from high-tops to low-cut oxfords. Strap shoes were suitable for younger children because learning to tie shoe laces is a kill children generalllt do not master until about 6 years of age, girls a little earlier than boys. Strap shoes even began to be called Mary Janes after Buster Brown's girl friend. Here there were social class factors involved. Sandals which appeared in the 1900s decade became less common for boys after World War I and the early-20s. Tthere was a social-class factor here. We rarely see worrking-class boys wearing sandals. American and European footwear styles begin to significantly differ after World War I. We have mo idea why. The widely worn British school sandals never became popular in America, a least for bots for boys. Sneakers became increasingly popular a popular as a casual style in the 1920s, at least fo boys. And we see more boys and girls wearing saddle shoes, at the time without gender conventions.

Created: 3:19 AM 06/30/2022
Last updated: 3:19 AM 06/30/2022