Figure 1.--There is no accompnying information with this family snapshot. The boy wears double-bar sandals. We think in a holiday beach area, probably in Massachusetts or Long Iskland, New York. The photograph is undated, but we think was taken in the 1920s, althhough the early-30s is possible.

Sandals appear to have declined in popularity after World War I in the 1920s. We still see some boys wearing them, but not nearly as many as in the 1910s. We are not entirely sure why this was. This decline in popularity was especially the case for boys. Sandals or strap shoes became astandard styles for girls. The same style was worn for botyh casual abd dress hoes. The casual style was essebtuakly sandals. That actually was probably a factor in the decline of sandals among boys who began to see sandals as girls' shoes. We see some younger boys wearing them, but fewer than in the 1910s, and rarely to school. Boys only wore the casual or sandal type. We see very few boys wearing them in the photographic record nd only the double bar type. And they were much less likely to wear them with long stockings. This decline in popularity of sandals among American boys was in sharp contrast to British boys. Sandals became very popular for British boys, becoming known ass school sandals. American and British fashions had been similar in many ways, but for some reason diveged sharply in the 1920s. we still see some boys wearing sandals. A goog example is two unidentified brothers.

Created: 10:46 PM 5/13/2023
Last updated: 4:45 AM 12/17/2023