Figure 1.--While we normally see younger boys wearing sandals. Here we see a teenage boys wearing sandals and long pants. This does not seem very common in the photographic record. The portrait here is undated, but was probanly taken about 1910. Put your cursor on the image to see the older boy's sandals.

We are not yet sure about the age conventions associated with boys wearing sandals in America. Conventions appear to have changed over time. Sandals as opposed to strap shoes appeared after the turn-of-the 20th century. For a short period, cloesed-toe sandals seem to have been popular, at least will families in comfortable circumstances. We note them being worn primarily by pre-teen boys. We note quite a number of younger bous wearing sandals in the 1910s. We note that in catalogs that they were offered in larger sizes. We have found, however, only a few photographs of teenagers wearing them, especially older teenagers. After World war I sandals declined in popularity, at leadt for boys. We rately see school age boys wearing them. Only after World war II do we see boys commonly wearing sandals. We begin to see boys in California wearing sandals in the 1960s. They became associayed with the Calofornia beach culture which Hippies picked up on. Thus we see teenagers wearing them, actually more teenagers thab younger boys.

Created: 2:55 AM 8/3/2008
Last updated: 2:55 AM 8/3/2008