Figure 1.--Here we see two American boys wearing Oliver Twist suits and wearing sandals. The snapshot is undated, but looks kike the earl\y 20th century to us.

We note boys wearing strap shoes in the 19th century. We do not note sandals in the sence of a casual outdoor shoe-type. We only see sandals after the turn-of-the 20th century. This was part of a general shift to more casual styles. And at that time we note boys wearing sandals in both the photographic record and in period cataogs. They seem to be mostly double strp cloesd-toe sandals. They were referred to as barefoot sandals. They appeared in the 1900s, although the photographic record suggests that they were not widely worn in the q900s. We think that they were beginning to become popular by the end of the decade. They seem to have been fairly popular in the 1910s. They were commonly worn with hosiery, but we also see them being worn without hosiery. Sandals declined in popularity after World War I in the 1920s. This was especoally the case for boys. We note by the 1930s that virtually no American boys wore sandals. An exceotion seems to be boys from affluent families whose parents were influenced by British fashions. Sandals were worn in america, but almost always by girls. This gender division did not begin to change until after World War II. Sandals seemed more popular in California than the East Coast. We see more sandals in the 1990s. Footwear companies broughout the sports sandal. The open-toe sandals did not the image of little boys/girls foot wear and acquired the image of leisure wear for both boys and men.

The 19th Century

We note boys wearing strap shoes in the 19th century. We do not note sandals in the sence of a casual outdoor shoe-type.

The 20th Century

We only see sandals after the turn-of-the 20th century. This was part of a general shift to more casual styles. And at that time we note boys wearing sandals in both the photographic record and in period cataogs. They seem to be mostly double strp cloesd-toe sandals. They were referred to as barefoot sandals. They appeared in the 1900s, although the photographic record suggests that they were not widely worn in the q900s. We think that they were beginning to become popular by the end of the decade. They seem to have been fairly popular in the 1910s. They were commonly worn with hosiery, but we also see them being worn without hosiery. Sandals declined in popularity after World War I in the 1920s. This was especoally the case for boys. We note by the 1930s that virtually no American boys wore sandals. An exceotion seems to be boys from affluent families whose parents were influenced by British fashions. Sandals were worn in america, but almost always by girls. This gender division did not begin to change until after World War II. Sandals seemed more popular in California than the East Coast. We see more sandals in the 1990s. Footwear companies broughout the sports sandal. The open-toe sandals did not the image of little boys/girls foot wear and acquired the image of leisure wear for both boys and men.

21st Century

We rarely see American children wearing closed-toe strap sandals in the 21st centuru. We still saw them to some extent in the 1990s, but rarely in the 2000s. Few children - even little girls wear English sandals or T-strap shoes anymore. English sandals aren't even made anymore practically except by Amilio/Kepner Scott. Most of the other companies have either folded or moved to China and are producing absolute junk. No more buckled T-strap shoes or anything. If you see little boys or little girls wearing them, it's in all likelihood it will be somewhere in the Deep South like South Carolina, Georgia, or Alabama, but even there they are not very common.

Created: 3:27 AM 8/20/2009
Last updated: 2:17 AM 12/1/2010