Figure 1.--This isan unidentified family snapshot taken we believe in the 1940s, we think the late-40s. We think it is a First Communion portrait. The older boy is wearing a white First Communion suit, meaning he would be about 7-years old. His little brother wears an ordinary short pants suit. He would be about 5 years old. Notice his saddle shoes. Both boys wear open collar sport collars. Both boys also wear ankle socks. Knee socks were becoming less common for boys. The home in the background suggests a middle-class suburban damily living in comfortable circumstances. It is hard to make out the First Communion boy's shoes. They look like two-tone shoes popular in the late-1940s and 50s. They are a style we do not commonly see with First Comminion suits, but do provide a whire appearance here. A reader writes, "The older boy has interesting shoes. It is white buck top where it laces with black patent leather sides around the sole. I remember the shoes when I was very young but never wore them. My mother did have me try them on once and I thought they looked too different. Fortunately, she did not like them so she never bought them. The younger boy wears saddle shoes."

The principal suit style in the 1940s was the single-breasted jacket. We still see the double-breasted jacket, but World War II affected the productioj of double-breasted jackets--like knickers hey equired extra material. Boys at the beginning of the decade wore short pants, knickers, and long pants suits. Knicker suits quickly dissappeared during the War (1941-45). We still see some after the War, but no longer were they very common. After World War II long pants suits became increasingly common. Some yonger boys still wore short pants suits. Boys also wore sports jackets and blazers. Sports jackets with contrasting material pannels were popular in the 1940s and early-50s. Lapels in the 1940s tended to be very wide. A reader writes, "I like the more subdued clothing styles of the 1940s. (No Zoot suits, slouch hats, or pegged pants, please.) I have some typically '40s patterns ties, but if I wear one, I put a solid color vest sweater over it. I recently came by a three button, chocolate brown, window-pane pattern sport coat (light blue and red worked into the material.) Don't know if it's a 1940s or early-'50s. There's no back vent in it. I'd never noticed in old films that men's suit coats had no back vent in the 1930s, '40s, and into the mid-1950s. I've even come across a white-linen, double-breasted boys' short trousers suit. I hadn't seen many of these suits in a double-breasted style." We notice boys wearing suits with open sprts collars.

Created: 12:08 AM 1/2/2017
Last updated: 7:38 PM 1/2/2017