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American boys at 14-years old mostly wore long pants suits in the 19th century. Age 14 was a pivotal age for boys. Boys at age 13 were entering their final year of primary school and some were 14-years old by the time they were finishing. This was a relatively small number of boys in the early-19th century, buy by the end of the century, this was a very substantial number. America had one of the finest public school systems in the world. And many boys even in rural areas were completing the 8 year primary program. Secondary education was much more limited, but increasing. And 14-years old was when children began high school in the 9th grade. It was still common for 14 year olds to wear long pants, even in the 1889s, but had begun to change by the late-1880s. We begin to see see many 14-year olds wearing knee pants in the 1890s and 1900s.v And the same age conventions continued for knickers. It was still very common for 14-year olds in the 1920s to wear knickers, both boys who continued their education in high school or ended their education with primary school. This varied from family to family. The boy on the previous page looks to be about 13-14 years old, probably in the late-1920s (figure 1). The age range continued to narrow in the 1920s and by the 1930s many boys at age 14 years were beginning to wear long pants suits like their fathers. We see more boys wearing long pants at 14 years of age inthe the 1930s, especially the late-30s. By the 1930s, especially the mid-30s almost all of the boys in high school were wearing long pants suits. After World War II, high school dress began to become more casual and by the 1950s you no longer see many boys wearing suits to high school.
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