Figure 1.--.
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Figure 1.--. |
We notice Hudson adverisements dated "c. 1960" for tights. In these images the only color offered is black, although other colors were apparently available as well. Helanca was a synthetic fiber resembling wool developed in Germany during World War II because Europe had become "almost completely cut off from its textile raw material sources overseas." "Artificial silk and rayon staple, and therefore also the Helanca process, became more and more important" in the manufacturing of boys' and girls' stockings and tights. Hudson, one of the brands that was well known in Germany, advertised "the high elasticity of Helanca material" which made possible "the production of circular-knit seamless tights" for both children and adults.
We are not entirely sure of the chronology for children's tights. We believe they first appeared in the 1950s, but are not sure just when. The Hudson advertisesements about 1960 were relatively early ones for children's tights. We are unable to date them precisely, but about 1960 is a reasonable guess.
Hudson was presumably a German hosiery company. We know nothing about the company at this time. The Hudson adverisements here dates to c. 1960". So we notice that Hudson was functining in the post-War era.
In these images the only color offered is black, although other colors were apparently available as well.
The tights were made in Helanca, a synthetic fiber resembling wool developed in Germany during World War II. At the time, Hermany had become "almost completely cut off from its textile raw material sources overseas." Cotton in particular was almost impossible to obtain. When the War began, Britain instituted a naval blockade (September 1939). This cut cut German access to major cotton prodyucers like America and Egypt. Cotton was also grown in Soviet Centrl sia, but the NAZI invasion of the Soviet Union (June 1941) cut off access to Soviet law materials. Until that time, the Soviets under the terms of the NAZI-Sovoet Non Aggression Pact (August 1939) were supplying German y with large quantities of raw materials to support the NAZI war effort. After the War, the technology developed became an imprtant part of the German clothig industry. The German Hosiery Museum tells us, "Artificial silk and rayon staple, and therefore also the Helanca process, became more and more important" in the manufacturing of boys' and girls' stockings and tights. Hudson, one of the brands that was well known in Germany, advertised "the high elasticity of Helanca material" which made possible "the production of circular-knit seamless tights" for both children and adults. The use of Helanca yarns declined rapidly
after World War II ended because the new "wonder material" nylon began
arriving from the United States.
We do not notice German boys wearing tights with short pants as commonly as was the case with long stockings. This is probably because by 1960, it was less common for boys to wear short pants, especially during the colder months.
Hudson was a West German company. West German clothes were not markted in East Germany because of East German trade policies. East Germans wre, however, aware of West German fashions, primarily because of television. Publications could be stoped at the border, especially after the Wall began to be constructed in 1961. It was much more difficult to stop TV brodcasts.
A HBC reader writes. Even teenage
boys wore tights as an alternative to long stockings during the war although
they were more common for younger children since the NAZIs tended to regard
the wearing of long stockings and tights by boys as too unmasculine. We are
told by several observers, however, that in many rural areas where customs
changed slowly, boys continued to wear both long stockings despite
the NAZI attitude, partly because conservative families continued to insist on
short pants for boys and because mothers regarded long stockings as more
appropriate than bare knees for formal occasions such as church as well as
more protective in cold weather. One might suspect that boys in rural areas might have been more likely to wear tughts as long stockings had been more common in rural areas. This does not seem to have been the case. Tights do not seem to have been more common among conservative or rural familiy."
German Hosiery Museum
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