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Boys and girls in the 1930s still commonly wore leather shoes to go to school in and even for play. Sneakers were available but were mostly worn for play during the summer. Leather shoes were much more common. The Sears illustration here is a page from their 1935 Spring-Summer catalog. From looking at the catalog, strap shoes were still popular for boys in the United States during the mid 1930s. We believe, however, that this is misleading. I think the shoes illustrated are misleading though. I don't think that strap shoes were commonly worn by school age boys. Its a little confusing as many of these garmdnts were made for quite a wide range of ages. Strap shoes for school age boys certainly are not shown in the photographic record as shown here.
Boys and girls in the 1930s still commonly wore leather shoes to go to school in and even for play. Sneakers were available but were mostly worn for play during the summer. Leather shoes were much more common.
The Sears illustration here is a page from their 1935 Spring-Summer catalog. From looking at the catalog, one might think that strap shoes were still popular for boys in the United States during the mid 1930s. We believe, however, that this is misleading. I think the shoes illustrated are misleading though. I don't think that strap shoes were commonly worn by school age boys. We have not noted boys dressed like this wearing strap shoes. Its a little confusing as many of these garmdnts were made for quite a wide range of ages. Strap shoes for school age boys certainly are not shown in the photographic record as shown here.
This is an important point because we have archived a good bit of information from catalogs and advertising. We need to know just how valid this information here is and how best to use it. This is not just a minor detail. A full understanding of these catalogs and how accurate the illustrations are affects how the information in the HBC catalog section can be used.We believe that items being offered for sale do accurately reflect contemporary styles. Items added that were ot for sale, like the shoes here, are a different matter. Here we think a variety of factors can complicate the choice of these items, which seems to be what has happened here.
The reader who provided the calalog page writes, "I completely agree that strap shoes on boys are not common in the photographic record in the US (except for very formal occasions, i.e. weddings), and then probably in the very early 30s. It may just be that the illustrators for the catalog were used to drawing them from the 1920s. Or, possibly they were trying to revive the style, because there were many strap shoes for sale in the shoe section of the catalog as well as four double t-strap shoes." HBC thinks thzat perhaps the illustrations were drawn by a lady who was out of tune with boys' fashions. Perhaps there is another reason.
Another reader writes, "I can think of two good reasons for drawing boys in strap shoes at
that time. First, it would be primarily wealthier boys who would have
worn them, and in the height of the Great Depression people may
have wanted to identify with the wealthy. The seller may have also
been able to sell more of the outfits depicted, playing off of
unconscious 'snob appeal'. The second reason is more prosaic: Single-strap shoes are
probably the easiest of all shoes to draw. On the other hand, I believe that classic double T-strap sandals were pretty widely worn by boys in some areasof the USA. I grew
up in Southern California in 1940s-50s. Judging from family album
photos, most of my older male cousins wore such sandals at some
time during their early years. And when I was in grade school (late
1940s - early 1950s), there were nearly always some boys in the
younger grades (Kindergarten through about Third) who wore them,
although by then they were less common."
Our readers raise some interesting points. Wearing sandals I think varied somewhgat, bith rgionally and by social class. One thing I am sure about because of my familiarity with the photographic record, boys did not commonly wear clothes like this with patent leather strap shoes. Even more casual souble-strap sandals were not common with clothes like this. We tend to think that as our reader suggests, the strap shoes here had a dressy, upper-class look. I don't think the Depression was involved here. I think at the time, upper-class peope were still emulated as far as fashion goes. And the illustrator was probably a woman. Female illustrators are often not fully aware of gender connotations, especially the stregth of boys resistance to wearing clothing that had a girlish look. The fact that strap shoes are easier to draw may alsi be a factor, here were are not sure.
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