Figure 1.--These 11-12 year old English boys wear their grammar school uniform. This is Form 1A and this is the first year at the school.
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Figure 1.--These 11-12 year old English boys wear their grammar school uniform. This is Form 1A and this is the first year at the school. |
The Harrow County School for Boys in 1961 was a grammar school, an academically selective secondary school. The boys here are the new entrants from primary school. The school had a uniform code, but did not specify long or short trousers. This was up to the parents. Many parents in 1961 felt that short trousers were more appropriate for boys than long trousers
These photographs were taken in 1961. HBC is not sure just when during the year the school photograph was taken. Generally at English schools the class photograph is taken during the end of the year in May or June, but there is no way of being sure about this.
The photographs show the boys in Form 1A and 1B who would be 11-12 years old. This would depend somewhat on when the photograph was taken. At the beginning of the year there would be a mixture of 11 and 12 year olds. By the end of the tear the boys are mostly 12 years old. Boys admitted to a grammar school are the academically capable boys who did well on the 11+ exam which they took in their last year of primary school.
Figure 2.--New entrants at the school in 1961 wore both long and short trousers. While there was a set uniform, parents could choose either long or short trousers. |
These photographs show the boys wearing a traditional uniform of dark (probably black) blazer with the school crest. The boys wear white shirts, ties, and grey trousers. Quite a number of the Form 1 boys wear short pants. All the boys but one wear grey socks. One boy for some reason wears white socks. Some but not all of the boys in shorts have the kneesicks with the colored bands. Others wear plain grey kneesocks. All of the boys wear black leather shoes. The previous year in primary school, some of these boys probably wore sandals.
HBC is unsure just how common it was for Form 1A boys to wear short pants. The 10 boys in the front row are evenly split between short and long trousers (figure 1). It is no clear what the rest of the boys are wearing because there is no way of knowing if this is a repesentaive sample. An older boy at the school at the time reports that probably more than half of the Form 1 boys wore shorts. He reports, "I am stretching my memory a little, but I am sure that more than half of boys of 11/12 would have been wearing shorts. I think the Form 1B photograph is probably a better representation of the clothing fashions for boys of that age at that time (figure 3). Of course, a lot would depend on when in the academic year the pictures were taken--there would have been more boys in shorts at the beginning of the year than at the end."
HBC is not precisely sure why there would be such a difference between the beginning and the end of the year for boys this age. Probably the priary factor is that the yonger boys see the older boys wearing long pants, as well as some of their mates, and want long pants themselves. Perhaps some of the boys in shorts got teased. Another factor is the weather. As the weather got colder in November and December, some of the boys may have complained to their parents about wearing short pants in the dead of winter.
Figure 3.--This photograph, also taken in 1961 shows the Form 1B boys. A boy at the school in 1961 reports that this Form was a more representative sampling of the boys than Form 1A. |
HBC at this time has no information on the uniform worn by older boys at the school. In the 1960s it was not uncommon for Form 2 boys to wear shorts and even a few Form 3 boys, but this varied from school to school. No actual information is available at this time.
Contributions from English readers suggest that boys had mixed opinions about short trousers, as they call them. Some boys didn't like them as they were a badge of boyhood. They would badger their parents for a pair of longs. Other boys weren't really bothered. Some boys report that their mothers bought them long trousers without even being asked. Some boys complained that shorts were uncomfortable in the cold weather. In fact modern English boys wouldn't think about wearing shorts in the winter.
Figure 4.--Note the two boys in the right and how the colored bands on their kneesocks are different from the boy on the left and the boys in figure 1 above. |
As was the case of many grammar schools, it is apparent from these photographs that the school very strictly enforced the rules on uniforms. Each of the boys is carefully togged out in the uniform. Not one boy has turned up without the blazer or tie. The only variance HBC notes is the kneesocks. Not that any boy has worn ankle socks or other than grey colored socks. However a few boys wear kneesocks other than the regulation kneesocks with the correct color band. The regulation kneesocks appears to be a two-color band, including yellow. Some boys, however, wear a twin one color band, probably red. In fact two of the boys have the same kneesocks, suggesting they are socks worn at the local primary school from which they were promoted.
An English HBC contributor reports that "... short trousers on English and European boys were such a given when I was a kid in the '50's. It seemed they all wore them until they were about 14 years old. American kids had mostly abandoned them by 7-8 years. So it surprises
me to see that in 1961, only half the 11-12 year olds are in them. Changes must have been well under way even then."
An English HBC contributor reports, "I know when I first moved to London in 1964 that the local catholic school had all the first year boys in short trousers. Almost all of the second year boys when shorts became optional chose long trousers. There may have been a few second year boys wearing shorts, almost certainly because their parents insisted, but there were not very many."
Figure 4.--Note the two boys in the right and how the colored bands on their kneesocks are different from the boy on the left and the boys in figure 1 above. |
A decade later the changes mentioned above can be clearly seen at the Harrow School. Almost all the boys were wearing long pants in 1972. At least one of the first year boys, however, was still wearing short pants.
Related Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[The 1880s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1950s]
[The 1960s]
[The 1970s]
[The 1980s]
Related Style Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Long pants suits]
[Short pants suits]
[Socks]
[Eton suits]
[Jacket and trousers]
[Blazer
[School sandals