Figure 1.--These 11-12 year old English boys wear their grammar school uniform. This is Class 1K and it 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 Class 1K and it is the first year at the school. |
The Harrow County School for Boys in 1972 was a grammar school, an academically selective secondary school. English grammar schools at the time were being reorganized as comprehensives, rather like American non-selective high schools. Surprisingly much of this transformation took place during a Conservative Government, in fact, while Masrgaret Thatcher was Minister of Education. HBC is not sure just when the Harrow School was reorganized. 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. Most parents by 1972 thought that long trousers were more appropriate for boys than short trousers, or at least acceeded to their boys' opinions on the subject.
These photographs were taken in 1972. 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. A stron clue, however, is that the trees in the background have leaves. This means almost suredly that the photograph was indeed taken in May or June. Probably not July as the schools by that time are winding down the school year.
The photographs show the boys in Class 1K and 1P 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. There appears to have been an academic reorganization at the school. Rather than a few large forms, like 1A and 1B in 1961, there are now a larger number of smaller forms. As the forms here are Classes 1K and 1P, this suggests that there are 15 or more Form 1 classes. Also they are now called classes and not forms.
Figure 2.--New entrants at the school in 1972 almost all wore long trousers--there was, however, one exception. There may have been a few more boys wearing shorts earlier in the year. |
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. This is identical with the uniform worn by the Form 1 boys in 1961. THe principal difference with the 1961 uniform is that virtually all the boys wear long trousers. One boy can be seen in short trousers. Presumably at least a few of the boys in the back rows also wear shorts. All of the boys wear black leather shoes. The previous year in primary school, some of these boys probably wore sandals.
It is clear that by 1972 that it was not common for boys at the Harrow School--even the younger Class 1 boys to wear short trousers.
Only 1 boy in the front row of the two photographs wears shorts. There may be a boy or two wearing shorts in the back rows, but it is clear that there are not very many. An English contributor that attended the school in the 1960s reports, "The two pictures from 1972 are pretty representative of the time. By then shorts for boys of secondary school age were unusual, although certainly not unknown." This may have depended on the season. These photographs were taken toward the end of the school year. At the beginning of the year before the winter more of the boys may have worn shorts.
HBC is not sure why only one boy at the school wears short trousers. This may have been more likely at the beginning of the year when boys may have been sent to school not knowing almost all the other boys wore longs. This boy has been photographed near the end iof the year so he has spent almost his entire year in shorts. As mentioned above, perhaps there were more boys wearing shorts at the beginning of the year. One HBC reader speculates that perhaps he wore longs during the winter and he or his mum have switched back to shorts for the warmer summer weather. But HBC thinks this was unlikely. He looks a happy little fellow, apparently not bothered about being the only boy in shorts. It seems likely that his mates would have teased him a bit about it.
Figure 3.--Note that the one boy wearing shorts wears plain grey kneesocks without the colored bands that the boys in 1961 wore. This was probably because so few boys wore shorts in 1972 that there was no need for special school socks. |
HBC at this time has no information on the uniform worn by older boys at the school. Given the fact that almost all the Class 1 boys wear long pants, however, it seems likely that the older boys at the school all wear longs.
Contributions from English readers suggest that boys in the 1950s and 60shad 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. Clearly from these photographs, English boys had rather much made up their mind about shorts. They didn't want to wear them any more. It was an option at the school, and only one boy can be seen to have taken the option and this was presumably done so by his mother. Notably, 1972 is only 3 years after the English Boy Scouts decided to switch to long trousers,
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 that some boys wear sweaters and some do not. Clearly sweaters were an option. Shorts were the only other apparent option.
Other than the short apnts, the only noticable difference between the 1961 and 72 photographs are the hair styles. Several of the boys in 1972 have a variety of longing hair styles, although none of the boys have long shoulder-length hair.
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]