Figure 1.--Herewe see a German primart school classroom. The children to be look about 8 years old. The photograph is undated, but we would guess was taken in the late-1950s. All the halters suggesg that it was taken in Bavaria. The girls appear to be eraring dresses and blouses and skirts. The boys wear colar shirts and 'T' shiers with shrt pants. We see both ankle and knee socks. There are two adults. We are not sure wjo is the teacher. The man may be the school principal. The teacher hasn;t given much attention to creating interesting wall displays.

There was little difference between East and West Germany in the 1940s. East Germany was the more agranian part of Germany with much of the industry in the West. Social patterns, educational standards, and living conditions were very similar. This change markedly in the 1950s. The United States intriduced the Marshal Plan (1947) to help the devestated economies of Europe recover. Irinically no coyntry benefitted more from this than Germany, the country responsible for most of the devestation. But it was only West Germany that benefitted. Stalin would not allow the East Germans and other Soviet Eastern European satellite countries participate. The result was the German Economic Miricle. During the 1950s, German living standards quickly surpased those in Britain. One of the many consequences of the German economic expansion was clothing and fashion. German workers never had so much disposible income. And one area in which they spent was clothing. German children never were so wel drssed and no just the well-to-do and middle class, but the workers as well. For the first time in German history it was no longer ro determine the social origins of children by the way they dressed. Casual clothing became mopre common at school. Boys continued to commonly dress in short psants, although by the end of the decade most boys wore long pants when the weather turned cool. Long stockings went out of style, but at the end of the decade tights became available. Lederhosen became increasingly common including areas other than Bavaria. Lederhosen were widely worn in the 1950s.

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Created: 7:18 AM 7/21/2017
Last updated: 7:18 AM 7/21/2017