Figure 1.--This looks to be a town primary school we think in the late-1920s. The children look to be 4h graders , meaning 9-year olds. Boys at the time commonly wore knickes. The children are wearing both long stockings and knee sock. At the time long stockings were declining un popularity and knee socks becoming more popular. The children do not seem to happy bout hving their portrait taken. We are not sure why, kids this age usually like to be photographed. Put your cursor on the image to see the rest of the class.

We notice all the different types of hosiery being worn to school by American children, including long stockings, three-quarter socks, knee socks, ankle socks, athletic socks, tube socks, and tights. The popularity of the different types varied substantilly over time. Long stocking were almost universal for several decades. Three-quarter socks and knee socks were very cmmon for a while. Ankle socks became standard after World War II. There were also substantial age and gender variations. And these conventions varied substantially over time. At times boys and girls wore virtually identical hosiery. At other times they wore destinctive hosiery. All the different types of hosiery were worn by both boys and girls. We see boys and girls wearing identical long stockings and three quarter socks. Black long stockings were common with both boys and girls. There were, however, some differences even when boys and girls commonly wore the same hosiery. White stockings and socks were most common with girls. The most obvious difference was with tights. Only girl wore tights. There were other differences. The most obvious was colors. Knee socks were once commonly worn by both boys and girls, but gradually became seen as primarily a girl's style. Tube socks were worn by both boys and girls, but were much more popular with boys as they were an athletic sock.

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Created: 1:51 AM 6/25/2014
Last updated: 1:51 AM 6/25/2014