Figure 1.-- Here we have an undated cabinet card done with a grey mount, a popular coor in the 1900s and 10s. It was school in Philadelphia. It looks to us like it was a 9th grade class. the first year of senior high school. The boys as far as we can tell are wearing dark knicker suits and long stockings. . The girls are wearing white blouses and scarves. This was not a uniform, but probably a special outfit decided on for the portrait. It is not dated, but looks to us like the late-1910s, although thecearly-20s is possible.

American boys began wearing shortened-length pants in the 1850s, at first just very young boys. We see some knickers in the 1860s, but we are not sure about schoolwear. School photography was just beginning. We mostly straight-leg knee pants by the 1870s. At first just the younger boys, but by the 1890s we begin to see older boys wearing them. This continued after the turn-of-the 20th century into the 1900s decade. Then at the end of the decade we begin to see knickers. This was gthe first major change in 5 decades. Knickers became virtually universal for American boys in the 1910s, including younger teenagers, but not many of the older teenages as was often seen in the 1900s. Norfolk knickers suits were especially popular. The youngest boys might still wear knee pants or short pants, but most boys wore or wanted to wear knickers instead. This included many teens in secondary schools. While we see some older teens wearing knee pants in the 1900s decade, it was less common for older teens to wear knickers in the 1910s. Most pre-teens wore knickers to school, becoming nearly universal. They were worn with dark, mostly black long stockings as had been the case with knee pants in the 1900s. Through out the decade, we see boys in rural schools commonly wearing overalls. It was virtually universal at some schools, especially for the younger boys. Many of these rural boys depending on the familyb financesd wore knickers when dressing up. But overalls becme very common in rural schools. The primary exception were the boys from poor families that might not have a suit.

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Created: 12:02 AM 4/7/2023
Last updated: 12:02 AM 4/7/2023