Figure 1.-- Here is a school photograph from 1939 in Houston, Texas. It must have been Scout day as most of the boys are wearing their Cub Scout uniforms. It was quite common for American schools at the time to have a Scout day each week. It is a little unusual to see American cub scouts wearing the shorts pants uniform. At the time most American Cubs wore a knickers uniform.

Here is a school photograph from 1939 in Houston, Texas. It must have been Scout Day as most of the boys are wearing their Cub Scout uniforms. Schools have played an important role in youth groups. Many Scout groups were organized and sponsored by schools. It was quite common for American schools at the time to have a Scout Day each week. It is a little unusual to see American cub scouts wearing the shorts pants uniform. At the time most American Cubs wore a knickers uniform. I was not even sure that there was offical Cub shorts at the time. A reder writes, "I wonder whether the issue concerning the scout short trousers worn by Cubs is more reflective of the heat of Houston and other areas of the South before air conditioning." I think the climate was a factotr. We think two factors are at play here. First, the class is in Texas and the weather in Houston can be very hot. This may explain why the boys are not wearing Cub kneesocks. Second, River Oaks was a planned upper class neighborhood (current average real estate values are in excess of a million dollars). Among the alumni of the school is Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. We are not sure if the other boys not in Cub uniforms are wearing long or short pants or perhaps knickers. Note one of the Cubs is wearing knickers. Also notice one boy wearing a shirt with a sports collar. The girls mostly wear dresses with puffed sleeves. One girl wears an H-bar skirt. The portrait was taken in October 1939 at the beginning of the school year. The sign indicated that this was Miss Duff's class. The L4 on the board probably means the 4th grade. The children would have been about 9 years of age.

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Created: 12:08 AM 1/7/2006
Last updated: 1:09 PM 1/11/2006