Figure 1.--This German cabinet card portrait shows three unidentified brothers wearing matching militart-style cadet school caps. We are not sure, however, if this they were an actual school cap. The yoiunger boy looks a bit young for school. Mother might have pourchased them as a school-type cap. Notice the younger boy's hoop. Children in the 19th century would play a game called hoop rolling or hoop trundling. They would run with a stick and the hoop and see how long they could keep it rolling in an upright position. The portrait is undated, but we would guess it was taken about 1900. The photographer was Berliner Atelier in Manheim.

We note large numbers of boys wearing quite a range of cap types to school, both as uniforms and as regular clothes. Hats were very common in he 19th century, but in the 20th century boys mostly wore caps. One of the styles particularly associated with school was the peaked cap worn in Britain and British colonies. Although stroingly associated withschools, it cbecomes much less common after the 1950s. Many American boys in the early-20th centiury wore flat caps to school. Bsevall caps became more common in the late-20th century. Cadet caps were very populr in Germany from the post-Npolonic War mid-19th century until the Workld war II mid-20th century. They were also worn in usdtri, but not in other countries, except curiously for Japan. The Japanese were so impressed with Prussia and Germny that they adopted to cadet caps for their new Menjii Restoration schools. As they colonized Korea, the style also became established there. Sailor caps were also popular in Germany for a time, but mostly for younger boys.

Baseball Cap

Some schools in the late 20th century adoptedca related style--the American baseball cap. American boys wore baseball caps as part of casual dress. Some schools in Australia nd New Zealand adopted the vaseball cap as part of the school uniform, some with sun protection alterations. This trend has been less common in England. We also notice boys at many Japanese schools wearing baseball caps, a trend which began we believecin the 1960s.

Campaign Cap

Belgian boys also wore a campaign styled cap was popular after World War II. The camoaign cap was a form of the Scottish Glengary, at least this is where we first notice it. It was not, hwoever,a school capin Scotland. Belgium wa, however,one of the few plces where it was a school cap that we know about. This did not have a brim, but the term cap has become so associated wih it that we have included it jn the cap section.

Flat Cap

Many American boys wore flat caps to school in the early 20th century, but these were not a uniform cap. Just as the the sailor suit was a popular style for schoolwear, but not a school uniform,so was the flat cap. So many American boys wore flat caps to school that it became associated with school wear in the United states. We only know of one school in England that used the flat cap a a uniform cap.

Military-style (Cadet) Peaked Cap

Many European boys in the late-19th and early-20 cenury wore peaked military caps. We have noted these caps especially in Germany, but they appaer to have been worn to a lesser extent in other European countries as well. There were several differnt styles. These were not part of uniforms, but rather worn with the boys ordinary clothes. Few German schools required actual uniforms. Sone boys even wore them with sailor suits. They were worn both as part of a standadized school uniform and as a style selected individually. We have also noted them worn with sailor suits. We have not noted them being worn in Europe after the 1920s. They are still widely worn in Japan, mostly by boys in secondary school. Before World War II primary school boys also wore these caps, but after the War they became mostly wore by boys in secondary schools.

Mortar Board

The square academic cap has a variety of names. It is commonly called a mortarboard in the United States because it looks somewhat like the hawk used by bricklayers to hold their mortar. We don't know if this term is also used in Britain. We do note that the British sometimes use the term Oxford cap. Other terms include: square, trencher, or corner-cap. The motar board is an item of academic dress which consists of a horizontal square board fixed upon a skull-cap, with a tassel or liripipe, attached to the center. Traditionally the motarboard is black, but in the United States various colors are worn. The motar board is the tyoe of headwear referred to in the term "cap and gown". The origins of the motarboard are not fully understood. It may have had Roman origins. It almost certainly is related to the "biretta", a square-top cap worn by medieval Roman Catholic clergy. As early universities were founded by the Church and instructors were priests and other churchmen, these caps became seen as academic headwear long after the clergy no longer wore them. We note both masters and students wearing motar boards in the 9th century at some English preparatory and public schools. They were often worn with Eton collars, a popular school style for many decades. We no longer see them commonly worn at Englisg schools by the students, except at a few choir schools. Academics do wear them at formal occassions. They are also worn by university students for their graduation ceremony. This is very common in Britain and the United States and many other countries have adopted the convention. Caps and gowns are also used for American high school graduations. These caps and gowns are traditionally black, but some schools have adopted colored caps and downs. American universiies have developed an elaborate color scheme where the tassel reflects the subject in which the degree is earned.

Peaked Cap

The peaked school cap originated in England, but caps were worn in other countries as well. It was England, however, wear the cap reached almost universal status as a required part of any schoolboy's attire. Virtually all British schoolboys wore peaked caps through the 1950s. Both state and private schools required them. A great variety of colors, including circles and school crests decorated these caps which flooded British streets with boys going and coming to school. As the fashion of wearing caps and hats wained, school caps began to disappear in the 1960s. The cap came to be one of the unpopular items of school uniform. By the 1980s only a handful of private schools still required them. Some schools in the mid-1990s began adopting caps again out of concern for skin cancer. The caps being adopted are often styled like American baseball caps with larger brims than the traditional English peaked school cap.

Sailor Cap

Many boys in the late-19th and early20th century wore sailor caps and hats, but again these were not commonly part of a school uniform. We note a few British schools with sailor uniforms. The major example are the sailor outfits that Japanese school girls wore. Many German boys wore sailor caps to school, but not part of uniforms. Some younger boys wore sailor hats.

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Created: 5:52 AM 6/13/2012
Last updated: 5:52 AM 6/13/2012