Figure 1.-- This German school photo was undated, but we think was taken some time from the late-1940s to the early-50s. It is a primary class of children of who look to be about 10-years old. Most of the boys wear short trousers, many with haltars or H-bar attachments. Most of the children wear brown or dark tan long stockings, both boys and girls. There may also be some tights, but we are not positive about that. Several children wear knee socks. It looks like the temperature is gettiung cool, many children have sweaters. During the Winter probably more children wore long stockings. We are not sure if this is East or West Germany. We suspect it was West Germany because the children seem well dressed, but differenceces between the East and West only began to diverge significantly in the early-1950s. Perhaps German readers will have some thoughts here. Put yopur cursor on the image to see the rest of the class.

This German school photo was undated, but we think was taken some time from the late-1940s to the mid-1950s. It is a primary class of children of who look to be about 10-years old. Most of the boys wear short trousers, many with haltars or H-bar attachments. Most of the children wear brown or dark tan long stockings, both boys and girls. There may also be some tights, but we are not positive about that. Several children wear knee socks. It looks like the temperature is gettiung cool, many children have sweaters. During the Winter probably more children wore long stockings. We are not sure if this is East or West Germany. We suspect it was West Germany because the children seem well dressed, but differenceces between the East and West only began to diverge significantly in the early-1950s.

School

This German school class is unidentified. We are not even sure if this is a class in East or West Germany. We suspect it was West Germany because the children seem well dressed, but differenceces between the East and West only began to diverge significantly in the early-1950s. A reader writes, " I suspect East Germany because of the conservatism. I also think that if the photo is from East Germany, the photo could be from the mid-1950s.But I suppose it is ambiguous. The long stockings were common on both sides of the country, I think."

Age Group

It is a primary class of children of who look to be about 10-years old. This looks to be the last year of Grundschule/Volkschule.

Chronology

This German school photo was undated, but we think was taken any time from the late-1940s to the mid-1950s. If the photograph was taken in the 1950s it was almost certainly the early-50s. Perhaps readers will pick up on clues that can help us be more specific. By the late-1950s, German boys began commonly wearing long pants in the winter.

Clothing

Most of the boys wear short trousers, many with haltars or H-bar attachments. Most of the children wear brown or dark tan long stockings, both boys and girls. There may also be some tights, but we are not positive about that. Several children wear knee socks.

Sweaters

It looks like the temperature is gettiung cool, many children have sweaters. We notice both cardigans and pullovers. Several boys wear sleevless sweaters with colorful stripes or patterns. .

Pants

Most of the boys wear short trousers, many with haltars or H-bar attachments. This looks like Lederhosen, but as far as we can tell, the boys are not wearing Lederhosen. The haltars can be misleading because they are so associated with Lederhosen. We note many boys, however, wearing haltars with regular short psnts and of course there are H-bar shorts,

Hosiery

Most of the children wear brown or dark tan long stockings, both boys and girls. There may also be some tights, but we are not positive about that. Several children wear knee socks. During the Winter probably more children wore long stockings. Some of the boys wearing shorter shorts look rather like they are wering tights rather than long stockings. Notice there is no sagging in the stockings. A reader writes, "I don't think tights can be involved here. Tighrs didn't become commercially available until 1957 and even then were expensive and not very popular in middle-class homes. I'm confident we are dealing here with long stockings, not tights. Tights didn't become widely worn in Germany until the 1960s and 1970s." Another reader writes, "Yes I think they are long stockings as well. If you look at the extensive Swiss School section on HBC-su from the late- 1940s and 50s you will see equally long stockings. By the 1940s and 1950s stockings were made extra-long to cover the entire upper-leg. We also note the same tendency in United States. Extra-long stockings start to appear in the Sears and Wards ads in the late 1930s and early 1940s because of the increasingly short trousers and skirts. In America we believe that these longer stockings were mostly worn by girls, but in Germany and Switzerlasnd they were widely worn by boys as well. This is one of the reasons that we see the attempt to market button-on stockings which would look like tights. Of course the button-on stockings weren't popular and didn't sell well, but the long length in both countries is clearly established.

Footwear

The children seem to be wearing low-cut sgoews. One boy wears sandals. Two boys seem to be wearing rubber booys. This may suggest a rural village school.

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Created: 7:49 AM 7/14/2010
Last updated: 6:38 PM 7/14/2010