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We see younger boys in nursery school or Kindergarten wearing some specialized styles of short pants. This seems especially the case in France. Here we note many boys wearing bib-front shorts or rompers. We also see boys wearing them at what the French call "colonie de vacances". This seems to be a summer camp, but rather has the look of a nursery school. Here we have a colonie de vacances at Gréoux les bains (near Marseille) in 1951. This seems to be a summer camp, but rather has the look of a nursery school. Here we have a colonie de vacances at Gréoux les bains (near Marseille) in 1951 (figure 1). All the boys wear bib-front shorts ( salopettes courtes ). You get the feeling that the school/camp provided them. The boys look to be about 5 to 7 years old. This was a younger age than American parents sent children off to summer camp. You would think there would be a good bit of home sickness.
A reader writes, "I'm not convinced that the camp provided those salopettes courtes, as
then they would all be the same style and color. I suspect that the camp told the families what kind of clothing the boys should wear, and each mother came up with her own solution. Some may even be home-sewn.
I notice that all of the boys who are wearing shirts are in the front row, and seem to be the youngest group. Most of them are wearing t-shirts, and none of them exactly match the others. This also argues
against the clothing being provided by the camp." A reader may be right about the shorts, but there can be differences because the camp bought the shorts at different times or some faded because of washing. To us the uniformity is greater than would be achieved by leaving it up to individual mothers. It is also interesting that the younger boys wear T-shirts. I am not sure what that was the case.
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