Figure 1.--This French class was photographed at a Paris school (ecole) in 1960-61. The children look to be about 6 years old. We do not know what the older children at the school wore.

Smocks were still commonly worn in the early 1960s, but not as common in the 1960s. In addition, styles were changing. Those boys that did wear smocks were much more likely to take them off after school. I addition older boys wre less likely to wear them to school. HBC still have only limited information on this period. Also by the 1960s, important changes were developing in the styles with back buttoning smocks becoming less common for boys. Increasingly it was younger boys in France who were still wearing smocks. They were still very common in nursery schools, but lees and less commonly worn in ementary schools.

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This French class was photographed at a Paris school (ecole) in 1960-61. The children look to be about 6 years old it was the first year of the primary. French schools in the 1960s were increasing coeducational. We do not know what the older children at the school wore. In this class there are both boys and girls. Sone are easy to identify, others less so. Smocks were not compulsory in the public school. It was up to the mothers. In this school, all the mothers for these younger children chose smocks. Note that the teacher wore smocks as well. We suspect that since all of the children wear smocks that the teacher or school may have encouraged the mothers to send at least the younger children to school in smocks. A French reader remembering his primary school tells us, "In France the academic programm was heavy for us children. We had academic classes both in the morning and afternoon. There was little time for recreation. We also had home work assignments."