Figure 1.--

I remember wearing camp shorts when I was about 7 years old (1959), all the way through teenage years. This style of shorts was well liked; almost all the boys I remember from school or the neighborhood wore camp shorts and other styles of shorts. Khaki was the most popular color far and away, but navy and forest green were other well liked colors. The camp shorts we wore all had belt loops and were partly elasticized. One cargo pocket up front was snap-closed, and it seems like the other was closed by a zipper. There were two open side pockets, as well. On the right side of the shorts, attached to the belt loops was a metal "utility" loop, handy for attaching a pocket knife for camping, or a keychain and keys, if you wanted. The back pockets were the same as other shorts or trousers.

My Camp Shorts

I remember wearing camp shorts when I was about 7 years old (1959), all the way through teenage years.

Popularity

This style of shorts was well liked; almost all the boys I remember from school or the neighborhood wore camp shorts and other styles of shorts.

Colors

Khaki was the most popular color far and away, but navy and forest green were other well liked colors.

Size

Features

The camp shorts we wore all had belt loops and were partly elasticized. One cargo pocket up front was snap-closed, and it seems like the other was closed by a zipper. There were two open side pockets, as well. On the right side of the shorts, attached to the belt loops was a metal "utility" loop, handy for attaching a pocket knife for camping, or a keychain and keys, if you wanted. The back pockets were the same as other shorts or trousers.

Length

Back then camp shorts were hemmed, as HBC notes, about mid-length, definitely a couple of inches above the knee. They weren't really short, either, like the shorts of the 1970's. As Edward writes, they were very comfortable.

Material

The material was not heavy (probably a cotton blend), and they held up very well in active play.

Utility

Their "ruggedness" and "durability" were stressed in department store newspaper ads for these shorts, a selling point, I think, aimed at boys who shied away from shorts. Camp shorts may have been inspired by the shorts of the Boy Scouts' uniform, although Scout uniforms at the time did not have cargo pockerts and zippers. The "outdoors" look of these shorts that suggests plenty of activity and ruggedness probably made these shorts acceptable to a lot of boys. Many American boys thought shorts were dressy clothes for younger boys and were reluctant to wear them. Camp shorts (and cutoffs, too, as HBC discusses in another page) may have helped popularize shorts for boys in the United States from about the 1960s onward, a real change in American boys' clothes.

Accompanying Clothes

Camp shorts were usually worn with a T shirt or pullover shirt, crew socks, and sneakers or mocassins. Sandals for boys 7-16 were hardly ever seen when I was growing up. I don't think many boys wore dress shoes, like loafers, with camp shorts, either. We could dress in these clothes for school, to go to a film, or just to play in. Camp shorts were versatile wear.

John

Created: September 24, 2001
Last updated: September 24, 2001