Figure 1.--We see some boys wearing these single strap sandals for playwear. They seem to be a kind of gym shoe, I think done in canvas or other material other than leather. The boys seem to be at camp.

Before World War II (1939-45), the most common type of sandal worn in Germany was the single strap style without a center strap. These were leather sandals. Some were for dresswear as a formal shoe. others were made as a play sandal. We see more gurls than boys wearing this style, but quite a few boys wore it as well. American advertizing did not at first use the term "sandal" in the sence of a play shoe. I am not sure about German advertizing. We notice these shoes in the early 20th century. They seen especially common for boys in the 1920s. They were most commobly worn by younger boys, but we note school age boys wearing them as well. A good example is a German boy about 1930. The popularity declined, however, during the NAZI era (1933-45) as it was not considered sufficiently masucline for German boyhood. One never sees, for example, a Hitler Youth boy wearing strap sandals. There was one exception here. We have noted Hitler Youth boys and other German boys wearing what look like strap shoes, but they seem to be a kind of gym shoe made in canvas or other material rather than ledather. We are not sure that it was actually worn for gym in schools, but that is a possibility. They all seem to be black. We only notice these shoes in the 1920s and 30s. We notice somewhat older boys wearing these gym shoes than the leather strap shoes.

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main country closed-toe sandal psge]
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Cloth and textiles] [Clothing styles] [Countries] [Topics]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Satellite sites] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]

Created: 4:36 AM 11/21/2005
Last updated: 4:36 AM 11/21/2005