Figure 1.--These English boys look to be brothers wearing school clothes about 1960. We are fairly sure they are English, but not positive. The background provides no clue about nationality. The boys must be brothers, about 4-7 years old. They are wearing what look to be school clothes, shirt, sweater, short pants and ankle socks. All standard wear in many European countries. While standard school clothes, they were not a uniform because the younger boy is not old enough for school yet. They are identically dressed except the older boy wears sandals and the younger boy shoes. While England seems the most likely country, countries like Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands are all possibilities.

We have found many photographs with boys wearing sandals where the country is not indicated. We often can guess the country by the rest of the clothing and the background. Ethnicity, houses, cars, landscape, and other items are often very useful in figuring out the country. In many cases this leads to a counytry with a fair degree of confidence. In other cases the country involved is not at all clear or at least not definitive. This is especially the case in Europe. Clothing trends including footwear are very similar in some countries and very destinctive in other countries. Some countries are fairly easy to identify. Others are very difficult to destinguish. There are about 40 countries in Europe and sandals were widely worn in many of those countries during the 20th century, some more than others. Some of the major countries Like England, France, and Germany are fairly easy to identify. Smaller countries are virtually impossible to identify. Readers my be interested in the indicators we pick up on to try to identify the country when it is not indicated.

Image 1: Probably England

These English boys look to be brothers wearing school clothes about 1960. We are fairly sure they are English, but not positive. The background provides no clue about nationality. The boys must be brothers, about 4-7 years old. They are wearing what look to be school clothes, shirt, sweater, short pants and ankle socks. All standard wear in many European countries. While standard school clothes, they were not a uniform because the younger boy is not old enough for school yet. They are identically dressed except the older boy wears sandals and the younger boy shoes. While England seems the most likely country, countries like Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands are all possibilities.

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Created: 11:49 PM 10/15/2016
Last updated: 11:49 PM 10/15/2016