Figure 1.--School sandals in the 1980s were declining in popularity. They were, however, still pert of the school uniform at many preparatory schools. Here we see some prep school boys in 1986.

Closed toe sandals appear to have appeared in England, America, and other countries at the turn of the 20th century. We have a larger archive of American impages at the turn of the century, but believe they were also common in Europe. They become more common in the 1900s. They appear in both formal portraits and informal snapshots. We note catalog advertisements in the early 20th century, but are not sure when the first ads appeared. HBC is unsure at this time why the sandal suddenly proved popular in the early 20th century. Perhaps it was part of the overall shift toward increased informality in dress. Chronology is importan not only in the development of closed-toe sandals, but also in terms of popularity as well as age and gender conventions.

The 1900s

Closed toe sandals appear to have appeared in England, America, and other countries at the turn of the 20th century. We have a larger archive of American impages at the turn of the century, but believe they were also common in Europe. They become more common in the 1900s. They appear in both formal portraits and informal snapshots. HBC is unsure at this time why the sandal suddenly proved popular in the early 20th century. We note one American boy wearing multiple strap shoes about 1905. These do not havr the ceter support strap. More common were the sandals with one or two cross straps. A portrait of two brothers is a good example. This style seems to have been more common before the turn of the century. Perhaps it was part of the overall shift toward increased informality in dress. We note the Avery boys in Washington wearing double strap sandals in 1908 as a kind of play shoe. A reader writes, "I have looked at hundreds of early photographs, and can find few images of double-strap close-toe sandals before the turn of the 20th century." HBC has also found this to be the case. A reade writes, "I have seen ads in the Newark (NJ) Evening News, advertising the barefoot sandal type in the period 1900 to 1910." Illustrators would usually provide an idealized picture seem to use the single strap style with white socks most commonly. We do note published illustrations by Gutmam in 1909. Mostly he depicts songle-strap shoes, but there does appear to be one boy shown wearing "T"-strap sandals. Most of the images we note in the 1900s show children wearing sandals as more of a dressy strap shoe than a casual play sandal. A good example is an English boy wearing white strap shoes. We note an open-style, but it does not seem to have been very common.

The 1910s

We note catalog advertisements in the early 20th century, but are not sure when the first ads appeared. The earliest we have found so far are from the 1910s. Some images show strap shoes being worn with dress outfits, such as these American children. We also notice an Edinburgh boy about 1910 in dressy strap shoes. We are not sure if these should be called sandals. Note that the same style is worn by both boys and girls. The American Montgomery Ward Catalog Supplement #82 for Spring/Summer 1914, shows a "Barefoot Sandal" for men, women, and children. More importantly, on another page of the supplement, I found a similar style for women listed as "New style Bulgarian Sandal." I am not yet sure about the origins of the Bulgarian sandal. We note another Scottish boy who appears to be wearing sandals as casual footwear in 1918. We notice an English boy wearing strap shoes with a sailor suit in 1919. We note an undated Swedish portrait. The boy is wearing double-bar sandals, we think in the late 1910s.

The 1920s

We note a Montgomery ward offering closed-toe sandals which they called barefoot sandals in their catalogs. See for example 1922 and 1923. These shoes were done in both casual and dress styles. And we note an American boy wearing sandals just like them for a beautiful baby contest in 1924. German children wore single-bar sandals, we notice two children in the early 20s. We note single-bar sandals with a center strap being worn by British school children in the 1920s. Before World War I, heavy boot-like shoes were more common. These sandals became known as school sandals. We note what appears to be Canadian children, both boys and girls, wearing sandals, probably in the early 1920s. We also notice a Czech boy wearing single-strap sandals at a school in 1922. Most of his school mates are barefoot or wearing heavy boot-like shoes. They were worn to some extent in Europe, but were not very common at all in America. We note German boys wearing different styles of sandals in the 1920s. They often seem to boys from affluent families. One example is a portrait of two brothers. The portrait is indated, but we suspect the earky 1920s although the 1910s is also possible. A later example is a boy and his sister wearing matching sandals in 1929. They are the strap shoe style without a center strap.

The 1930s

We note sandals being worn by boys in Europe and Britain. Sandals seem to have been especially common in England. Younger boys might wear strap shoes, sometimes in red, with white socks. An example is a boy in Regents Park. School children were more likely to wear the "T"-strap style of school sandal. We also see Scottish boys wearing sandals. We note a family of Scottish brothers in 1932. Sandals were less common in America. where they were more commonly worn by girls. We do have a number of photographs of American boys wearing sandals, in part because our American archive is more extensive than that from other countries. We do note some American children wearing sandals for a dancing class. And we note some portraits of younger boys wearing sandals. We thibk seasonal and social class fctors were involved here. While there are a number of such images, the vast majority of American boys wore shoes rathr than sandals. We do note one younger American boy in a rural school wearing sandals in 1939. We think that boys wearing sandals to school were especially unusual.

The 1940s

We note Swiss school children, both boys and girls, wearing double strap sandals about 1944. I'm not sure about the color, bit they look like they may have been red. We note children at a French colonial school wearing different types of motly closed-toe sandals in 1948-49.

The 1950s

We note boys in many countries wearing closed-toe sandals in the 1950s. There were very substantial differences among countruies, especially between America and European countries. We note sandals being offered by the Sears catalog in the early 1950s. An example is the 1950 catalog. This was the double bar style which curiously onlt had a half center strap rather than the more common full center strap. While we see them in the catalogs, we do not see many American boys wearing them. I do not recall bots in the 50s wearing them nor do I note them in the photographic record. We do note that closed-toe sandals, especially school sandals were very common in England. We also see them worn in various European countries such as France and Germany. As in Britain, they were often worn to school. The most common style in most countries was the single bar with a center strap like the British school sandal.

The 1960s

We see fashionably dressed American boys wearing closed-toe sandals in the 1960s. This was mostly seen with boys from affluent families, but it was not very common. Much more common were the school sandals worn by British boys. We note English children, bith boys and girls, commonly wearing "T"-strap school sandals. They were also common in Scotland, although many children also wore the double strap style. A good example is the St. Peter's School.

The 1970s

The 1980s

School sandals were less commonly worn by English boys in the 1980s. They were, however, still worn by younger boys at primary schools as well as at many private preparatory schools. Several prep schools required them as part of the school uniform. Here we see a prep school scene in 1986 that required the standard school sandal (figure 1). Some schools selected the style such as the sansal with the narrow center strap. When the style was not set the boys often wore the sandal with the wude center strap. The most common colors were brown shades, but we also noticed a fe boys wearing dark blue sandals. The most common style was the "T" strap. A few boys wore the double cross strap style. We also note English wearing them. We also see Scottish boys wearing clsed toes sandals, especially for school. A good example is a 1982 school scene.

The 1990s

Created: 1:14 AM 2/17/2005
Last updated: 1:18 AM 10/30/2005