Figure 1.--Here we see a large American family dressed up for church in the early 20th century. We would say about 1910. We might guess it is an Italian immigrant family. Note the long black and white stockings.

There were substantial variations concerning hosiery from country to country, especially in the early 20th century. Children in northern Europe and North America commonly wore long stockings in the first hslf of the 20th century. Children in southern Europe were more likely to wear three-quarter socks. Even here, however, children might wear long stockings for formal occassions. A good example is an Italian boy doing his First Communion about 1925. Poor children often went barefoot. American boys began to wear kneesocks with knickers which becae common in the 1930s, but many younger boys still wore long stockings. Boys began wearing ankle ankle socks in the 1930s. British boys commonly wore kneesocks and long stockings were not commonly seen after World War I. Boys in France wore both ankle socks and kneesocks on a seasonal basis. Long stockings continued to be worn in Germany, Scandinavia, and Eastern Europe. After World War II the differences in hosiery from country to country began to gradually decline. Most boys have worn ankle socks. Knee socks were worn to some extent in Britain, but mostly for schoolwear. There were some other country differences, but most boys wore ankle socks. Tights appeared in the 1950s and gradually replaced long stockings. Younger boys wore tights in Germany and some northern European countries. American and Japanese boys wore knee-length tube socks during the 1970s and 80s.

Canada

Most Candian children wore long stockings in the early 20th century. Black long stockings were especially common. White long stockings were also won by girls, but were less common for boys.

England

British children by the turn of the 20th centyry had largely, but not entirely shifted from long stockings to socks. Actually it is a little difficult to tell because boys tended to wear knee pants or long short pants and often had their long turn-over top socks pulled up. Baden Powell when he created the uniform for the new Scout movement helped popularize short pants and knee socks for boys. This trend continued in the 1910s. Girls tended to wear long stockings more than boys. And some conservative girls' schools required them--almot always dark colors. Knee socks after the turn-of-the 20th century were very common and worn during the summer as well as cool weather. Knee socks were standfard boys wear during the inter-War era and early post-World War II era. WE see children beginning to wear short socks after World War I in the 1920s. Many children did not even wear socks during the summer with sandals. Color was a factor. Girls commonly wore white socks, but white was not common with school age boys, ecept for cricket. Grey became the standard color for socks, bith ankle socks and kneesocks. English boys did not wear the louch kneesocks American boys wore with knickes during the 1930s. Kneesocks continued to be sytandard during the 1940s and 50s with short or ankle socks increasingly popular during the summer. After World War II we see less expensive knee socks becoming popylar rather than th turn-over-top socls. Knee socks were less ecxpensive because they were shorter, not long enough to form the top cuff. School socks were often dine with destintive top colors oir bands. By the 1960s short pants and knee socks began to become less popular especially during the winter monts. . Even the Scouts dropped short pants, but the Cubs continued to wear short pants and knee socks. English boys in the late 20th century continued to wear short pants, but mostly as casual summer wear without knee socks, The exception was school uniforms. Some schools continued to require school uniforms and this often included knee socks. Ankle sicks graduakly become more common. Toward the end of the 20th-century we begin to see sport socks.

France

Boys in France wore both ankle socks and kneesocks on a seasonal basis.

Germany

At the turn of the 20th century, long stockings were still common. As in other countries, black was the most common color for long stockings. Three-quarter socks were worn, but not as commonly as in France. For many years older boys wore long stockings while younger boys might wear shorter socks. These were generally repalaced with kneesocks in the 1910s. Younger boys continued to wear long stockings during the colder winter months, often with short pants. Germany can be quite cold in the winter and tus those boys that wore shorts all year round might wear long over-the-knee stockings when it was cold. Conventions seem rather ill defined in the 1920s and early 30s. A good example are the brothers in a middle-class family during the 1920s. Conventions only begin to become more established in the 1930s. It became increasingly less common for older boys to wear long stockings. Kneesocks gradually were more popular with older boys, but they might wear knickers rather than shorts during the winter. After World War II, long stockings began to disappear. We still see them in the late 40s and early 50s. The snapshot here was probably taken in the 1940s (fifure 1). We rarely see long stockings by the 1960s. Some younger boys beginning in the late 1950s began wearing tights during the winter instead of long stockings. Tights are still worn by younger children. Older boys also wear tights, but usually for winter sports. Kneesocks were very common through the 1950s, but began declining in popularity during the 1960s.

Italy

Children in southern Europe were more likely to wear three-quarter socks. Poor children often went barefoot. Short ankle socks appeared in the in the 1920s. children might wear long stockings for formal occassions. A good example is an Italian boy doing his First Communion about 1925. Poor children often went barefoot.

Russia

Russian boys in the early 20th century wore long stockings. We see many Russian boys wearing both kneesocks and long stockings in the inter-war era of the 1920s and 30s. We note Russian boys wearing sandals after World War II. Some wore them without socks, but with socks seems to have been more common. Long stockings were still commonly worn by primary-age children into the 1960s. Long stockings rapidly disappeared after 1969 when tights were first introduced. Younger boys commonly wear tights during the cold winter months. They are commoly worn to school or at home in the evening, rather like American boys wear pajamas at home in the evening. Kneesocks were also commonly worn during the inter-War era and during the 1950s, but gradually declined in popularity. By the 1970s most boys were wearing ankle socks, except for younger boys wearing tights. Here are information is somewhat limited by the fact we do not know what kind of hosiery boys in long pants were wearing. Unlike Western countries there were no mail order catalogs during the Soviet era which can be used as sources of information on underwear and hosiery.

United States

Most American children wore long stockings in the early 20th century. Black long stockings were especially common. White long stockings were also won by girls, but were less common for boys. Younger boys, however, might also wear white stockings. American boys commonly wore kneepants and knickers with long stockings. Boys began to wear kneesocks with knickers in the 1930s, but many younger boys still wore long stockings. Some boys wire short pants, but knickers were mor common. Ankle socks began to be worn in the 1930s and were quite common by the 40s. They were often worn with long pants. American boys wore knee-length tube socks, odten with colored stripes during the 1970s and 80s. In the late 1990s some boys began wearing shortened length sport socks.

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Created: 7:44 AM 7/8/2006
Last updated: 7:20 AM 12/20/2014