Figure 1.--The older brother here wears a flat cap, patterned sweater, knickers, and patterned knee socks. We are guessing he was photographed in his way to school and little brother wanted to be in the picture. The snap shot is undated, but because of the flat cap was probabky taken in the early-1930s. The boys look to be about 3-6 years old.

Knee socks were widely worn in the 1930s by both boys and girls. There was a major shift from long stockings to kne socks. We see many 1920s trends continuing in the 1930s, but there were differences. Boys continued wearing knickers, but long stockings were commonly replaced by knee socks. This change began in the late-1920s, but was well establihed throughout the 30s. Bright patterned knee socks done in argyles and other patterns were the most common. They were so common in the 30s that they are a useful indicator for dating images, but it has to be rembered that we begin to see patterned knee socks in a range of bright colors appearing in the late-1920s. Unfortunately the black nd white photography of the day does not capture the actual colors. These patterned knee socks became standard in the 1930s. Most Americn boys wore knickers in the early-and mid-30s and they were primarily worn with these patterned knee socks. These knee socks have a sporty look to us now, but they were for the mostpart worn by boys dressing up in suits as well as more caual wearlike school or even for play. But by the mid-30s, ankle socks were energing as a major hosiery type for American boys. A good example is a class of Ohio kindergardeners in 1935-36. By the end of the decade we even see boys wearing knickers with ankle socks, especially during the summer. Long stockings were declining in popularity. We see few boys wearing them with knickers. Some younger boys wore them with short pants, but as the decade progressed this was becoming increasingly rare. At the beginning of the decade we see boys wearing knee socks with short pants. we see both the pattened knee socks populr with knickers and flat-colored knee socks without the patterns often worn with shorts. The colors used for flat knee socks varied, but we se mostly subsued colors. Girls might wear white knee socks, but rarely boys exceot with First Communion suits. While knee socks with shorts were common at the beginning of the decade, this too began to decline and we see boys increasingly wearing ankle socks with shorts. We continue to see mostly the turn-over-top type.

Created: 2:55 PM 1/6/2016
Last updated: 2:55 PM 1/6/2016