Figure 1.--Here is a typical German school class portrait in the 1920s. A German reader tells us many would have changed clothes when they came home. He believes the boys wearing long stockings often changed to socks after school. We are not sure about this.

Conventions for wearing long stockings varied from country to country. A German reader writes, "Most school children in Europe wore their better clothes to school, which meant wearing long stockings. At home and in their play time, they often wore shorter socks if warm weather permitted. This distinction seems to have applied mostly after 1925. Before that time, long stockings seem to have been worn for both school and play." We don't notice that difference in America. American boys might change clothes when they came home from school, but were less likely to change hosiery. An American reader writes, "I suspect you are correct about American children not changing into long stockings after school just for play purposes. I think most American boys wore the same clothes after school as they did to attend classes. But in Europe, where school clothes were a bit more dressy and probably more expensive also, mothers wanted to save the good clothes by making boys change after school for just playing around. What the German commentator refers to, I think, is the custom of boys wearing long trousers to school in some places but then changing into short pants with long stockings after school. Shorts and stockings could be replaced more inexpensively than the long trousers. But of course some German boys wore short pants and long stockings to school also. But in that case they might have changed into more worn out or inferior quality short pants and perhaps cheaper long stockings also. In other words, I think he means that only some boys changed from long to short pants after school." HBC is not convinced about this. I do not think very many German boys wore long pants to school in the 1920s, except for older boys in secondaty schools. A reader writes, "Actually, I think it makes sense that "school clothes" would be taken off after school. They were an investment to be protected." HBC agrees bout the clothes. But what about the hosiery. Would they really change stockings? That seems like a lot of bother. And wouldn't that meaning either a lot of laundry for mom or putting on dirty socks for the mext school day. So at this time we are uncertain about changing hosiery. As a boy in the 50s, I had to change clothes after school, but I nver changed my socks.