Figure 1.-- Here we see three well-dressed German children, three boys and a girl, during World War II in 1942 wearing medium tan long stockings during the winter.

Long stockings continued to be extensively worn in Europe during the 1940s. There were substantial differences in Europe among different countries, primarily on a north south divide. This seems to be primarily a climatic matter. The principal, but not only reason for wearing long stockings in the 20th century was to keep wrm in cold weather thus explaining the relative rarily of long stockings in warmer southern Europe. Long stockings continued to be widely worn in northern Europe (Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, and other countries) with cold winters. Here Germany was traditionally important, exerting an influence on neighboring countries. This changed in 1939-41 when Germany occupied these countries or took control of their economies. German policy shifted from promiting exports to economically exploiting these countries. Another problem after Germany launched World War II (1939-45) was shortages of cotton because of the Royal Navy blockade. This did not affect color, but it did affect production of hosiery. Thus shortages of consuner goods developed. Available evidence suggests that it was primarily the beige and brown shades of long stockings that continued to be worn when available in most of these countries. An exception may have been Russia where the darker brown shades were popular. Other colors might be worm for formality, bur it is the tan colors that seem the most prevalent. Our information is still incomplete. We are not sure about Scandinavia, but believe they continued to be worn there, although we are not sure about the color. There is extensive information in the photographic record.

Baltic Republics

Long stockings were widely worn in the Baltic Republics (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithunia). They were all taken over by the Soviet Union and annexed. They ceased to exist as independent nations. We are not sure about the colors of the long stockings worn.

Czechoslovakia

We have photos from Czechoslovakia that show that tan long stockings were worn in Czecholovakia. The country was occupied by Germany and dismembered (1939), but reconstituted after World War II (1945). We see a 9-year-old Czech boy sitting outdoors in long beige or tan stockings in 1941. We also have the 1947 record of Caryl Chech as a younger boy wearing very pale beige ribbed long stockings.

Denmark

Germany

We note German children wearing the tan cotton stockings being commonly worn in Germany during the 1940s. We note boys and girls as well as awide range odcfemocraphic and social groups wearing them. The photographic record suggests that the tan colors were the most common color of long stockings worn throughout the decade. We have found worn during both the 1940s and 1950s illustrate the common color as well as the garter button, already sewn onto the top, by which the stocking would be attached to the elastic strap of a child’s Leibchen. A German reader of the period recalls the “brownish” or tan long stockings that he wore as a boy during the late-1930s and into the 1940s. Long stockings were often more common in German rural areas than in cities although they were by no means exclusively a rural style. We note a farm boy of the 1940s in beige stockings with halter shorts who clearly lived on a farm. Two , a boy and a girl, can be seen playing in the snow, wearing the same common tan shade of hosiery, but in this case with double socks because of the need to keep their feet warm. Various school class portrait photos of the late-1940s show mainly dark brown long stockings, but the lighter shades of brown and tan also appear. In a 1947 class about half the boys wear beige or light tan stockings. Note that one of the boys has rolled his beige stockings down to resemble knee socks. We also note the third boy from the right in the first row of a 1948 class, who also wears the lighter color stockings. A 1948 class at the Heinrich Heine School shows one boy (first row, second from the end on the right), wearing dark tan or light brown long stockings. A boy in the same class wears knee socks of approximately the same tan color. We observe three German children (probably in the late 1940s or early 1950s) one of whom is wearing very long tan long stockings. We are not quite sure if this child is male or female, but the shortness of the tunic suggests a boy. The stockings here are so long as to suggest tights, but tights did not become commercially available in the country until about 1957 and even then took a few years to be widely accepted.

Poland

Russia

We have little information from Russia, but we think in Russia that the darker brown shades were more common than the tan shades. We have one example of a litte Russian boy seeking food during the German invasion, we think in 1941.

Sweden

We note a Swedish boy wearing suspender short trousers and tan long stockings with his supporters showing.

Switzerland

Not unexpectedly we see large numbers of Swiss children wearing tan long stockings in the 1940s. Photos from schools in the Zürich canton survive from almost every year during the decade to show how popular light brown, tan, and beige long stockings were among Swiss mothers if not the boys themselves. at the Leimbach School (1940) we see only one boy wearing light brown stockings in the first row. At the Uster school (also 1940) tan shades seem to prevail, although one boy may be wearing black or very dark brown stockings. At the Hombrechtikon school (1941) we see at least two of the boys wearing tan long stockings. At the Oberglatt school also in 1941 we note an example of three boys wearing tan stockings in the front row. Two photos from 1943 both show the prevalence of tan long stockings. Rämistrasse School in Zürich shows a boy with dark tan stockings on the right. At the Kollbrun School (also 1943) shows a girl and two boys wearing a lighter tan shade. In both the older and younger classes at Bäretsville School (1944) we see tan long stockings worn by both girls and boys alike. In the older class, tan knee socks are also in evidence. An undesignated primary school in Switzerland (1945) shows several pupils wearing light-colored long stockings, which could be either gray or tan, although tan seems very likely in at least one case. Zollikon school (1946) is a clear example of beige or light tan long stockings worn by several of the boys. Note especially the boy with suspender cross-bar shorts in the first row whose supporter clasp is visible at the hem of his trousers. Tan stockings are being worn in a Bauma school class photo (1947) by both boys and girls, while Stäfa School (1948) shows at least four boys with the light brown or tan stockings. Ottenbach School (1949) offers a particularly good example of beige long stockings; note the boy, fourth from the right in front, sitting on the bench.