Figure 1.-- A good illustration of the beige and brown long stockings worn in West Germany during the 1950s was this school portrait detail. This photo was taken at the Häslach School in 1954.

Long stockings continued to be regularly worn in Germany during the 1950s although use declined. We still see German children wearing long stockings, especially in the early 1950s. Most of our images are from West Germany, but long stockings were also worn in East Germany. Three German brothers in 1952 all wear long stockings in different shades ranging from beige to dark tan. In 1953 we see a German hiker, apparently a boy of about 11 or 12, resting against a tree and wearing obviously beige long stockings attached to his garter with a Waschknopf or button sewn onto the stockings top. The following year a boy in corduroy shorts and light tan cotton long stockings was joining his friends who were apparently not wearing long stockings. We note a rare color image of a German boy wearing long stockings out on a hike in 1954. They look to be a washed-out pair of tan stockings, but we are not positive about the color. We note another German boy wearing tan cotton stockings with corduroy shorts in 1954. We also have a 1955 color photo in which two children, probably a brother and sister at about age 9 and 10 yeaes, seem to be wearing light tan stockings, although one reader has thought they are more likely light gray. Most of our German examples come from the early- and mid-50s. By the late-50s we see very few examples. A major factor was the appearance of tights in West Germamny which very rapidly replaced long stockings. A certain instance of tan long stockings is evident in a 1958 Christmas photo of a small boy playing with his model train. Here the metal claps of the hose supporters are clearly visible.