Figure 1.--Here we see a German boy and his sister, probably in the 1920s. The boy wears black long stockings with knickers. As with many period photographs, it is difficult to tell just how long the stockings are. Note his sister wears light-colored stockings.

We note German boys wearing short, mid-length, and long long stockings. This varied over time, primarily following the fashionable length of knee pants and short pants. German boys in the second half of the 19th century mostly wore long stockings with knee pants cut rather long. They were mostly primary-age boys. With these long knee pants, the length of the stockings did not have to be very long at all. This was largely the case until the end of the century. We see knee pants cut at lengths well below the knee, often at calf level. We are not entirely sure about the length of long stockings at his time, but they did not even need to be done at knee lengths. Perhaps out German readers will have some insights here. This began to change in thw 1890s when knee pants actully began to be cut at knee length. We also see older boys beginning to wear knee pants and long stockings. At this time long stockings need to be done in lengths ell above the knee. When a boy sits down, knee pants rise up and thus the leg had to be covered aittle above the knee, but not to far above the knee. German boys up to their early-teens very commonly wore long stockings. We note boys wearing short, mid-length, and long long stockings. As short pants appeared after World War I and became shorter in the 1930s, much longer-length long stockings were needed. A good example is a farm boy, probably in the late 1940s. It is difficult to fully assess the length of those stockings as the boys in many images are wearing kneepants or longer-length short pants and we have virtually no catalog information. Most of our information from from portraits and snapshots. Catalogs would presumably provide much more detailed information, but we have only limited German catalog information.

Short Lengths

German boys in the second half of the 19th century mostly wore long stockings with knee pants cut rather long. They were mostly primary-age boys. With these long knee pants, the length of the stockings did not have to be very long at all. This was largely the case until the end of the century. We see knee pants cut at lengths well below the knee, often at calf level. We are not entirely sure about the length of long stockings at his time, but they did not even need to be done at knee lengths. Perhaps out German readers will have some insights here.

Medium Lengths

This began to change in thw 1890s when knee pants actully began to be cut at knee length. We also see older boys beginning to wear knee pants and long stockings. This presumably affected the lengths at which the stockingss were done. At this time long stockings needed to be done in lengths ell above the knee. When a boy sits down, knee pants rise up and thus the leg had to be covered aittle above the knee, but not to far above the knee. German boys up to their early-teens very commonly wore long stockings, both for seasonal reasons and formality. We see some boys wearing mid-length long stockings with short pantsby the 1930s. Some times the boy's legs are bot completely covered or we can see the stocking supporter straps and buttons.

Long Lengths

Short pants varies in length. It is normlly difficukt to tell the length of the stockings unless the shorts are cut to shorter lengths. Short pants could still ber very long in the 1920s and early-30s. As short pants appeared after World War I and became shorter in the 1930s, much longer-length long stockings were needed. We see boys wearing short-cut shorts in the late-30s and 40s when long stockings were still very common. A good example is a farm boy, probably in the late 1940s. Many of the examples we have found with boys wearing very long long stockings come from rural areas where were clothing tgended to be more traditional than fashionable. And dressing warmly was important because boys spent more time outdoors. Some of the shorts are so short that the long stockings worn with them look almost like tights, but tights did not appear in Germany until after the mid-1950s. We are not sure what the actual measurements of these long-length stockings are, but they seem yho come all the way up to the top of the leg.