Figure 1.--Here we see a German boy with closely cropped hair, probably about 1910. He is shown with a toy. I'm not sure what the rug is all about. He seems to have a Japanese flag in his pocket.

We note German boys with cropped hair in both the 19th and 20th centuries. We are unsure, however, just when in the 19th century that this became a common style for boys. We are in particular unsure about the early 19th century. With the development of photography in the mid-19th century we begin to have a better idea of trends. Although early photography under represents the working class. Many German boys in the late 19th century had cropped hair--especially younger boys. We note very large numbers of German boys with these cropped hair styles in school portraits from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. HBC has noted that this style continued into the early 20th century. Boys especially in the era during and before World War I (1914-18) often wore closely cropped hair. There are many examples archived on HBC. Examples include boys in 1917 and 1918. These cropped hair styles continued somewhat into the early 1920s, especially for younger boys. The fashion virtually disappeared during the 1930s.

The 18th Century

No information currently available.

The 19th Century

We note German boys with cropped hair in both the 19th and 20th centuries. We are unsure, however, just when in the 19th century that this became a common style for boys. We are in particular unsure about the early 19th century. With the development of photography in the mid-19th century we begin to have a better idea of trends. Early photography under represents the working class so some care much be exercized in assessing the photographic record. We believe that cropped hair was especially common with working-class families. It was not, however, an exclusively working-class style. we also see middle-cass boys with copped hair. Many German boys in the late 19th century had cropped hair--especially younger boys. Cropped hair was not universal, but many boys did have this style. We note very large numbers of German boys with these cropped hair styles in school portraits from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The 20th Century

HBC has noted croppd hair styles continued to be commonly wirn by German boy into the early 20th century. The style seems very common in the photofraphic record. Boys especially in the era during and before World War I (1914-18) often wore closely cropped hair. There are many examples archived on HBC. Examples include boys in 1917 and 1918. The popularity can be especially gaged in school portraits. These cropped hair styles continued into the 1920s, especially for younger boys. We still see many boys with cropped hair in the 1920s, especially the early-20s. The popularity had begun to decline, especially by the mid-20s. We are not sure justwhy this change occurred, but suspect that its association with the military may have been a factor. We still a few boys with cropped hair in the early 30s. An example is an unidrentified boy in his First Communion suit. This was, however, not very common at the time. Most boys had enough haor to be combed. Short hair cits were still cmmon, but not the short croppedhair common in the early 20th century. The fashion virtually disappeared during the 1930s. Boys commonly had short hair during the 1930s, but cropped hair was not very common. We note short buzz and crew cuts in America during the 1950s, we spect styles brouh home by returning serviemen fyr thewar. We dp not see these styles in Germany, despite the fact that many Amercan clothig styles became popular. We do not see these close-cropped hair syles again ub Germany until the 1990s.

The 21st Century

Very short hair styles became popular in the late-1990s. This was in part a fashion influence from skinheads. This included cropped hair. We also see it in the 2000s. We are entirely sure how common this was in Germany. We think it might have been more popular in the former East-Germany than West Germany. It would probably not have been tolleated by FDDR offivcials. We also think it was more popular for teenagers than younger children.

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Created: 4:15 PM 10/18/2007
Last edited: 5:09 AM 7/6/2014