Figure 1.--Here we see two boys in what may be a sundat school group in North Carolina. The boys wear white shir waists, detachavle collars, and ris with knee pants. Rhe knee pants were probanly part of suits, but the boys are not weaing the jackets during warm summer weather. We think the portrait was taken about 1905. For some reason only a 3 years latter, American boys will suddenly shift to knickers.

Knee pants were very common at the turn-of-the 20th century, standard boys wear in America and in much of Europe. They had appeared at the middle of the 19th century and commonly worn by boys for half a century. They continued to be commonly worn in the 1900s in both america and Europe. It was in the 1900s that knee pants began to decline in popularity. Knee pants gradually declined in popularity. They were less popular by the end of the decade. The pattern varied from country to country. They were very common in America during tmost of the 1900s. This was mostly the case in America, For some reason, all of a sudden American boys began wearing knickers about 1908. In only 1-2 years, the standard boys' wear had made the transition to knickers. This samne change did not occur in Europe. Knee pabts did not immediately disappear. We see some younger boys continue to wear knee pants. We even see some kneepants suits. But most American boys shifted to knickers. Knickerrs and bloomer knickers were also worn in Europe, but knee pants became increasingly common ans began the transition to short pants. . Most adeverisements and portraits available from America in the 1900s mostly show boys wearing kneepants. A good example is Harry Lodge about 1908. We see a more varied picture in Europe with boys wearing knee pants, knickers, and short pants.