Figure 1.--There is no information associated with this basic portrait which we would date to the 1940s, probably fter the War. The lady's dress probably is the best clue to the date. It looks like a mother and boy about 10-11 years old. The boy wears a standard single-breasted jacket with short pants and long stockings and high-top shoes. We are fairly sure this is a German boy, but the dealer selling the photograph was located in America. We think the boy's jacket and lady's dress and shoes look rather American. The short pants and long stockings look more German, especially for a boy that age. So we guess that this is a German image. We still see long stockings in America in the early-40s, but they were rapidly going out of style. In Germany they were still very common into the 1950s.

There is of course an extensive photographic record for the 20th century. We have archieved a huge number of images of boys wearing suits which was nuch more common in the 20th century than is the case today. Many of those image are identified as to country. Where they are found islso a clue, but certainly not definitive as people move around. We can often identify the country based on the style of the suit or other garments. The background of the images can also provide clues. Streets are helpul as our houses. Cars are usually a give away. There are some images in our archive, however, that we have not been able to identify defintivly. Hopefully our readerscan assist with this process. We welcome any insights that readees can offer.

Figure 1: Probably Germany (late-1940s)

There is no information associated with this basic portrait which we would date to the 1940s, probably fter the War. The lady's dress probably is the best clue to the date. It looks like a mother and boy about 10-11 years old. The boy wears a standard single-breasted jacket with short pants and long stockings and high-top shoes. We are fairly sure this is a German boy, but the dealer selling the photograph was located in America. Most of our German images come from Germany. We think the boy's jacket and lady's dress and shoes look rather American. The short pants and long stockings look more German, especially for a boy that age. So we guess that this is a German image. We still see long stockings in America in the early-40s, but they were rapidly going out of style. In Germany they were still very common into the 1950s.

Figure 2: Probably Germany (late-1930s)

There is no information associated with this snapshot and as the bavkground is trees and shubs, thereare few clues beyond the boy and his clothes. The photograh was offered by an American dealer. And the boy could be American, but we do not think that the photograph was taken in America. There are several reasons for this. We see few American and British boys wear Norfolk jackets in the 1930s. German suit jackets were more varied. The length of the suit shorts is another factor. Short pants worn with suits tended to be knee length in both America and Britain during the 1930s. This leads us to Germany. Here we do see boys wearing both sandals and strap shoes. We also see boys wearing shorter-cut shorts, like the shorts the boy here is wearing. Actually length varied, but shorter-cut shorts were common. The knee socks also look more like the oes we see in Grmny than in America and Britain. Perhps the most important reason we thing the boy is German is the strap shoes. School age Amrican boys did not commonly wear sandals like British boys and strap shoes were even less common. The situation was somewhat different in Britain, but strap shoes wee more of an upper-class thing for boys before they began school.

Additional Information

New style: The 1920s

Boyhood memories: The 1930s

Affluent boy: Late 1940s/early 50s

The Party The 1950s

Tristain: Late 1950s-early 60s

America and Europe: The 1960s

School and home: The 1960s

Traveling in Europe: The 1960s

The beautiful people: The 1960s

British debate: The 1960s

Created: 10:26 AM 12/31/2014
Last updated: 6:47 PM 12/27/2016