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HBC notes that short pants suits were widely available catalogs during the 1930s. nd thge photigraphic recird shoes that they were commonly worn by boys up to about 10 years of age. The photographic record suggests that boh knicker and long pamts were more common, knickers in bthe early-30s and long pants in the latter30s. We don't see that many boys wearing them to school, except private scgools, but suits in general were no longer as common for school wear in the 30s, especially at primary (elemenbtary) schools. We see both single- and double-breasted suits. Short pants suits were common for First Communion and other formsal occassions. Here social class was an important factor. Some oklder boys did wear short pnts suits, but they wre mostly from n well-to-do families. This included families with British social connections. Many well-ro-do families had such connections. Seasonality does not seem go hsave been a factor. Older boys in grade (primary) school mostly wore knickers. Suits were becoming less common for school in the 1930s, at least at grade school. Some younger grade schoolers wore short pants, but short pants suits were much less common. This was a major change fron the 1910s and even the 20s. And the suits that were worn for boys over 8-10 years were mostly knicker and long pants suits. By the end of the decade, long pants were becoming increasingly important, even for younger boys. Another change apparent in the 30s was a transition from knee socks to ankle socks. We see boys commonly wearing knee socks with suits at the beginning of the decade, but ankle aocks had becimne more common by the end of the decade. Here seasonality was a factor as well. A good example is an unidentified boy from an affluent family in 1937.
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