Figure 1.--Here we see a group of Swedish children in 1955. They wear plaid shirts and jeans just like American boys. There are also long and short-sleeved T-shirts. Norice how a few boys have buttoned their collar buttons. One major difference from America is that several boys wear knickers. One boy has even rolled up his jeans to knicker level. Notice the girls wearing long pants and knickers.

HBC has not yet had the opportunity to develop information about Swedish boys' wear. Boys' fashions in Sweden during the 19th Century were similar to other European countries. This began to change somewhat in the 1920s, it was just to cold to wear short pants during the winter like the British and French. Some boys wore shorts with long over the knee stockings. Older boy wore knickers and long pants were more common than in more southerly countries. Since the 1970s there has been little difference between the clothes worn in Sweden and other countries.

History

The eastern half of the Scandinavian Peninsula during Roman times was inhabited by two great Germanic tribes, the Suiones or Swedes in the north (Svealand) and the Gothones or Goths in the south (Gothia). These tribes, although united in religious belief were generaly at war with each other. Previous to the 10th century, details of Swedish history or obscure. Not until about 980, are historians sure about the names of Swedish kings. Frankish misionaries in the 9th century began teaching christianity which slowly became established. Olaf Skutkonug ruling from 993-1024 was the first Swedish to become a Christian. One of Sweden's most powerful monarchs was Eric IX ruling from 1150-60. He became the patron saint of Sweden. Eric invaded Finland, forcing Christianity upon the conquered population. Eric was killed in an attack by Denmark, initiating an extended series of wars between the two countries. The power of the nobility grew in the 14th and 15th century as fedualism became the dominate force in the country as the power of the monarchy wained. A historic painting shows the wife of King Magnus Ericson, Queen Blanka, with her son Crown Prince Eric. The nobility deposed King Albert in 1388 and offered the crown to Margaret, Queen of Denmark and Norway. The Union of Kalmar united the crowns of the three Scandinavian kingdoms in 1397. The union endured for more than a centurry, but was characterized by constant tension between the Danes and Swedes. King Christian II invaded Sweden in 1520 to enforce his authority. His brutal methods, including the execultion of Stockhom nobels, caused a rebelion led by Gustavus Vasa in 1521 who became Gustavus I of an independent Swedish Kingdom. Gustavus I became an hereditary monarch and severly limited the power of the nobility. Luthernism was established as the state religion. Parts of Estonia requested protection frpm Sweden. After a war with Poland, Sweden acquired all of Estonia. Gustavus Adolphus, generally considered the greatest Swedish king, suceeded to the throne in 1611. He expanded Swedish territory during wars with Russia and Poland. His intervention in Germany helped to ensure the victory of protestant forces during the Thirty Years War. Charles X-XII achieved spectacular military successes, but Swedish military power was finally broken by Peter the Great of Russia at the Battle of Poltava in the Great Northern War. Sweden was in fact a small country and did not have the capacity to compete with a huge state like Russia. Charles XI had also tried to strike at fundamental Swedish political standards and impose an absolutist regime. As in most other European countries, the 16th and 17th centuries in Sweden were characterized by the emergence of an increasingly efficient and centralized administration.

Chronology

We do not yet have much chronological information on Swedish clothing. The information we hve gathered so far suggests that Swedish children wore the same styles that were popular in other European countries at the time. Sailor suits in particular were a oioular style. Most boys at the turn of the 20th century wore kneepants. Long stockings were commonly worn, in part because of the climate. British and German styles appear to have been influential. Sweden is lovated in northern Europe and this of course afected fashion and this impact has not changed over time. We notice knickers persisting in Sweden longer than in many other European countries, although by the 1950s but they were often worn almost to the ankles. A French reader writes, "I remember a visit to Sweden when I was about 14 years old in June 1958. We stayed at a nice hotel in Stockhom. I remember noticing that the children were dressed rather the same as adults. The boys mostly wore long pants which was still not the case in France at the time."

Influences

A Swedish reader tells us that in the early 20th century that British and German boys' clothing styles were very influential in Sweden. Since World War II, American styles have become increasingly important. Televisions and the movies appear to have been important factors.

Garments

Our information on Swedish boys garments is very limited. We note many boys wearing military-style caps to school. Sailor caps were also worn. Many Swedish boys wore sailor suits as in the rest of Scandinavia, but perhaps not as common as in Denmark. The time line seems generally compaeable throughout Scandanavia. At the turn of the 20th century, kneepats were common. We see boys in the 20th century wearing knickers and long pants. Short pants were worn diring the short Summer season, but were not as common as in some other European countries. We rarely see Swedish boys wearing H-bar pants. Swedish boys beginning in the late 1930s begin wearing plaid shirts, which I suspect may be due to the influence of American cowboy movies. Boys beginning about 1945-50 began wearing T-shirts and jeans. That would seem to be another American influence. I'm less sure about how the American fashion impact arroved in Sweden other than the movies. Knickers were cimmonly worn in Sweden, even into the 1950s. Then in the 1950s you see boys in blue jeans. For some reason they liked to roll up the cuffs until their jeans were knicker length, maybe because that's a good length for trousers when one does a lot of cross-country skiing. Long stockings were common in the early w0th century.

Activities

HBC has collected information on a variety of activities in which Swedish boys have participated in over time. Many of these activiities involve specialized costumes. Often the children. however, just wore their ordinary clothes. The available images thus show trends in Swedish boys' clothing over time. The activities include choir, dance, games, music, religious observation, school, sport, and many others. Sweden is located in northern Europe, extending from the Baltic toward the Arctic Cirle. The cold climate of course affect activities, especially outdoor activities.. Some of these images are interesting because they depict life-style information in addition to fashion. We have begun to develop some information on Swedish schools. We also are developing some interest on religion in Sweden. The country played an important role in the Protestant Revolution. The most important holiday in Sweden in Chtristmas. Sedish Christmas is best known for the St. Lucia celebration.

Families

We have begun to collect some in formation on Swedish families, but our information is still very limited. These images are very useful because they help to put boys clothing in the context of what girls and adult members of the family were wearing at the time. The background and context of the portraits and other family snapshots also provide a lot of other useful sociological information. Unfortunately for many of these images we do not have the family names.

Immigration

Sweden was one of the many European countries that played an important part in the population of America through immigration. A far as we know, America and to a lesser exrent Canada are the only countries to which significant numbers of Swedish emigrants went. Sweden estblished a colony in the North america (Deleware) during the 17th century, but the great bulk of swedish immigrants came in the late 19th and early 20th century. Most Swedish immigrants camr to the United States and settled in the Midwest where they left and indelible imprint. Small numbers ofindividuals came to America in the late 18th and early 19th century. It was note until the 1840s, however that signoficant numbers of Swedish immigrants began arriving in America. The first organized group of Swedes arrived in New York and settled in Iowa and Illinois. By the 1930s nealy 1.3 million Swedes had reached America, making Sweden the seventh most important country in terms of American immigration.

Literature

We do not have information on Swedish literature at this time. We do have some limited information on Swedish children's literature.

Institutions

The primary institution affecting Swedish children as children with other countries is school. We have collected some information on Swedish schools. There are a number of other institutions, especially charity institutions. We know noting about poor houses or orphanages in Sweden. There does appear to have been a foster care program designed to find farm homes for orphaned city children, although we have few details about the program at this time.

Individuals

We have found some interesting portraits of individual Swedish boys. Hopefully Swedish readers will also contribute their own experiences. Carl Gustof Fodd (Sweden, 1892?-): We notice a portrait of a boy about 10 years old taken on November 27, 1902. We know little about him. We believe that the portrait is from Sweden. On the bottom it reads H Cederin (presumably the photographer) Katrineholm (the location in Sweden). The family may have emigrated to American or the portrait was sent to family members who did emigrate. Carl wears a very plain, but heavy dark wool sailor suit. There is very hard to see dark detailing on the sailor collar. There is a dickey, but the boy's undershirt seems to show above the dickey. The lapel of the "V" collar front has a non-traditional shape. We know very little about the boy, but so often images are not dated, it is useful having a precisely dated image. He has a short hair cut. We see Arne Sohlstrom in his school clothes with his cousin in 1928. We have some pages on a Scandinavian boy who we think is Norwegian, but he might be Swedish.

Created: March 1, 2002
Spell checked: August 9, 2002
Last updated: 5:38 PM 11/1/2009