Figure 1.--This playground scence comes from New Orleans in 1920. Going barefoot in the summer was especially common in the South. |
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American experienced economic prosperity after World War I. That prosperity mean that American children had more leisure time than ever before. Baseball was the big sport for American boys in the 1920s. Football was also popular, but basketball was not nearly as popular as today. Soccer was almost unknown. Most middle class boys were Cubs and Scouts and there was a substantial growth in the Scout movement after the War. Scouting was the only siuzeable uniformed youth group in which boys participated. Play grounds were very popular and often in walking distances from homes. There were substantial differences in the facilities. The move to the suburbs had just begun. Mothers strongly incouraged boys to take music or dance lessons. The United States is a large country and thus there are substantial differences among regions. Northern states tended to have winter sports like skating and skiing which were virtually unknown in the Southern states. This of course had an impact on clothing styles.
Mothers strongly incouraged boys to take dance lessons. Most middle class boys were sent to social dance lessoins, but some artistic mothers also tried to involve their sons in other dance orms like interperative dance.
Mothers strongly incouraged boys to take intrumental music lessons. Piano was a popular first choice.
Play grounds were very popular and often in walking distances from homes. The move to the suburbs had just begun. There were substantial differences in the facilities. Jungle gums, slides andswings were very common.
Knickers replaced kneepants in the 1920s and were quite common even in secondary school. The younger primary schoolboys might wear short
pants.
Most middle class boys were Cubs and Scouts and there was a substantial growth in the Scout movement after the War. Scouting was the only siuzeable uniformed youth group in which boys participated. The American Scout movement was relatively small until after World War I (1914-18). The War gave the movement a tremendous boost as patriotism soared. The movement grew significantly in the properous 1920s. A new uniform was adopted in 1922 to better diferentiate Scouting and the military. It was rapidly becoming an excepted part of an American boyhood, at least in small towns and cities to join the Boy Scouts. The organization became increasingly popular throughout the country and was supported by both schools and churches. The American Cubbing program had not yet been created in the 1920s. Unlike England and Europe, short pants were not commonly worn. Shorts were worn to some extent at jamborees, but for the most part American Scouts wore the knicker uniform when not at a camp or jamboree.
Baseball was the big sport for American boys in the 1920s. Football was also popular, but basketball was not nearly as popular as today. Soccer was almost unknown. The United States is a large country and thus there are substantial differences among regions. Northern states tended to have winter sports like skating and skiing which were virtually unknown in the Southern states. This of course had an impact on clothing styles.
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