Figure 1.--This looks like a scene in an affluent American family sensing the children off to school in the morning, probably about 1905. The boy wears a sailor cap, reefer jacket, and a sailor tunic. We are not sure who the artist is. |
|
American school children, with some exceptions, have not worn school uniforms. America's parochial school children have worn uniforms--although I'm not sure when uniforms were introduced. Private school children--especially America's elite private schools modeled on British preparatory and public schools--also had uniforms. Quite a substantial number of children were involved in the parochial schools, but the number of private school children until recently has been much more limited. American public (state) school children have not worn uniforms, although quite a number of public schools have begun to study the issue. Many in the 1990s have begun instituting non-compulsory uniform policies.
Most American boys did not wear uniforms to school. There were some exceptions. The parochial schools has simple uniforms. Many private schools had uniforms. The m\vasr\t majority of American children, however, went to schools with out any uniforms. The clothes worn to school were thus a reflection of popular styles of the day. There were dress codes in many schools. As a result, some popular stykles were not worn to school. Few high schools, for example, let children wear jeans to high school in the 1960s. Uniform were generally consdered elitist and discouraging individuality. These ideas began to change in the 1980s as some elementary schools began experimenting with voluntary uniforms.
America has a very decentaralized school system. As a result there atre many different types of schools. American state schools are called public schools. There is no national system or required national standards. Eaxch state has its own separate school system. The national or Federal Government does maintain some schools, schools on Indian reservations and military bases, both in America and overseas. There is also a wide variety of private schools of many different characters. The largest private system is the parochial or catholic system. There are many other private schools. Some of the most prestigious are based on the English system. There are also many military schools. In recent years, Christiannacademies have become increasingly important.
American boys have worn a wide range of garments to schools. These garments have varied over time and there have also been regional differenes. The type of school was also of some importance. American boys for the most part did not wear uniforms. There are a few exceoptions such as military and preparatory schools and a few private schools. American boys simply wore their regular clothes, often somewhat more formal than play clothes. This however changed over time. We see garments like sailor suits and kneepants suits in the early 20th century. Many boys wore corduroy knickers to school. Most boys wore long pants to school in the 1950s, but shorts were also worn by some areas. This varied regionally and chronolgically. Pimary boys by the mis 20th century were wearing more casual clothes such as "T"-shirts and jeans. To our knowledge American boys diud not wear smocks, but they were worn at some schools for art classes. Cold weather garments were important during the Winter, especially in the northern states. Most boys had raincoats for inclemet weather.
We note a wide range of activities and events at American school. Many are similar to other schools around the world. Other activities are quite destinctive to the United States. American children until recently for the most part did not wear school uniforms. Images of children goung and coming to school and in classes for the most part reflect popular styles and fashion conventions of the era. There were, however, some destinctive clothing for certain activities, especially gym in secondary schools.
Many American public schools are now reevaluating their dress codes and uniform policies. President Clinton even raised the subject in his 1998 State of the Union Address. It has engendered a heated debate in the United States. Many are firmly opposed thinking it would lead to regimentation and stifle creativity. Others are concerned about conflicts and attacks over clothes as wellmas the distraction of children competinhg over dress. America has no national education system, bur rather 50 (one for each state) whuch are brokeb down into many separate school districts where the actual decisions on uniforms will be made. Many inner city schools have alreay decided on uniforms. The styles being selected are similar to those worn at Catholic schools.
In some schools, children of a certain age-cohort (say, 4th graders) go to a "pioneer school" for a week or so, in order to "see what it was like for kids to go to school back then." I personally never had the opportunity to go (having moved to the school district as a 5th grader), but in Rochester, Michigan, students of the public schools were sent to the one-room schoolhouse at Van Hoosen Farm
(previously of Bertha Van Hoosen Jones and family), where they spent a week in mock 19th-century clothing (bonnets and pinafores for girls, straw hats and suspenders for the boys.
There are a variety of foreign experiences involved with American schools. The most significant was the experiences of immigrant children. The United states is a nation of immigrants. Often parents of new immigrants would send their children to school in the clothes the boys wore to their schools in the countries they had immigrated from--usually European countries. Usually the boy quickly convinced their parents to buy more approprite clothes, but some parents did not like American clothing styles and insisted on the European styles. Some information is available on these experiences. Other American children have been involved with foreign exchanges are lived abrod as part of their families overseas postings.
|
A good idea of fashion trends in America, as children at public schools did not wear uniforms, can be assessed by looking at what the children were wearing to school. Unfortunately many of the available images are not identified or are not dated, despite this, the images are very valuable views of children's fashion trends.
One of the great minds behind American education is John Dewey. Perhaps his most famous book is Schools of Tomorrow (1915) written with his wife Evelyn Dewey. It was still being reprinted in the 1960s. A French reader writes, " When I was in Chicago, I visited the Francis Parker School. All my life in education was devoted to integrating Dewey's pragmatism with Freinet's active learning and Piaget's constructivism."
Americans refer to the "little red school house". Typically illustrators will color schools red. Here we are talking about wood buildings. There are also many red brick schools. A reader writes, "As a teacher, I noted your remark about the little "red schoolhouse"! Seems like my old schools were all made of brick, come to think of it. I did come across one reference to red schoolhouses years ago in a book entitled, "The Good Old Days: They Were Terrible!" (1974), by Otto Bettmann. Mr. Bettmann was curator of the archives, a treasury of lithographs and photos,
which bears his family name. Early schoolhouses, of the one room sort perhaps, tended to be red because red ochre paint was the cheapest available. This statement speaks volumes about state officials'
attitudes, then and now, towards school houses!! In Texas some teachers have joked(??) that our governor and legislators' proposed school budget may reflect some unfortunate memories of their days in public
schools." I think our reader is correct about the use of red ochre paint. This after all is why barns were always painted red. The only priblem here is that un our archive of old schools, the wooden ones we have found are almost always painted white. This may be because our archive of photographs dates mostly from the 1890s. Pergaps these red scools were more common earlier in the 19th century.
Many personal experiences archived on the main U.S. country page include school expeiences. We will archive personal accounts here that touch specifically on schoolwear. For the most part American personal experiences will not touch on uniforms as so few American boys have worn school uniforms.
Related Links: Careful this will exit you from the Boys' Historical Clothing web site, but both sites are highly recommended.
Boys' Preparatory Schools: Lovely photographic essay of British preparatory schools during the 1980s containing over 200 color and black and white photographs.
New Zealand Schools e-Book : Appertures Press New Zealand schools e-Book available
British Preparatory Schools e-Book--Volume I: Appertures Press British Preparatory Schools e-Book now available.
British Preparatory Schools e-Book--Volume II: Appertures Press British Preparatory Schools e-Book Volume II noiw available.
Related Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Main Chronology Page]
[The 1900s]
[The 1910s]
[The 1920s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1950s]
[The 1960s]
[The 1970s]
[The 1980s]
[The 1990s]
[The 2000s]
Navigate the Relate Boys Historical Clothing Style Pages
[Main country page]
[Long pants suits]
[Short pants suits]
[Lederhosen]
[Kneesocks]
[Eton suits]
[Jacket and trousers]
[Blazer
[School sandals]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing School Uniform Pages
[Main School Uniform Page]
[Main National School Uniform Page]
[Australia]
[England]
[France]
[Germany]
[Ireland]
[Italy]
[Japan]
[New Zealand]
[Poland]
[Singapore]
[Scotland]
[Singapore]
[]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Page
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Satellite sites]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
