Boys' Clothes for Outings to the Park: Swedish National Styles


Figure 1--A Swedish reader has provided us a charming view of a Stockholm park--te Karlaplan. The boys are sailing their sailboat in the park pond in 1962. Even though it is May, it still looks rather chilly. He tells us that "The brown leather shoes were very popular and the short jackets as well." To see the park in 1946 during warmer weather, click on the image.

Images of Swedish parks over time provide us some fascinating images, revealing a range of social trends, incluuding fashions and conventions. A Swedish reader has provided us some charming views of a Stockholm park. The park here is "Karlaplan", which probably means "Place of (King) Carl. This is actually not precisely a park-- more like a huge "roundabout" with a pond in the middle and some lawns around it, surrounded by flower arrangements! This was built after French patterns (e.g. Paris with the Champs Elysee)." Swedish parks had the same facilities as other parks in Europe and could be enjoyed year round. We note groups of children dancing and playing games on the grass in warm sunny weather. Many parks had ponds where boys in Spring sand Summer could sail their boats and were useful in Winter for skating. One of the popular places for younger children were sand boxes.

Chronology

Swedes like other Europeans love to take pictures of their children on park outings. These images over time provide us some fascinating images, revealing a range of social trends, incluuding fashions and conventions. We note rather formal dess at the turn of the 20th cebtury, but after World war I, increasingly cassual clothes for park outongs.

Specific Parks

A Swedish reader has provided us some charming views of a Stockholm park. The park here is "Karlaplan", which probably means "Place of (King) Carl (figure 1). This is actually not precisely a park-- more like a huge "roundabout" with a pond in the middle and some lawns around it, surrounded by flower arrangements! This was built after French patterns (e.g. Paris with the Champs Elysee). The boys here in 1962 are sailing their sailboat in the popular park pond. Even though it is May, it still looks rather chilly. Our Swedish reader writes, "I enclose a picture from Stockholm in May 1962. Still the trams were going around the streets of Stockholm before the were scrapped (that was when we turned over to right-hand traffic on the September 3, 1967). The tram cars on this picture are from the 30s though! They were still in use side-by-side with newer ones until the end of 1964. It is a real pity, they disapeared - I guess the most environment-friendly means of transportation you can have in a big city - which I suspect they regret today! Of course, you would have the modern cars of today if used again! This picture gives a good picture how Swedish kids were dressed in the beginning of the 60s not too far off from the school photograph I sent. The brown leather shoes were very popular and the short jackets as well."

Activities

We note a range of activities in Swedish parks. Parks were not a place to play sports. This was a general pattern in European parks. Rather there were well-manicured gardens for more sedate activities. Families may have walked together, enjoying sunny wether and the gardens. We do see Swedish children involved in a range of activities. Many of the activities involved boys. Girls seem to have been less active. Younger children might play games. This often involved adult supervision. If there was a pond, boys might sail their sailboats. We also see boys using the safe paved areas for scooters. We think bicycles were less common. Many parks may have prohibited them for saftey easons.

Facilities

Swedish parks had the same facilities as other parks in Europe and could be enjoyed year round. We note groups of children dancing and playing games on the grass in warm sunny weather. Many parks had ponds where boys in Spring sand Summer could sail their boats and were useful in Winter for skating. One of the popular places for younger children were sand boxes.






HBC





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Created: 1:24 PM 1/4/2005
Last updated: 6:12 AM 8/18/2008