Figure 1.--These German boys are having their protrait taken after their First Communion celebration. We are unsure if it is a church or school group. The image is undated, but we believe that it was probably taken in the mid-1920s. Several of the different types of suits and jackets that the boys wore can be seen here. |
We note quite a range of suit and jacket styles. Not only were sailor suits popular, but there was quite a diversity of other boys' suit styles as well. Besides the formal outfits there were elegant looking souble-breasred suits as well as single-breasred suits, many with Norfolk styling.
One boy in the front row wears a double breasted light colored jacket with a white open collar shirt and what probably is a flesh tone or light colored dickie. He also wears an ornament on his jacket. Another boy in the front riow wears a light colored double breasted belted jacket with a white open shirt. Beneath the shirt he is wearing a mock turtle neck shirt or dickie.
A boy to his left wears a single breasted light colored Norfolk styled jacket with a white open collar shirt. I cannot make out whether he is wearing a shirt or dickie under the white open collar shirt.
Several of the boys wear suits with some element of Norfolk styling. Belts seem especially popular. The second boy to the left on the back row wears a Norfolk jacket and open collar.
One boy in the back row appears to be wearing a jacket, tie, modern collar with another shirt over the collar of the jacket. He wears a flower or some ornament on the jacket.
One boy wears a checkedf Bavarian-style jacket with velvet collar. Perhaps he normally wore lederhosen, but not for Fiest Communion. The jacket is single breasted and designed to be buttoned. He also wears a white shirt with light colored tie. He wears plain shorts (not part of a suit I think) and white turned down woolen knee socks. They look very itchy. He wears high laced shoes typical of the 1920s. The shoes were popular for ankle support.
Two boys wear rather formal outfits, rather standing out from their classmates. Both short and long pants were worn with these formal outfits, but interestingly both involve strap shoes and shite socks. One boy in the front row wears a very formal long pants oitfit. He appears to be wearing a plain white blouse (it looks more like a blouse than shirt) with a jacket that buttons at the collar only. The collar on the blouse is Eton style. He has some ornament on the jacket. I cannot make out how fancy the blouse is. The pants legs looked like they have been turned up for. Perhaps an older brother wore the same suit for his First Communion. He also wears strap shoes with white socks (I think anklets but that is a guess). Another boy in a formal outfit is standing at the center. He wears white kneesocks with strap shoes. We wonder how commonly these boys wore these outfits.
The sailor suits all vary. The dark suits perdominated. All the boys in sailor suits are in the back row for some reason. The boy on the right has a pocket handkerchief, a plain white dickie and a white ribbon to keep the front tied. His sailor blouse appears to have three white stripes two blue on the collar and two white stripes one blue on the cuff. The boy on his left wears a sailor suit with a navy dickie with two white stripes and one blue stripe on the collar, cuffs and dickie. He also appears to have a white ribbon to keep the front tied and maybe an insignia on his blouse sleeve. The boy on his left wears a navy sailor suit with three white stripes and two blue stripes on his sailor collar. His dickie is plain navy. He does not appear to have any ribbon on his front ties. The boy in the back row on the very left wears a white sailor suit with a navy collar and three white stripes and two navy stripes on the collar. His dickie is plain white and the front ties are tied with a white ribbon. He may be wearing a flower pinned to his blouse. The boy to his right is wearing a vested dark colored suit. The white shirt is worn with an open collar, the vest has a lapel and the jacket is single breasted. Is he wearing a watch fob? The boys in the front row from left to right. The boy is wearing a collared shirt with a tie and a double breasted dark collared short suit. His white knee socks have a striping just below the top. His shoes look modern with a design
on the front.
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