Figure 1.--This German boy was photographed in 1932. Note the candel he carries with a fake flame. Many German boys were photographed with these candels. The old fashioned wing collar and long stockings help to date the portrait to the 1920s or early 1930s. After the NAZI take over in 1933, long stockings became less common. A caption at the top of the card read, "Heartfelt blessed wishes to (your) first holy communion". (Herzlichen Segenswunsch zur ersten heiligen Kommunion.) Image courtesy of the MD collection. Click on the image to see the back of the card.

This several other postcards of German boys in their First Communion suits are commercially produced cards rather than photographic prints that parents could send their friends and family. At the time these cards were used rather like greeting cards are today. In fact shops like Hallmark will commonly have some cards with photographs on the front. This leads us to a variety of questions about the outfuts that the boys are wearing as well as the convention of sending cards and shooting the portraits.

Commercially Produced Cards

A British reader tells us "I think HBC is mistaken in surmising that these photos were communion pictures that friends have shared with each other. They are in fact published cards that would have been purchased from a shop, just as we would purchase a birthday card for someone today from Hallmark etc. Each of these cards would have been from a set of 6 showing the same boy in slightly different poses. Each card has a series number printed on the front with a suffix indicating the number of that card within that series--this was a common practice for postcards almost from their inception and one of the reasons they were collected so avidly. I've yet to see any cards like this that were printed and used in the UK but then I don't believe we have ever taken first communion or confirmation that seriously." The source of the postcards tells us that they were definitely lithographically produced (like most published cards) and are not real photos. They are very well done though. This means that they almost certainly would be commercially produced cards.

Chronological Styles

The fashions this boy here wears as the fashions shown on the other post cards mailed to Wolf Fecher in 1932 look more like the early 1920s or the 1910s than the 1930s. The style of collars, some of the suit styles, the knee-length shorts, and the dark long stockings for older boys all seem rather out of date for 1932. This would be explained by a commercial shoot as they could have been portraits taken much earlier.

Mailings

The fact that almost all of the cards have the same older, dated fashions and were sent on the same day is puzzling. We would understand it if Wolf or his parents sent similar cards on the same day, but find it confusing that he RECEIVED similar cards on the same day. A British reader tells us, "The reason why the cards were probably all sent on the same day is that they probably had a much more reliable and prompt postal service than we do nowadays and they did not have to post early to ensure that the cards arrived on the boys communion day. I'd hazard a guess and say that the date of his first communion was the day after the postmark. The April 2, 1932 was a Saturday." [I am sure some where on the internet is a site that allows you to look at old calendars. HBC will check the date when we manage to find such a site.] This is a good point about mail service. In America the mail used to be delivered twice a day. It seems likely that the German postal service was highly efficent.

Wolf Fecher

These cards were all sent to Wolf Fecher or his father. Unfortunately we know nothing about Wolf or what he wore to his First Communion. The reason they were all addressed to this boy is that his mother probably saved them as they were sold as a set to a postcard collector. As for the reason he got so many perhaps he was a particularly endearing child or popular at school. Presumably both the child and parents decided who to send cards to. However we do not know if this was a large amount or if these are all the cards that he received.

Post Card Shoots

We do not know a great deal about how cards like these were produced. A French reader has suggested to us that many of these shoots were low budget affairs and the photographer would have not been able to afford suits for the boys. This is of importance as we wonder if these boys could have been costumed for the portrait. If so the outfits may not reflect what boys were common wearing. Given the cost of suits, however, it seems likely that a commercial photographer would have just attanged a shoot on the day thdese boys were taking their First Communion or before or after as First Communion would presumably have been on a Sunday. The fact that some boys have brand new outfits and some older outfits supports this assessment. Perhaps free or cut rate portraits would have been an inducement for the parents. Or perhaps they received other gratuities like the candels.

A British reader believes who collects old postcards tells us that he believes that the cards were done with models hired and costumed for the occasion. He believes that the cards were originally taken in the 1910s and accurately match the clothing that German boys were wearing depicted for their First Communions at that time. This would expalin why the clothing appears a little out of date for the 1930s when the cards were mailed. The card publisher continuing to use the same photographs with perhaps subtle changes to the printed text over the years. He tells is, "I have several examples of this in my postcard collection where a card originally printed as a plain portrait with no overprinting in the early 1900s subseqently appears years later with an overprinted message such as 'Happy Birthday' etc."

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Created: June 11, 2002
Last edited: June 11, 2002