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 fourth boy also has a short hair cut with a left part. He wears a dark double-breasted jacket with wide lapels. He wears a white shirt with a wing collar and what looks like a kind of bow tie. A caption at the bottom of the card read, "Hearfelt goodwishes to (your) first holy communion". (Herzlichen Glückwunsch zur ersten heiligen Kommunion.) This was a less religious greeting than on some of the other cards. Image courtesy of the MD collection. Click on the image to see the back of the card.

This Boy

Outfit

The sixth boys like all the others has short hair, but unlike some of the other boys enough to comb. He has a left part. This boy wears a dark double-breasted suit with fashionable wide lapels. He wears a rather old-fashioned looking wing collar. I'm not sure how to describe the neckwear, it does not look like either a tie or bow. He has a smart handkerchief in his breast pocket. He has short pants are rather long, but smartly creased. He wears his shorts with long over-the-knee stockings and unlike the other boys seeen here, low-cut oxford-style shoes which look brand new.

First communion items

As was common in Germany, he has the large candel with his rossary and Bible. This boy also has a flower corsage. His candel does not have the floral garlands seen in the other portraits. The backdrop is also an outdoor country scene, rather than the inside church seens seen in the other portraits.

Background

The address reads, "An Schueler Adolf Fecher, Offenburg, Humboldtstr." The message reads, "Sendet Dir Dein Freund Willi Fugelhaus nebst Mutter u. Schwester". That means. " "Sends you your friend Willi Fugelhaus incl. mother and sister". Again student is added to the address, indicating that Adolf was a boy this card was beng sent to. Willi was apparently a neighbor of Adolf as the card was not mailed, but hand delivered.

1932 Portraits

In the case of this portrait we happen to know not only when it was taken, but we know how this boys' friends were dressed. The image is a photo postcard, several of which were sent to the same boy and are post marked in 1932. Presumably friends in Germany exchanged their First Communion portraits with each other. It is interesting to note the similarities and differences among the suits the boys wear. The boys mostly wear old fashioned wing collars. One boy wears a sailor suit. The boys except for one wear short pants suits. All of the boys with short pants wear dark long stockings, although kneesocks had become much more common for boys this age. The boys look about 12-14 years old. The long stockings are not worn for warmth, but here appear to be considered more formal and appropriate for church than kneesocks. These photographs show not only what boys wore to their First Communions at the time, but a German boy's best dress suit in 1932. These were clearly not suits bought just for First Communion, but rather suits that were meant to be worn for best.

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Created: June 9, 2002
Last edited: June 13, 2002