Figure 1.--German boys in the 1920s wore a varierty of suits, both single and double breasted. This looks like the late-20s. They also wore both short pants and kneepants suits. Sailor suits were also popular for First Communion. |
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We note German boys in the 1920s wearing a wide variety of garments for First Communion. One of the most common was the sailor suit. Here a wide variety of styles were worn, but we do not notice boys many boys wearing white sailior suits. A variety of single and double breasted suits were worn, some showing Norfolk styling. Belted suit jackets seem particularly common. We also notice jackets with Bavarian styling. Some suits are very formal and look to have been made especially for the First Communion service. Some boys wore shorts with Peter Pan collars. Bows were also worn, but were not very common. Many boys appear to have worn open collars despite thye formality of the occasion. Kneepants were still quite common in the eraly 1920s, but short pants more common by the end of the decade. Most boys wore kneesocks, but some boys wore long stockings. High-top shoes were very common. Some boys wore more modern-looking oxfords and some in especially formal outfits might wear strap shoes. Some boys had long candels for their First Communion, but many apparently did not. Flower corsages were common, but boys generally did not have the sleeve ribbons so common in France.
This postcard back portrait looks to us like like an American First Communion group with the priest overseeing the event. The portrait is undated, but looks like the early-1920s to us. We suspect that the children did not go to a Catholic school as there may have been more similarity in how they dressed. The girls all wear the white junior wedding dresses so common for First Communion. The boys, however, wear an a variety of juvenile. Most are dressy outfits, but one boy looks to be wearing a very basic sweter looking rather like a polo shirt. We are guessing that he came from a low income family. We have not seen this style in America. All of these outfits except this one look Americn to us, although American boys usually dressed more formally than this. The principal reason that we are not sure if this was an American group is that so many of the boys have close-cropped hair, not short hair but cropped hair. This was not very common in America, but more common in Europe. So it is posiblr that the childrn here could be European, perhaps German. The children do lookethnically similr than might be expected in America. Mny American Catholic churches, however, had etnically based populations suchbas Irish, Italin, or Polish. So that may be what we seeing here. We have since tracked down the SATRAP stamp box. This is definitely a German image.
We have at thuis time relatively few glimpses of German First Communions during the 1920s. We do have one portrait of what looks to be a class in a German boys school. It does not look like a Catholic school as both the teacher and priest are in the portrait. This would have been common in the 1920s before the NAZIs as religion was a sibject in most schools. In many areas tyhe population was predoninately one religion. So in Catholic states like Bavaria, a priest might come into the state schools to teach religion. This ended when the NAZIs seized power. The boys in this 1920s class wear a wide range of outfits. Sailor suits seem popular as do suits with Norfolk stylings suchg as belts. Two boys are quite formally dressed while others have open collars.
Here we have a brother and sister in the 1920s. The girl wears a junior wedding dress and the boy a sailor suit. We know for sure that the girl is doing her First Communion. That is the only purpose for her dress. We are less sure about the boy. Di he delay his First Communion to do it with his sister? We suspect that he was just pgotographed with his sister. A sailor suit was used for First Communion, but could have been ween for many other occassions as well.
Many children had individual portraits taken of their First Communions. These portraits seem more formal than many of the groups portraits we have found. The boy here is unidentified. It is also not dated, but we believe was taken during the 1920s. Note his school cap on the table. The boys commonly wear dark suits, often knee pants suits. This looks to be a double-breasted suit, but it is difficult to see the second set of buttons. And they often wear long stockings which were seen as more formal than kneesocks. Almost always these were dark stockings. High-top shoes were common. This boy wears his suit with a Schiller collar. And as in many German portraits, the boy holds a tall candle.
We note a procession down a German street. The photograph is undated, but looks like the 1920s to us. They look to be about 10 years old. The boys and girls are on separate sides of the street. The girls look to be wearing elaborate and identical junior wedding dresses with substantial veils. If the dresses are not identical they are certainly very similar. The Church must have provided guidelines to the parents. The boys on the other hand wearing a variety of mostly dark outfits, either black or navy blue. The image is not real clear, but we see a range of outfits. The boys wear both regular suits and sailor suits. Its a little difficult to make out the suit style, but we see one boy with an old-fashioned wing collar. Quite a few boys are wearing sailor suits done in a range of styles. We notice varied collar styles. They wear short pans, lmnee pahnts and long pants with the sailor suits. One boy has white long pants. We also see white and blackn knee socks and black long stockings. None of the boys are wearing caps or hats. Mahny of the children hold long white candles. We don't see any sleeve bows.
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