Figure 1.--This image is unidentified. It has a Belgian look to it, but we think it is German, in part because of the military style cap on the table. We have noted many German boys in the early 20s wearing this style cap to school. We are not sure about the date of the inmage but would guess ther early 1920s. I'm not sure what he has in his hands. I thought at first white gloves, but they do not look like gloves on close examination. |
Many French boys wore sailor suits. I'm not sure this was as common in Germany. But we do note quite a number of German boys wearing them. They appaer to have also been most common before World War I, but were widely worn for First Communion in Germany through the early 1930s. We have little information on headwear. Most portraits do not show the headwear. Before World War I, boys almost always would have had some kind of headwear with suits. With sailor suits they presumably would have had a sailor cap or even a sailor hat. We also notice militaty styled peaked hats (figure 1). After the War, headwear became less common. We note that before World War I that formal sailor suits worn for First Communion had highly variable styling. Most were kneepants suits worn with long black stockings (figure 1). Some appear to have been fancy suits purchased especially for First Communion. After the War, the suits appear to have been more standard suits. They look like suits that the boys might wear regularly and nor especially for First Communion and other special occasions. I think this was because many German boys wore sailor suits, not because they were purchased especially for First Communion. At least some of the sailor suits we note were standard styles that could have been worn for many occassions, even school after the First Communion service. But we have little actual information here. Sailor suits for First Communion declined after the NAZI take-over in 1933 as the NAZIs were not especially fond of sailor suits for boys. Many of the images we have of German boys wearing sailor suits for First Communion appear to be Catholic boys. I'm not sure if the same was true of Protestant boys.
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