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First Communion was a major event in the life of Italian children. Almost all Italians are Catholics. Most Itlaian boys thus have First Communions. Unfortunately, HBC has little information on First Communion in Italy. We also have have virtually no Italian images, let alone specific Italian first communion suits. Wedo note some rather stylish First Communion suits. Hopefully Italian visitors to this site will provide some insights. Italy is a country that HBC has had trouble obtaining information about.
The Italian boy here seems to be about 10 years old. He wears a white suit which seems a bit large for him and comes down a bit low on his body. I can't be sure but it seems to be double breasted with a collar that obscures his shirt underneath. He wears matching knee pants with long white stockings and white strap shoes. He is carrying a prayer book or missal and wears the traditional white ribbon bow on his left sleeve. Notice the Dutch boy haircut--a style that covers his ears and includes bangs. I don't think this was very common in Italy. It suggests to me that he came from a wealthy family. We know nothing of the boy's identity except that he later imigrated to the United States. The date is a bit vague, but the source suggests that the portrait is from the mid-1920s and was taken in Italy.
We see a first communion on Istria, an Adriatic peminsula. The portrait was taken in the 1930s before World War II. The children belonged to the Italian community that after the War had to leave Istria which became Yugoslavian territory. The girls are wearing the traditional white dress. The boys are wearing also white clothing. They are wearing white footwear too. The two seated boys are wearing same style closed-toe sandals: the boy on the right side with white socks, that one on the left without any socks. The two choices were possible at that time, but formal clothing without socks was not common. On the contrary, today many people in Italy think that white socks are not appropriate for boys, and many think also that sandals must be worn always with no socks, in formal clothing too.
This Genoa brother and sister are having the First Communion in 1934. The names look like Amalia and Luisitto Cella. It is a studip portait the children are sending to their aunt Giulia. Luisitto wears a light-colored double breated short pants suit with a small Communion bow. The shorts have cuffs which were not very common. Notice the white gloves. White socks and black shoes complee the outfit. His sister wears an elaborate long white junior wedding dress. They look older than the 7-year olds that generally did first Communion in America. This portrait comes from Argentina. Thus it is an example of Italian families sending photographs to family members who emigrated to Argentina. As in America, manu Italians emograted in the late-19th and early-20th century.
There is no information associated with this portarit, but the dealer tells us that it was Italian and it looks to have been taken in the 1930s. It could have been the late-20s, but thev30s seens more likely. There is no indication where in Italy the photograph was taken. Generally mothers outfit boys in traditional suits for first Communion, or more recently in more basic white shirts and pants. Girls wear formak jubioe wedding dresses. Wec see formal suits, in some cases sailor suits, the general pattern throughout Europe and North America. Italy was a little different. We see some of the boys wearing rather moddish styles. Nino Digiacomo here vis a good example (figure 1). The boys in the linked page is a another example is a stylish, non-traditiuinal suit. In most other countries mothers chose very traditional suits for a church occasion. Most Itlaian mothers did as well, but we note several of these nonn-traditiional suits in the photographic record.
This World War I era portrait shows Nino Digiacomo in his First Communion portrait during 1940 (figure 1). The Italian Fascist Party did not attack the Catholic Church in the same that the NAZIs did in Germany. For many Italians, like Nino, their religious like continued unchanged under the Fascists. The boy wears a style of First Communin suit that we have not seen before. It is a white suite ith a short double breasted belted jacket. The boy wears it wih matching white long pants. He has a sleeve bow and white gloves. For some reason he has taken one of his gloves off for the portrait. His outfit is all white, including the shoes. These white suits were often only worn for First Communion or a few other formal events. He may not have evn commonly worn it to Church. I'm not sure how old the boy is. He looks about 8-9 years old. This was a photo postcard. The writing on the back reads, "Ai miei cari hii Giuseppe Rosa e cuginetti" on one side. On the other it reads. "Alfaro, la mia fotografia ensegno di perenne ricordo. affesz=mo. Nino Digiacomo. 2-12-1940 XIX
The photo was taken in Gonnoscodina, a little village (about 600 inhabitants) in central Sardinia. It shows the children that received de First Communion in 1941 with the parish priest. The girls are wearing white dresses, the boys different suits. The boys have also the traditional white ribbon. A boy in the first row is barefoot. He is also the only child seated. We can assume that his parents couldn't afford the footwear. Probably this boy had never worn shoes.
American air power brought the war home to Romans with a raid on the Italian capital (July 19). The Allied nombers targeted the Rome railway station. The San Lorenzo neighborhood was largely destroyed. Many families were displaced. Some families were accommodated in a school in the Parioli neighborhood. It is a neigborhood in the northern part of the town with many wealthy families. The local catholic parish organized the religious service for these families. We note a group of children receiving their First Communion on the feast of Mary (August 15).
HBC has noted one boy taking his First Communion, probably in the late 1950s. We had thought he was an American boy. A European reader believes that he may be an Italian boy.
HBC has noted another Italian on boy taking his First Communion, probably in the early-1950s. We know he is Italian, but are not sure where in Italy the family was located. The boy wears a midium-weight short pants suit. The shorts are rather long and lave old-fashioned buttons at the knee hem--rather like kneepants. I believe this was done as a style for more formal suits. The boy wears whire gloves and patterened white kneesocks.
This 1953 portrait shows an Italian boy and his sister in their First Communion outfits about 1953. The girl wears a long white dress styled like a wedding dress with a long veil. The boy wears a light-colored short pants suit with white ankle socks. He has an open colared shirt which I think he wears with an ascot, althought it is diificult to tell. The children look to be from a rural part of Italy.
Usually only private schools in Italy had uniforms. Children at state schools often wore smocks over their regular clothes. Children normally had special outfits for Forst Communion. At private schools with uniforms, the boys might wear their school uniforms, often with white gloves.
This is a portrait of two brothers in a formal family portrait. It looks like both are doing their First Communion in matching short pants suits. This may not be the case as they are slightly different ages and I don't think that they would have done their First Communion at the same time. It was usually done in schools as part of a class. Perhaps the older boy is doing his Confirmation, but looks a bit young for that. Hopefully out Italian readers can hrlp explain this portrait. We are also not sure about the date, but think it was the late 1950s or early 60s.
The photo was taken in San Pietro a Patierno, near Naples, in 1965. The girl's name is Rosaria Russo. She received the First Communion and the Chrismation (Confirmation). Unill 1960s sometimes the children received both sacraments at the same time. Since 1970s it became common that the children receive the First Communion and some years later the Christmation. The girl had this photo taken after the ceremony with her aunt, uncle, and cousin. The girl is wearing the classic junior wedding white ceremony dress.
The boy is wearing white short sleeves shirt and shorts. He wears open toe sandals with white ankle socks. That looks now a bit strange, but at the time it was seen as more formal than sandals without socks.
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Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site religious pages:
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[First Communion]
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