Figure 1.--There was no information attached to this American first communion scene . It was a post crd back portait, but nothing was wr=ritten on the back. We can tell that it was taken in the 1910s becauuse of the outfits and AZO stamp box (four triangles up). The boys wear navy blue knicker suits. The girls wear white junior weedding dresses. Put your cursor on the oimage to see the girls.

We believe that white outfits for First Communion first appeared in significant numbers at the beginning of the 20th Century. We do mot see them earlier. The all-white blouse and knee pants outfit here may have been taken about 1905. Note the whute long stockings. We also see boys wearing white blouses with regular usully knickers and long stiockings. We have not yet found white suits in the early-20th century 1900s and 10s decades, but that does not mean that they did not exist. It does mean that they were not very common. What we mostly see, especially if a group is involved, is dark probably navy blue knicker suits. They were worn with we think black long stockings. There may have been some navy long stockings, but we believe thst blsck was much more common. It is virtually impossible to destinguish between black and navy blue in period photography. That was if not the trandard fitst communion suit, certainly the most common. We also see some boys wearing a range of lighter colored suits not puurchased especially for first communion. This was never the choice in group ceremonies. White gloves were common fashion accesories. We do not begin to see boys and girls wearing knee socks for formal events until well into the 1920s. For the girls there was no color variety. Their outfits included headwear which might include veils and flowers. The girls all wore white junior wedding dresses. The styles and cuts differed, but never the color. They were all white to reflect purity like wedding dresses. In thus period the girls also wore whuite long stockings and white shoes, although we also see dark long stockings and black shoes.

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[The 1920s] [The 1930s] [The 1940s] [The 1950s] [The 1960s] [The 1970s]

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Created: 4:12 AM 9/23/2004
Last edited: 5:20 PM 12/2/2017