Figure 1.-- A HBC reader found this first communion photo in an antique shop in Madison, New York not far from Colgate University. It is marked 1924 on the back but with no designation of location. I suspect it comes from the northeast--either upper New York state or New England. Most of the items in this shop are from this area, we were informed. The children (about 8 or 9 years old) comprise quite a large class of first communicants--obviously from a substantial Catholic church. American boys did not commonly wear long stockings, but we notice quite an number of younger boys in the early-20th century wearing white long stockings for formal occassions. Click on the image for a close up of the children here and links to examples of boys dressing up with white long stockings.

A HBC reader found this first communion photo in an antique shop in Madison, New York not far from Colgate University. It is marked 1924 on the back but with no designation of location. I suspect it comes from the northeast--either upper New York state or New England. Most of the items in this shop are from this area, we were informed. The children (about 8 or 9 years old) comprise quite a large class of first communicants--obviously from a substantial Catholic church, which probably indicates a city such as Syracuse, Rochester, Albany, Boston, or Manchester, New Hampshire. Both the boys and girls are dressed entirely in white--white dresses or white short trousers suits with white long stockings and even white shoes. Such clothes would seem to indicate a reasonably well-off community who wanted their children to look good in the picture. As the boys do not wear suit jackets, the outfits could be purchased at relatively low cost. But still the fact that the whole class was so well done up reflects the increasing affluence of Catholic immogrant families in America by the 1920s. The clothes were also dictated, I suspect, by the conservative traditions of the parish or diocese. In a few cases you can detect the white supporters under the boys' shorts. The boys seem to be carrying red glass votive candles mounted on brass stands.

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Created: 3:50 AM 5/16/2010
Last edited: 3:50 AM 5/16/2010