Figure 1.--This portrait from an American dealer looks like a German First Communion portrait. The bowtie rather suggests an Anerican boy. All we know for sure was that it was taken in 1938. It had a postcard back, The candle is chracteristically German, but was used in some German American communities. The boy is wearing a dark short pants suit with long stockings.

We note quite a variety of First Communion outfits worn in the 1930s. Most boys seem to have suits for the event. Given the Depression, some may not have been new. We note both dark anbd white suits, but the darkl suits were more common. They were both short pants and knicker suits worn with long stockings and kjnee soicks. Some mothers thought long sockings appropriate fr formality, but we also see many boys wearing knee soicks. We occasioinally see ankle socks, but this was noit very common. We also see boys wearing white shirts rather than suits. This was a more casual and less expensive option. Suits seem the most common. Girls wore white wedding drssesc in various styles.
Unidentified Boy (1930s)

This snapshot is unidentified and undated. The boy is clearly wearing his First Communion outfit. It looks to us like the photograph was taken in the 1930s, although the 40s is also a poosibility. The boy's outfit is a liitle unusual as I haven't notice boys wearing white knickers very commonly. White short and long pants were common, but not knickers. The sports collar is also a little unusual for a formal outfit.

Al ??? (1937)

This boy's name was Al, but we don't know his last name. We do know that he has his portrait taken in 1937 in his First Communion suit. It looks to be a black short pants suit. He also wears black knee socks and black shoes. We do not know where he lived. The conservative outfit suggests to us that he was from a relatively prosperous family. With his all black outfit he has a white tie.

Pennsylvania (late-1930s)

We are not entirely sure how to date this portrait. All we know for sure is that he ws from Reading, Pennsylvanisa. He is pictured with his father for a First Communion portrait. We suspect that they are an Italian immigrant family. Reading was a northeastern industrial city that attracted Italian and other European immigrants in the late-19th and early 2th century. The background looks rather old fashioned, but the long knickers and ankle socks look like the 1930s to us. We do not note boys commonly wearing abkle socks in the 1910s and 20s for formal portraits. And the long knickers are also unusual for this period. So we think think it must be the 1930s, probably the late-1930s. The boy has an unusual colored First Communion sleeve bow. Usually these bows were white.

Unidentified Boy (1938)

This portrait from an American dealer looks like a German First Communion portrait (figure 1). All we know for sure was that the portrait was taken in 1938. It had a postcard back, The candle is chracteristically German, but was used in some German American communities. The boy is wearing a dark short pants suit with long stockings. The bowtie looks American.

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Created: 2:06 AM 4/6/2005
Last edited: 2:06 AM 4/6/2005