Figure 1.--These boys in the Colts catalog model crew-neck sweaters worns with jeans and belted cord shorts. Shorts in the 1960s were increasingly becoming casual summer wear, but some boys still wore them with sweaters in cooler weather. Many more boys wore them to school.

The Colts 1968-69 winter catalog offered both traditional and trendy styles. Many were sourced on the continent, but some were from America and Britain. The winter catalog of course included a lot of cold weather clothes like jackets and warm fabrics like corduroy. The catalog offered clothes for boys from 4 to 16 years old, changed in response to demand from the original 8 to 18 years.

Long Sleeved Shirts

French shirts predominated, but one -- the brushed-cotton button-down 'Madox' -- was from Portugal., and the plaid 'Braemar' was British. From France came the striped 'Aumerle' , 'Rusty' and 'Anjou', as well as the popular 'Shane' needlecord shirt. 'Galba' was in a brushed-cotton herringbone. One of the models wore a cord baseball cap by Charlie Brown.

Sweaters

For a British winter, predictably, quite a range of sweaters was offered, including 'turtlenecks' (slightly raised crewnecks) and polo-necks. As Colts was casual-only, no V-neck sweaters were offered -- the common style for schoolboys with ties. 'Paladin' and 'Hannes' (Austrian) sweaters are shown in Figure 1.

Jeans

These, too, were from several countries, and by no means all were, as in America, in denim. The basic 'Rawhide', in tough navy denim, was, surprisingly, Danish. Semi-hipster cotton-twill jeans came from the manufacturer Rok in Spain, as did the best-selling 'Orley' jeans in needlecord, and scrubbed-denim jeans in soft colours --including tomato soup!. Flared-bottom 'Seadog' jeans were from Lybro (British ), and there were 'super-jeans' in random-wale corduroy.

Shorts

Short trousers remained common for casual summer wear, and a wide variety were offered in the summer catalogs. Some English boys still wore shorts in cooler weather as well. Colts offered three types. 'Arno' bush shorts, with a profusion of pockets, were available in lightweight denim, or in beige or old-gold satin drill. A new type of cord shorts, 'Barney', made its bow, now made in England but based on French models; it came in grey, mid-brown and olive. Also in continental cut, 'Jumbo' , in chunky 'elephant-cord' (4 ribs to the inch), was in beige, brick-red, olive-grey, petrol-blue and chocolate. Jumbo, by the way, did not imply 'for the heftier boy' -- see Figure 1.

Trousers

Colts offered a wide range, in flannel, polyester/wool, wool worsted and corduroy. Some were cut in jean style, others more traditionally. One had big belt-loops. Manufacturers from France, Denmark and the Netherlands featured strongly. Most were in solid colours, but stripes and herringbones were also offered.

Figure 2.--Colts offered suits in bith trendy and traditional styling. By the 1960s, most boys wore long pants suits. Note the destinctive 1960s footwear.

Jackets

Casual jackets began to appear in the 1950s and were common by the 1960s: Colts offered several. Western styles were the most popular, but anoraks were also available (quilted nylon) and safari jackets (but no pith helmets). Materials included denim, corduroy, and of course British tweed. One of the jackets (Oakley) looks rather like the cord jackets worn at several preparatory schools. It was available in cream, purple, grey, smokey, olive, chocolate, navy, or black. It was made to be worn with matching needle point jeans. Another cord jacket (Tex) had more contemporary styling like a stand-uo collar.

Etcetera

Other items included suits and coats, plus tracksuits, boiler-suits, judo bathrobes, capes and belts (money and dragoon). There was even a corduroy baseball-cap called "Charlie Brown".

Created: August 20, 2001
Spell checked: August 21, 2001
Last updated: September 27, 2001