Figure 1.--German boys wore both patternbed and plain knee socks. We mostly see the patterned knee socks in the 1940s and 50s. This family snap shot was taken in the 1950s.

We mostly see German boys wearing knee sockls furing the 1920s-60s. Knee socks became common in the 1920s, but they were mostly solid colored knee socks. The more common long stockings were also traditionally solid colors. We begin to see German boys wearing patterened knee socks in the 1930s, but solid colors were much more common. We primarily see the patterned knee socks being worn by boys in the 1940s and 50s. until the 1940s, pattern knee socks were not very common in Germany. We never see them being worn with the Hitler Youth uniforms. Patterned knee socks became very common after World War II. They were were widely worn by German boys in the 1940s and 50s. A reader tells us that a German friend wore patterned knee socks at their Swiss boarding school. We do not see them in the 1960s, but knee socks were decling in popularity. Knee socks began to decline in popularity during the 1960s as did pattern knee socks. The different styles of knee socks were available in a 1973 German clothing catalog show the variety of colorful patterns that were worn at the time. By this time, however, knee socks were rapidly declining in popularity for boys. Many of the knee socks pictured in 1973 would have been worn by girls.