Figure 1.--This CDV portrait taken at the E. Voelkel studio shows fashionably dressed brothers, probnly in the 1870s. Both boys who look to be about 9 and 3 years old wear suits. Note the younger older boy wears long pants and the younger boy knickers with white stockings. Family portraits like this with multiple subjects are especially useful in establishing age conventions. The boys were photographed in Neisse. Neisse is a historic town and fortress in Germany at the junction of the Neisse and the Biela Rivers. The Oder-Neisse Line became the eastern border of Germany after World War II.

There were age conventions for the various specific pants types. There were age conventions for all the different types of pants: long pants, knickers, knee pants, and short pants. And these varied varied over time as well as among families. Social class was another factor. Long pants were very common in the 19th century for boys. School-age boys commonly wore long pants after breeching. This began to change at mid-century. We see younger children from affluent families wearing fashionable styles like bloomer knickers and knee pants. These shortened styles became more widely worn by the end of the 19th century. Long pants again became very common in the second half of the 20th century. Styles like knee pants and short pants were very common in the first half of the 20th century. Most boys wore them. So did younger teenagers, although here social class was a factor. Some what older boys wore knickers, most commonly teenagers. They were worn until after World War II. Lederhosen were a popular type of pants, although with astrong regional base. The age conventions associated with Lederhosen were not as strong as with other types of pants.

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Created: 6:44 PM 6/6/2009
Last updated: 6:44 PM 6/6/2009