Figure 1.--These two German children, probably in the late 1920s, are being watched over by grossmutter. The little boy wears romers, he looks to be 2-3 years old.

HBC is unclear as to the chronology of rompers in Germany. We have noted photographs of German boys wearing rompers. We have begun to buld a basic chronology based on the snapshots we have archived. They seem to first appear in the 1920s and were worn through the 1960s. I do not yet know how common they were in the 1920s and 30s. Many were not very fashionable. The image here, however, looks like it might be a 1930s image--but that is only a guess. We have noted rompers in Germany before the 1940s, but they were not styled like French rompers. We note that in the early 1940s that French styles begin to appear. We noted a NAZI propaganda film made by Goebels at the Lake Wanderssee resort near Berlin in 1944 to try to prove how undisturned life in Berlin was by the war. The rompers we note in Germany during the World War II years seem more stylish tghan before the War, perhps reflecting shipments of clothes made in France to Germany. Part of repratiions France was forced to pay to Germany. One boy about 4 years old wears yellowish-colored rompers. This shows that rompers were worn in the 1940s. [HBC note: We are collecting information on the German occupation and the French Vichy Government.] These shipments may have had an impact on German fashions and children's rompers may have been one example. After the War, the rompers worn by German boys in the 1950s and 60s have a French look to them, although the classic French one-piece romper suit was not as common in Germany as outfits with just romper pants, both suspender and bib-front styles. We still see them in the 1960s, although the age range decined.

The 1910s

HBC currently has no historical information on rompers in Germany. We have not noted rompers in the photographs of boys clothes before World War I (1914-18), but this may be due to HBC's still limited, but growing German archive. We note them in America during the 1910s, but have not yet found them in Germany durng the 10s.

The 1920s

HBC is unclear as to the chronology of rompers in Germany. Our assessment is entirely based on the photographic record. We do not yet know how common they were in the 1920s and 30s. We do not note rompers being worn in Germany before World War I, but this may reflect our limited archive of German imafes. We do note images after the War. The image here looks like it might be a 1920s image--but that is only a guess (figure 1). Some are indated so we can not be speciic as to when they first appeared. Some seem to be rompers with baloon pants, but without elasticized legs. We notice some images in rurl areas.

The 1930s

We see quite a few images of German boys wearing romper in the 1930s, but often not very stylish ones. And the baloon pants do notseem as well defined s the ones we see in France. We mostly see non-desicript play garment, but some whatmore fashionable than ha we see in the 20s. Romprs were were worn by pre-school boys. We do not see them being worn to school. We are not yet sure about Kindergarten. Nor do we see motghers dressing boys up in romperoutfits like we see in Frace.. We have noted photographs of German boys wearing rompers. We seem to note rompers more commonly in the 20s, but we are not yet entirely sure about the relative popularity. The prevalence in the photographic record suggests that they were not the primary play outfit for younger boys, but not by any means unusual or rare. We notice some mothers dressing younger boys in identifical romper outfits. Some German rompers are styled like the play pinafores some boys wearing in the early-20th century to protect their clothing. The images we have found show a smaller conentrationn ion rural ares compared go the 20s.

The 1940s

The most prevalent period for rompers in Germany seems to have been the World War II era. We note that in the early 1940s that French styles begin to appear. We noted a NAZI propaganda film made by Goebels at the Lake Wanderssee resort near Berlin in 1944 to try to prove how undisturned life in Berlin was by the war. One boy about 4 years old wears yellowish-colored rompers. This shows that rompers were worn in the 1940s. We have noted rompers in Germany before the 1940s, but they were not styled like French rompers. We believe this is becuse of German occupation policy in France. As a result of reprations and the grossly overvalued Deutsche Mark, lrge quantities of food and other consumer goods were shipped to the Reich. Among them was French clothing, including children's clothing. [HBC note: We are collecting information on the German occupation and the French Vichy Government.] These shipments may have had an impact on German fashions and children's rompers may have been one example. We note girls also wearing rompers in the 1930s and 40s. And older girls wore romper suits for school gym classes. In France only boys wore rompers.

Figure 2.--These two German childrenin 1957 are enjoying a little summer sunshine with their pooch pal. The boy wears a T and shorts set. The girls wears a romper suit.

The 1950s

After the War, the rompers worn by German boys in the 1950s and 60s have a French look to them, although the classic French one-piece romper suit was not as common in Germany as outfits with just romper pants--both suspender and bib-front styles. They all seem to be casual play syles for summer wear. We have not yet found examples of dressy rompers in Germnany during the 50s. Rompers were very popular in France during the 1950s. Tey were widely worn by pre-school boys. They were not nearly as common in Germnan and seem more of a summer style. And during the decade we note thatthe age range seems to have shited down. By the end of the decade we only see younger boys wearing them. They appear to have become popular for girls though. We see some school age girls wearing them as a casual summer style.

The 1960s

German boys wore rompers throughout the 1960s. Clothing catalogs did carry rompers for little boys' play clothes during the 1960s. Shown here is summer romper suit which might be called a sunsuit in America. The catalogs have sizes rather than ages. The style in figure 1 was available in sizes Gr80-98 centimeters. I am not sure, however, just what is being measured. A HBC reader reports, "Concerning rompers in German, there is no real translation. All the little garment alike pants with buttons; bib, very short pants for baby, the mothers say "Spielhöschen". We are not sure about the age of the boys wearing rompers during the 60s. It may have been declining. We think that girls also wore them.

The 1970s

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Created: June 8, 2001
Last updated: 1:56 AM 11/11/2012