Figure 1.--This German boy and his mother had their portrait taken in 1948. He is wearing what looks like suspender rompers with a fancy bouse. The portrait is unidentified. We do not even know where in Germany they lived. It is hard to say much about the boy's family. He is dressed in a fancier outfit than most German boys wore at the time. If we did not know that the boy was from Germany, we would have guesed that he was French. A reader asks about the boy and his family.

This German boy and his mother had their portrait taken in 1948. He is wearing what looks like suspender rompers with a fancy bouse. The blouse is white, we are not sure about the rompers, they were probably light-blue, but there is no way to be sure. A reader asks about the boy and his family. "How old would you say the boy is? I suspect 4 or 5. Also, if he is that old does that mean he comes from a wealthy home or is it the convention of 1948?" Of course it is impossible to say for sure, but I would say he is 5 years old, but not quite 6 years old yet. The portrait is unidentified. We do not even know where in Germany they lived. It is hard to say much about the boy's family. He is dressed in a fancier outfit than most German boys wore at the time. If we did not know that the boy was from Germany, we would have guesed that he was French. We are not sure what his outfit suggests about the family. Our reader could well be correct that it suggests he came from a well-to-do family. The post-War years were a very difficult time in Germany. Many fmilies did not have the money for the bare necesities, let alone fancy outfits like this. His mother in contrast it not dressed fashionably. We do not know what she went through in the War. Many fmilies including wealty ones lost everything in the War. Perhaps our German readers will have insights to offer. A French reader writes, "I think this portrait is from Germany , the mother and her son have the typical German hair style . The mother hair style is called " Chignon" and the boy hair style is called " coupe ā la bol ". It should be said , during and after the War the Germans were quite fascinated by the French way of life and our fashions. This boy wore a romper suit in the late 1940s. This style was worn by French boys during the 1940s and 50s. His fancy blouse is a style from the 1940s. This outfit was worn the Sunday , or special occasions like birthday parties. About his mother , in France the family status was rather judged by the children behavioral that the mothers themself. I suspect the same was true in Germany."

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Created: 3:27 PM 5/8/2008
Last updated: 7:10 AM 5/13/2008