Figure 1.--The 1929 primary school photograph provides an interesting detail illustrating the kind of hose supporters for long stockings that German boys wore in 1929. In most cases our photos of boys wearing long stockings in Germany show no gap between the stocking tops and the hem of the short trousers so that we have to guess about the nature of the garters worn. For some reason this boy's long stockings are much shorter than usual for the late 1920s, which means that we can see the actual attachment of the garter.

One of the photographs provides an interesting detail illustrating the kind of hose supporters for long stockings that German boys wore in 1929. In most cases our photos of boys wearing long stockings in Germany show no gap between the stocking tops and the hem of the short trousers so that we have to guess about the nature of the garters worn. But this enlargement clearly shows that in some cases German boys wore supporters with metal clips rather than the more common garter strips with button holes for attaching to white buttons sewn onto the stocking tops.

1929 Primary School Portrait

Most German boys in the 1920s and 30s wore short pants, both during the summer and winter. As a result, we can normally tell what kind of hosiery they wore. Many boys wore kneesocks. When the weather turned cooler, long stockings became more common. Not so clear from the available photographs is how the children held up long stockings.

Individual Boy

The 1929 primary school photograph provides an interesting detail illustrating the kind of hose supporters for long stockings that German boys wore in 1929. The way the boy is sitting has made his short pants rise up particularly high. Combined with the fact that his stockings are not the longer style that was becoming more common, we can see the top of the boy's stockings and the garter attachment. Also, boys can sometimes have growth spurts and the clothes do not grow with the child so that is also a possibility. In most cases our photos of boys wearing long stockings in Germany show no gap between the stocking tops and the hem of the short trousers so that we have to guess about the nature of the garters worn. Here we can see the actual attachment of the garter.

Stocking Supporter

This enlargement clearly shows that in some cases German boys wore supporters with metal clips rather than the more common garter strips with button holes for attaching to white buttons sewn onto the stocking tops. The actual attachmnt of the garter is a single black elastic strap with the conventional rubber button that goes underneath the stocking top and is secured with a metal loop that fits on top. We can't tell from this photo whether the boy has four garters or only two. I suspect, however, that he wears four garter straps, two for each stocking, because there seems to be an attachment also near his inner thigh (notice the right leg) and because the stockings are held up tautly all around and do not sag on one side, which would be the case if there were only two garters worn over the hips on the outer leg. Compare, for instance, a Swedish boy wearing supporters only on the outer leg. Compare also a much later photo of a German boy (from the 1960s) with hose supporters exposed but only wearing two garter straps. It is interesting also that the supporters are black, not white, which means that they were probably purchased separately and attached to the boy's Leibchen (bodice) by his mother--perhaps sewn on or maybe buttoned or clipped on in some fashion. The photo from which this detail was taken shows other boys also wearing long stockings, but in the other cases the stockings are too long to reveal what kind of garter attachment is being used. For more information on German hose supporters, see HBC's discussion of Strumpfhalter.

Sensitivity

Some older German boys were sensitive about having their garter attachments showing when they sat or knelt. As several of our German readers have reported, all German boys knew about the garter attachment (the button or the metal clasp) but still didn't want these attachments exposed. Other boys simply didn't care whether they showed or not.

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Satellite sites]
[Boys' Clothing Home]

Created: 12:08 AM 3/13/2007
Last updated: 12:08 AM 3/13/2007