Figure 1.-- My mother took me to the zoo in mid-1938. I was 3 1/4 years old. While I do not remember it, a photograph shows me holding a lion cub. |
|
My mother took me to the zoo in mid-1938. I was 3 1/4 years old. While I do not remember it, a photograph shows me holding a lion cub. Surprisingly I do not look all that interested in the lion cub, you would have thought That I would have been very excited about it. I wear a white shirt with a wide collar with H-bar shorts. Notice the strig tie with little balls on my shirt and the three buttons at the hem of my shorts. I do not know for sure, but I think my mother r grandmother made this outfit. Another photograph taken when I was 3 years old shows me outdoor with relatives during the summer. As a little boy at home I commonly wore a play dress ( Spielhöschen ). They are called rompers in America and Barboteuses in France. I was 3¼ years old when a photograph of me in a Spielhöschen was taken. I think my mother dressed me in these a lot during the summer.. Later I had my picture taking on Christmas 1939. Christmas is a very special time in Germany and it is no accident that many of my boyhood photographs were taken during the Christmas season. I got a large bear that Christmas which pleased me to no end. The suit I am wearing was for Sunday and special occassions. I remember that it was light blue/grey with button pants which I wore with dark brown stockings.
A French reader writes, "Although it is not very clear, notice the string tie and white pompoms. The H-bar suspender short panrts were a typical German style. In France a boy this age might have had bib-front shorts, perhaps worn with a blouse with puff sleeves."
We are unsure why H-bar shorts were especially popular in Germany. We wonder if
it was because they looked like Lederhosen halters. Or is it because they more pratical than suspender shorts without the cross bar. The straps of regular suspender shorts often fell off the shoulders. The cross bar held them securely in place.
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing German pages:
[Return to the Main HJ younger years page ]
[German choirs]
[German movies]
[German royalty]
[German school uniforms]
[German youth groups]
[German sailor suits]
[String ties]
[Lederhosen]
[Ethnic]
[Tights]
[Long stockings]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Satellite sites]
[Boys' Clothing Home]