Figure 1.-- When I was 5 3/4 for Christmas I got a special outfit from my father--a sailor suit with a reefer overcoat and cap for Christmas 1940. I can't remember what ship name was on the cap tally. As it is winter I am wearing long stockings with it. Notice the footscrper which was very common at the entrace to German houses.

Here are some details on the clothes I wore as a boy. As you can see they were quite varied. The chronological arrangement here provide a good idea as to how my clothes changed as I grew up. There are a lot of photographsof me a a younger boy. As the war conditions worsened there are fewer photographs at the end of the War and the early post-War era. Several of the family photographs also show what my cousins were wearing. The family photographs which I have provided HBC begin at about age 2 in 1937. Pictures at 2½ year old show me sitting on a swing and riding a tricycle. At this age I had all sorts of stuffed animals--a large sable. I loved playing with them. At Christmas 1937 photograph shows me with my stable of animals. My first professional portrait was taken at about the same time. As a little boy at home during the hot summer weather I commonly wore a play dress ( Spielhöschen ). I began wearing sailors suits at about age 3 and had quite a few different ones. I never wore Lederhosen, but had several outfits that looked like them. I got my first real suit when I was 5 years old, but for special occasions often wore sailor suits. My last boyhood photographs which I include here were taken in the Summer of 1950. In one photograph I am sitting in the garden of our home. [HBC note: By garden Hans J means back yard. British English never uses the American term back yard, as yard in Britain is used in the sense of junk yard pr vacant uncared for yard not a well tended garden.] In the other I am sitting in a historic castle ruin.

Younger Boy

The family photographs which I have provided HBC begin at about age 2 in 1937. Pictures at 2½ year old show me sitting on a swing and riding a tricycle. At this age I had all sorts of stuffed animals--a large sable. I loved playing with them. At Christmas 1937 photograph shows me with my stable of animals. My first professional portrait was taken at about the same time. As a little boy at home I commonly wore a play dress ( Spielhöschen ). 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. Another photograph taken when I was 3 years old shows me outdoor with relatives during the summer. I was 3¼ years old. 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 photograph taken at age 5 1/4 during the Summer shows me on holiday in the countryside together with a cousin. A cute picture I think, one of my favorites. Note the tie and the bands at my white kneesocks. It looks like I am wearing Bavarian lederhosen, but my pants are cloth not leather. I am only wearing a halter in the lederhosen style to hold up my pants . Note the straps with holes to fit it to different sizes. There is a decorative horn shield in the center. When I was 5 3/4 for Christmas I got a special outfit from my father--a sailor suit with a reefer overcoat and cap for Christmas 1940 (figure 1). I can't remember what ship name was on the cap tally. About the same time in Fall 1940 or early Spring 1941 I had my picture taken in the fields with a cousin. We are both wearing our best suits. It must have been taken on a Sunday after church. Note that I am wearing long stockings. He was about a year older than me and thus his mother was not quite as careful as my mother who insisted on the long stockings to keep me from catching a cold. We also have different hats. He has a Tirolerhut or Seppl-Hut with a feather, often worn with Bavarian Lederhosen. I am wearing a Baskenmütze .

Boyhood

There are two pictures taken in the garden of our house during Spring 1941. One is a formal photograph with my grandparents and an aunt (not shown). The other was a more informal scene of me playing in the garden a few weeks earlier. I have another photograph taken for Christmas 1941. I was 6 3/4 years old. This was a special studio photograph. I was wearing my blue sailor suit. I don't remember now if it had short or long pants. This was my Ausgehanzug which meant one's best suit for leaving the house with your parents on Sundays. For christmas 1941/1942 an old "Laden" from the 1910´s of an uncle was renovated and enlarged by a basement with the garages for the trucks and as a magazine for me; there is no picture available when the shop was filled up with little boxes (“Schächtelchen”) containing chocolate etc. (note the “office” at the left side!); and me as a merchant has also not been photographed. – Shops like this one were Christmas presents for children, mostly boys, of about 7 to 10 years old to learn reading the boxes and to learn billing what “customers” had bought with some playing money; I got it some years at christmas for about 4 weeks for playing. My son, born 1968, got the shop again, 5 years old for christmas 1972, modernised of course; there is a colour picture available with his shop filled up and the “merchant” waiting for customers at the new cashier´s place. Preferably, what I wanted as a Christmas gift in this age, and later, was a model railway for playing in winter; during the War they were not produced and available if not in the family, as in my case, – so my heart´s desire was not realised. The only starting was a wooden railway station. A photograph taken in Summer 1942 shows me with a friend climbing in a tree in our garden. My friend is in front. I remember that we boys liked to play “Indianerles” (to be red indians hunting deer). There is a picture available during Winter 1946/47, again in our garden, me wearing a Trainingsanzug (note the feathers on my head). I was 11 years old.

Teenager

The major event as a teenager was when I did my Conformation at age 14. I received my first long pants suit for the occassion. Still I mot wore shorts even to school. I also wore knickers during the Winter.I have fewer photograophs of my teen years than I do my boyhood years. I wore a variety of clothesas a teenager, including short pants, knickers, and long pants. My last boyhood photographs which I include here were taken in the Summer of 1950. In one photograph I am sitting in the garden of our home. [HBC note: By garden Hans J means his back yard. British English never uses the American term back yard, as yard in Britain is used in the sense of junk yard or vacant uncared for yard not a well tended garden.] In the other photograph I have I am sitting in a historic castle ruin. After I turned 16 years old I began wearing long pants all the time.

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Created: February 25, 2004
Last updated: April 11, 2004