Figure 1.--
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Figure 1.-- |
HBC has very interesting information about boys clothes from German catalogs. My mother in the 1970s ordererd from "Baur", "Wenz", "Otto", and "Quelle". She ordered what she thought would be nice for me and I usually was not consulted. I first saw my new clothes when they arrived in the mail and I had to try them on. Usually it was okay what she ordered (jeans etc), but sometime i was "shocked" over the clothes that i would wear. When a package came I was always a bit nervous over the surprise that might come ....jeans or kniebundhose etc. The "Baur" 1970s catalogs has many sandals for boys there were very open. Many sandals in the early 1970s had very wide stripes and actually looked almost like shoes. These were the ones that I was used to wearing. These were common in the "Quelle" and "Otto" catalogs. So I was a little uneasy when shoes from "Baur" arrived. I must say that I was a bit shocked when I saw what was inside. My mother had ordered sandals that looked qoite different and were very open for me to wear that summer. With my sandals usually wore Kniestrümpfe which mother also ordered from catalogs. On cool days in the winter, mother wanted me to wear Kniebundhosen. She insisted I wear the Kniebundhosen to school and on sundays.
HBC has very interesting information about boys clothes from German catalogs. My mother in the 1970s ordererd from "Baur", "Wenz", "Otto", and "Quelle".
She ordered what she thought would be nice for me and I usually was not consulted. I first saw my new clothes when they arrived in the mail and I had to try them on. Usually it was okay what she ordered (jeans etc), but sometime i was "shocked" over the clothes that i would wear. When a package came I was always a bit nervous over the surprise that might come ....jeans or kniebundhose etc.
Sandals were very popular for German boys in the 1970s. Most boys had a pair and some wore them quite a bit. In the 2000s boys commonly wear neakers from "nike" and "adidas". Sneras were not as common in the 1970s when I was a boy.
The "Baur" 1970s catalogs has many sandals for boys there were very open. Many sandals in the early 1970s had very wide stripes and actually enclosed most of the foot--a rather closed look almost like shoes. These were the ones that I was used to wearing. These were common in the "Quelle" and "Otto" catalogs. So I was a little uneasy when shoes from "Baur" arrived.
I must say that I was a bit shocked when I saw what was inside. My mother had ordered sandals that looked qoite different and were very open for me to wear that summer. German boys in the early 1970s wore sandals with such wide straps that thaery were in many ways more like shoes--although usually they had open toes, unkile the English school sandals. The boys at my school as well as my friends in the early 1970s all wore these rather closed style sandals. I was rather uneasdy about wearing sandals that were so different. In the eraly 1970s the closed style of sandals like "Salamander" and other brands were the popular style and not Birkenstock-sandals.
None of my friends and schoolmates in the early 1970s had the same open style sandals that my mother purchased for me. The "Baur" mail order catalog was apparntly not that popular. Most people ordered from "Otto", "Quelle", or other catalogs . But my mother for some reason loved the "Baur" catalog. As I mentioned above, I was not consulted on the matter. She said the that she liked the Baur catalog because it had clothes that she not find in the other catalogs. I think the "Baur" was ahead of the times with its "spezial sandals"-site for boys. My mother found it nice and ordered the sandals with 2 straps and 1 ankle-straps for me.
I knew those sandals were going to cause a problem. My mother insisted that I wear them to school as soon as the weather turned warm. Many boys wore sandals to school, but they were all that closed style I mebntioned. I was the only boy in by class with this more pen style. My friends took one look at my feet and started to tease me about my new sandals. I hate this and wanted the style that they had, but my mom was having none of it. So you can understand why I was shocked that I had sandals that were styled so differently and amde me an "unikum".
I think about 1977 that my best friend got a pair of Birkenstock sandals. The Birkenstock were in the more open style. His were brown. The Birkenstock sandals were just beginning to become popular. By the 1980s, the "Birkenstock-style" had become the popular style. Other companes came out with the open sandal style in the 80s and this rermains a popular style for boys today.
As a boy in the 1970s I commonly wore t-shirts and shorts when it was warm. Jeans-shorts or sport-shorts were normal. On cool days long jeans. No caps. I and my friends wear lederhosen when we were younger, but I never wore them after 1973. They were more popular for younger boys.
With my sandals usually wore Kniestrümpfe which mother also ordered from catalogs. On cool days in the winter, mother wanted me to wear Kniebundhosen. She insisted I wear the Kniebundhosen to school and on sundays. I rather liked the socks with patterns. My mother preferred for me to wear kneesocks with one solid collar, especially a color that matched the color of my sandals. So that is what I would wear to school. I would wear my favorite kneesocks most with my sneakers when I went out to play football. I prefered to wear kneesocks with my short pants rather than ankle socks. My favorite colors were red and blue.
I was not a Scout. I did note that German Scouts rarely wore sandals even during the summer..
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