Figure 1.--These Argentine boys were photographed after World War I, probably in the 1920s. All we know about the photograph is that the boy with the Zepplin was 12 years old. One holds a toy Zepplin. Count Zepplin developed rigid lighter than air airship before World War I which came to be called Zepplins. It proved ineffective more military uses, but after the War was used for luxury international travel, until the Hidenberg disaster in New Jersey (1936). Put your cursor on the image for a closer view.

We do not yet have much information on Argentine boyhood activites and the clothing and costuming associated with them. Here there are several topics we want to persue such as the fine arts (choir, dance, and music), school, sports, and youth groups. Many Argentine children wore white smocks to school. Argentine boys play various sports, but the dominant sport is footbll (soccer). There are also family outings and home plays including topics like toys. Another important topic is religion. Most Argentines are Catholic. Many Argentine children do first communion, although economic class affected to what extent they dressed up for the occassion. Our Argentine archive is still limited, but we are expanding it and home to persue this topic in detail.

Dance

Nusic and dance are an imprtant element of culture. Argentines are known for dance, primarily ballroom dancing. Perhaps the dance most associated with Argentina is the tango. The tango was born in Buenos Aires, but is today danced around the world. An Argentine site tells us, "The most obvious music and dance to come out of Argentina is undoubtedly, the Tango, and we'll come to that later, but many of the different regions have their own musical styles which are serve as creative projections of the history and way of life in the area. Many are characterised by the local instruments they use, traditional dress and dance styles." In addition to ballroom dance and popular dances, their is also classical dance more associated with the fine arts. Argentines as many Latin Americans have looked down on ballet dancers. Embued with machismo, a strident male ethic, Argentines did not think ballet dancers were very manly. Few Argentine boys in that atmosphere desired to pursue ballet. There appears to have been a sea change in the late 1990s thanks largely to a graceful Argentine dancer, Julio Bocca. His success has generated a surge of male enrollment in Argentine ballet schools.

Home Activities

Activities at home is a primary area of assessing what children are uo to as they spend so much time at home. Wthe photographic record does not help us much here in the 19th century, but by the 20th century there is a wealth of photographic images to throw light on the home and home life. This inclues a range of different topics. They include family celebrations, family life, games, gardening, holidays, school homework, parties, play, school homework, toys, and much more. This is a tooic we have just begun to work on, but hope to expand. We do not yet have much information on Argentine holidays. Families liked to photograph celebrations and parties. As regards children, birthday parties are particularly important. We have noted some photographs showing the toys boys played with. Here we see a prize toy.

Outings

We do not have a lot of information on outings Argentine familes took. They seem to have been similar to those in Europe. We note children playing in city parks. Unfortunately we do not yet know much about Argentne urban parks. We also notice beach outings. Mar del Plata was a popular outing for Porteños--people from Buenos Aires. And Argentine as the capital and by far he largest city plays a central role in Argentine national life. Mar del Plata is located in the northern Rio Plata estuary. Further south the waters begins to get cold, even in the summer. We also notice families taking outings into the country for picnics.

Religion

Spanish Conquistadores brought Christianity to Buenos Aires which became the modern country of Argentiuna. Much of the Native American population was wiped out through mistreatment and divirce. Thus most Argentines trace their abcestry to Europeans, mostly Catholic southern Europe. In addition to the original Spanish settlers, large numbers of Catholic Italians emigrated to Italy in the late-19th and early-20th century. Argentine as a result is a largely Catholic country. First Communion has traditionally been an important event in the lives of Argetine children. As in much of Latin America, religion has declined in importance in Argentina in recent years. The Inquisition kept Protestants out of its American empire. This ended with independence (1811). As a result, there is now a small Protestant minority. There is also a small Jewish minority. Although prohbited by the Royal officials and the Church, a few Jews managed to avoid the Inquisition and settle in Europ. A small number of European \Jews emograted in the 19th and 20th century. Since World war II some Muslims have emograted to Argentina, many from Lebanon.

School Uniform

Argentine state schools have not required school uniforms. Primary schools required children to wear white smocks, but under the smocks the children could wear their own clothes. Argentina is one of the Latin American countries with the most European look. Argentine elementary school children traditionally wore white smocks--showing the Italian influence on the country and school system. While state schools did not require uniforms, private schools often did. Boys in some private schools wore short pants and kneesocks, rather like a British school.

Sports

Argentine boys play various sports, but the dominant sport is football / futbol (soccer). In fact futbol so dominates Argentine sport that we do not see a lot of other sports activities. You see that in the Olympics where Argentina does not make a major impression. A factor here is that Argentine women have show rather limited interest in sport. Interesingly an Argentine woman won a gold medal in judo atthe 2016 Summer Olympics. The Argentines also won the gold medal in foeld hockey which unlike fitbol as best we can tell is not widely played.

Youth Groups

The largest Scouting organization in Latin America appears to be Argentina. As far as we know Scouting is the only important uniformed youth group. We have few details on Argentinde Scouting. There appears to be a separate Catholic Scouting association. The image here suggests considerable attention to the unidform. As with most groups, there a destincr Cub and Scout uniform. We are not sure if any other youth groups have been active in Argentina. There does appear to be a popular youth hostel movement in Argentina.

Created: 5:30 AM 10/30/2007
Last updated: 9:49 PM 11/15/2016