Icelandic Boys Clothes


Figure 1.--These Icelandic boys about 1910 wear tunic suits with sailor styling elements. This probably reflercts Danish styles which were strogly infuenced by both Britain and Germany. We are not sure about the color, but blue seems likely.

Iceland is a rugged, mountainous island nation in the North Atlantic. It is located between Europe and North America. Its name suggests a barren forbidding olace, but only aboutt 10 percent of the island is covered by glaciers. Although located at a northerly lattitude, the climate is surprisingly moderate because of the warming Guld Stream, the same phenonenon that keep the British climate moderate. And there are numerous, popular geothermal hot-spots. Iceland is not connected to Europe, but it is closer to it than North Ameruica and is thus considered European. Though not part of the continental mainland, the country is considered European. The people are of largely Scandanavian Viking ancestry, mostly Norwegian. Settlement began with the Viking outbreak (9th century). For over five centuries it was ruled by Denmark, another Scandanavian country. The country played an important role in the World War II Battle of the Atlantic. We have begun a Icelandic history page. The North Atlantic beginning in medieval times was exploited for its rich fishery resources, esoeciall groundfish like cod. The Icelandic economy came to be based largely on the fishing industry. This led after coastal countries became claiming extended economic zones to the so-called Cod Wars with Britain (1980s). The scebery is stunigly beautiful abd the tourist industry has grown in recent years. For years Denmark prohibited trade with other countries which also limited contacts. Denmark finally opened trade and move toward home rule (19th century) and the German World War II occvpation of Denmark began the move toward independence. . Financial mismanafement led to a economic crisis (2000s). We have little information about Icelandic boys clothing at this time. Our archive is very limited. We believe that clothing styles were similar to Scandinavia, especially Denmark. We do not know if there are any destinctive Icelandic fashions, although climate has had an impact on clothing and fashion. The few images we have see shows the kids dressed much like children in Scandanavioa, although our archive is very limited. Hopefully Icelandic readers will provide some information about their country.

Geography

Iceland is a rugged, mountainous island nation in the North Atlantic. It is located between Europe and North America. Its name suggests a barren forbidding place, but only aboutt 10 percent of the island is covered by glaciers. Although located at a northerly lattitude, the climate is surprisingly moderate because of the warming Gulf Stream, the same phenonenon that keep the British climate moderate. And there are numerous, popular geothermal hot-spots. >br>

Ethnicity

Iceland is not connected to Europe, but it is closer to it than North Ameruica and is thus considered European. Though not part of the continental mainland, the country is considered European. The people are of largely Scandanavian Viking ancestry, mostly Norwegian. It the late-medieval modern age (1397) it became a Danish colony creating Danish connections.

History

The Romans described the remote Island of Thule. Irish Monks are reported to have visited Iceland during the early medieval period, The history of Ireland, howevers, begins with the arrival of the Vikings who first populated the island (9th century). . Christianity was peacefully adopted by the Icelanders (1000). The decesion was taken at Alțingi, which met for 2 weeks every summer, with a large proportion of the population participating. Greenland was discovered and colonized by Icelanders under the leadership of Eirik the Red. His som Lief led the first Europeans to set foot on the American continent (1262-64). In Ireland itself, internal feuds, tatamount to civil war, led to the King of Norway acquiring the island as part of his domains (1271). Norway and Denmark formed the Kalmar Union (1397), which in effect transferred Iceland to the Danish monarchy. This ended the "Golden Age" of Iceland's independence. The Danish kings instituted the Reformation (1551). This replaced papal control with Danish control which involved confiscation of great wealth. The Icelandic economy was severly damaged when the Danes replaces the Hansa and English trade with a Danish trade monopoly. An absolute monarchy was established (1662). This effectively transferred government authority to Copenhagen. The Danish Crown benefuitted financially, but the Icelandic economy suffered. The Little Ice Age cooling affected Icelanding agriculture (16th and 17th centuries). Most icelanders believe that the 18th century was aow point of Icelandic history. The Alțingi was dissolved and the old diocese replaced by one bishop residing in Reykjavík. The Danish government finally began to shift their policies in Iceland. The trade monopoly was modified (1783). All subjects of the Danish monarchy were given the right to trade in Iceland. The Alțingi was reinstituted as a consultative assembly (1843). The trade monopoly was abolished entirely (1854). Iceland celebrated the millenium of the first settlement (1874). The Danes used this to grant Iceland a constitution and control of its own finances. The Daneish crown granted home rule (1904) and finally sovereignty (1918). The country remained united with Denmark under the Danish crown. After World War II broke out and Germany invaded Denmark, the British occupied Iceland (1940). American troops arrived to relieve the British (1941). Iceland proclaimed a republic (1944).

Economy

The North Atlanic beginning in medieval times was exploited for its rich fishery resources, esoeciall groundfish like cod. The Icelandic economy came to be based largely on the fishing industry. This led after coastal countries became claiming extended economic zones to the so-called Cod Wars with Britain (1980s). The scebery is stunigly beautiful abd the tourist industry has grown in recent years. For years Denmark prohibited trade with other countries which also limited contacts. Denmark finally opened trade and move toward home rule (19th century) and the German World War II occupation of Denmark began the move toward independence. Financial mismanagement led to a economic crisis (2000s).

Chronology

We have not yet been able to build an Icelandic clothing chronology. Iceland is a small country with a small population and was relatively poor country. This means that the photographic record is much smaller than many other countries. We have not found any 19th century images and not many 20th-century ones. Our archive is still very limited. At best we can tell as this point, Ice;anding children simply followed European styles, especially Danish sty;es as Icelnd was a Danish colony. And the few images we have archived do fit into this pattern. We see the same formal dress standards in Iceland that we see in early European countries. At the turn-of-the 20th century, we note girls wearing dresses and pinafores and boys wearing dresses. It would be difficult to destinguih many Icelandic images from Danish images. Of course Iceland has a harsher winter than Denmark, so warm clothing such as sweaters is even more important than in Denmark. As the 20th century progressed we see the same trend toward casual clothing that we see in Denmark and other countries.

Garments

We have little information about Icelandic boys clothing at this time. Our Icelanhdic archive is very limited. We believe that clothing styles were similar to Scandinavia, especially Denmark. Warm garments like sweaters and lonstokings hjave been widely worn. We do not know if there are any destinctive Icelandic fashions, although climate has had an impact on clothing and fashion. The few images we have see shows the kids dressed much like children in Scandanavioa, although our archive is very limited. Hopefully Icelandic readers will provide some information about their country.







HBC





Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main European page]
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries] [Topics]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]





Created: 6:38 PM 8/3/2009
Last updated: 9:20 AM 11/3/2015