Figure 1.--Here we have two Romanian boys, presumably brothers, wearing identical smart single breasted suits, They are short pants suits worn with long stockings. Mother seems to have chosen long stockings to match the suits. The portrait is undated. We might have guessed it was taken in the 1950s, but the boys seem rather smartly dressed for the Communist era--especially the gloves. So it may have been taken in the 1930s or even early-40s. Notice the leather booklets, presumably prayer books suggesting some kind of ceremony. A reader believes that the boys are about 11-13 years old whuch seems about right. Perhaps Romanian readers will have some insights.

Here we have two Romanian boys, presumably brothers, wearing identical smart single breasted suits, They are short pants suits worn with long stockings. Mother seems to have chosen dark long stockings to match the suits. The portrait is undated. We might have guessed it was taken in the 1950s, but the boys seem rather smartly dressed for the Communist era--especially the gloves. So it may have been taken in the 1930s or even early-40s. Notice the leather booklets, presumably prayer books suggesting some kind of ceremony. The dark long stickings were often used for formality. Perhaps Romanian readers will have some insights.

An American reader writes, "Except for the gloves, these short trousers suits worn with long stockings remind me very much of the clothes I wore to church and for other dress-up occasions in the 1930s. The long stockings, however, seem to be brown rather than light tan or beige, which is what I normally wore. I'm wondering whether these could be first communion outfits worn for an Orthodox service. The books would then be prayer books. Most Romanians are Orthodox rather than Roman Catholic. The gloves could also mean clothes for a wedding or some other family celebration for which formal clothes would be required. I assume the boys are brothers. They look similar facially. What age do you give these lads? I would assume about 11-13 years old. "

The reader's estimate of 11-13 years of age seems a good guess to us. This seems a little old for First Communion, but on the other hand the prayer books suggest it was not a wedding or some oyher family event. As both boys have the prayer books, they seem to be doing the ceremony at the same age. The Orthodox Church was the largest church. Until the Communists era, the Uniate church was of some importance (until suppressed by the Communists) and there were some Catholics. We are not sure about the age for First Communiion in the Orthodox or Uniate Church. We do not yet have a Romanian First Communion page.

Related Style Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Smocks] [Knicker suits] [Short pants suits] [Socks] [Eton suits] [Jacket and trousers]
[Blazer] [School sandals] [School smocks] [Sailor suits] [Pinafores] [Long stockings]

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Created: 3:27 PM 7/8/2013
Last updated: 3:28 PM 7/8/2013