Figure 1.-- Here we see Swiss teenagers wearing heavy ribbed woolen long stockings with short pants. The photograph was taken March 16, 1932 at a Zurich secondary school. Many boys wore these heavy stockings during the winter. Notice also the heavy woolen sweaters that both boys wear, also the extra woolen ankle socks worn with hiking boots in the case of the boy on the right. These were also characteristic of schoolboy wear in Switzerland and Germany. The other boy (on the left) wears simply low cut black oxfords (normal shoes for dressier occasions or street wear in the city of Zurich). These boys look to me to be about 13 or 14 years old and are probably 1st or 2nd-year students in the upper division of one of the several public schools in the city. Obviously a rugged, sporty, masculine look was part of the reason for the ribbing of the stockings even though in most cases they had to be worn with a Strapsleibchen and elastic supporters to hold then neatly in place. A few Swiss boys kept long stockings from falling with substantial round garters worn around the thigh, which, according to some reports, were extremely uncomfortable and binding. In the 1930s long stockings were very common for reasons of climate and also because parents regarded them as socially distinctive and appropriate for well-bread adolescents. |
