Figure 1.--These three boys are standing in front of the Hoffman soda fountain in Newark, New Jersey. Theu look to be about 6-12 years old. Notice that they have no caps. Their older brother wears a vested knicker suit. The boy at right wears a sailor suit. We are not entirely sure what the othger boy is wearing. It looks like a over coat. Both younger boys wear short pants and knee socks. All three boys wear low-cut oxfords. The smapshot is undated, but looks to us like the early-30s. The late-20s is possible.

There were major shifts in boys clothing during the 1930s. The flat caps common in thr 1910s and 20s begiun to disappear as headwear started to become less common. Knickers were nearly universal for boys in the in the 1920s and were commonly worn into theie mid-teens, depending on the family. At the beginning of the 1920s, knickers were usuallly worn with long stockings, mostly black long stockings. By the end of the 20s we see boys wearing knee socks, often patterned knee socks. And this cobtinued into rge 3o0s. Long stockings did not disappear on the 1930s, but they were much less prevalent and worn by mostly younger boys. Unlike the knee socks they were usually solid colors. light colors like tan/fawn had become popular. Throughout the 1930s there was a slow, but steady decline in the popularity of knickers. More boys began began wearing long opants. And by the end of the 30s, not only ere mamy boys wearing long pants, but the boys wearing knickers were ommonly wore them with ankle socks rather than knee socks. It was very common at the beeginning of the decade for younger boys to wear various kinds of short pants outfits such as sailor suits and the older boys knickers. But the end of the decade this was becoming less common with the older boys wearing long pants. We continue to see younger boys wearing shorts, but after the eraly 30s, rarely with the ornamental buttons associated with knee pants. Knee socjs were commonkly worn with shiorts, at the behinning of the decase, but much less coimmoinky by the end if the decade. Mistly we see ankle socks. Sailor suits had declined signifivantly in populalrity, but we still see a few. LOw-cut oxfords became standard footwerar.