Figure 1.--Here we see an American family, we think in the 1940s. Notice the boys's ankle socks. |
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Normally the ankle socks we see at first were striped (colored rings) socks. We note colored rings or argyl patterns, but the colored rings were by far the most common. The backgroundand rings were done in a wide variety of colors. We notice both light and dark colors, bit not white socks with these colored rings. The rings were almost entirely narrow rings rather thsn the bold rings we see on 19th century stockings. The striped socks were more common for boys than girls, but they were worn by both genders. There were no age conventions associated with this striped socks, boys of all ages wore them, but they were not very common for adults.
A reader reports, "I just glanced at the 1950 Sears catalog and saw that striped socks were available in bright colors for 'all ages' ('perky' and 'alive with color'. Men had mostly vertical striped and Argyle socks, but they also had the banded ones in bright colors. The children's version were called 'candy stripes'. They were reinforced at the heels and toes with nylon for longer wear. "
We are mot sure why these ringed patterns became so common for ankel socks. Long stockings were motly solid colors. Knee socks were commonly a varirt of patterns, but not stripes (rings). Why these three major types of socks have different patterns associated with them we are not sure.
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