Figure 1.--These two brothers look to be about 4-9 years old. The snapshot is undate, but we would guess was taken in the early 1930s. At the time, short pants were standard for pre-school biys and knickers for school-age boys. School age boys also wore shorts, but except for the youngst (1st-3rd grade) not so commonly to school.

We see short pants, knicker, and long pants suits during the 1930s. Some mostly younger boys wore short pants and some mostly older boys wore long pants in the early-30s, but by the end of the decade, long pants were becoming more prevalent. Short pants usage varied. Some boys, mostly younger boys, wore short pants all year round. Shorts were especially common with pre-school boys and boys just beginning school to about age 7-8 years. We do not see many teenagers wearing shorts even during the summer, except Scouts and then mostly at camp. Knickers were still worn by younger teens at the beginning of the decade, but almost entirely by pre-teens at the end if the decde. Because we have many snapshots and portraits of brothers we have a good idea of common age convenions, although there were variations from family to family. Hhere we see brothers age 8-11 yeas of age suggesting that the transition to knickers was made at about age 10 years. School portraits provide an even better view of generalized conventions. This is all complicated by the fact that the age convntioins varied seasonally as wel as circumstances. Thus boys might wear shorts for play, but knickers or long pants when dressung up ot visa versa, depending on the mother's proclivities.

Created: 10:59 PM 2/3/2015
Last updated: 10:59 PM 2/3/2015