Figure 1.--This undated photograph shows the clear age divide between boys weraring knickers and short panHere a Boston Red Sox player meets with some young fans. The boys in shorts look to be about 6-7 years ols while the boys in knickers look to be about 7-12 years old. Put your cursor on the image to see the rest of the boys.

At the time knickers were popular, age had a significant impact on the tye of pants chosen, although this varied from family to family. Age 6 is important because this is the age most children in American began first grade. Many 6 year olds wore short pants to school, but quite a number began school wearing knickers. Short pants were never as common in America as in Europe. Many boys did not want to wear them, so we mostly see younger boys wearing shorts. This the vast number of American boys wore knickers. Age 6-7 years seems to have been a rough age dividing point between those boys wearing shorts and knikers (figure 1). There were some differences with shorts being more acceptable in the South and with fashionable affluent families more in tune with European fashions. This can be seen in school portraits. And even more by their second or third year in school. Some boys wore shorts seasonallym but for many they wore shorts all the time until they graduated to knickers and than wore kniclers all the time. Sears in 1919 offered blue surge knicker suits in sizes 6-18 years of age. We also note Dubbelbilt Boy's Suits in 1919 done in sizes from 6 to 18 years. Sears in 1939 offered cord jackets and knickers in sizes 6/8-14/16. We notice Sears knickers suits in 1939 in sizes from 6/8-16/17.

Created: 2:44 AM 2/23/2014
Last updated: 2:44 AM 2/23/2014