Figure 1.--Here we see William who was 8 years old. The snapshot is not identified further. We suspect it was taken about 1930. `William is wearing a three-piece suit. It looks like a brand new suit. Given tha the leaves are not yet out, we suspect it was an Easter suit. William seemsquite pleased with his new suit. Note how full the knickers are. They might be called plus fours. He doesn't have a cap, they began to be less common in the 30s.

Virtually all American boys wore suits with shortened-length pants in the 1890s, especially the end of the decade. Shortened-length pahnts were common for 8-year old even earlier. At the time in America it was virtually all knee pants. In Europe boys commonly wore both knee pants and knickers. We do not see many noys wearing knickers until the late-1900s. Boys very quickly shifted from knee pants to knicker suits. Knicker suits were almost universal for 8-year olds in the 1910s, although we do see a few boys still wearing knee pants. Norfolk styles were very popular. Norfolk knicker suits worn with flat caps were very popular schoolwear. We note boys wearing overalls in rural areas, but when they wore suits, it was almost always knicker suits. The same was true in the 1920s. We see some 8-year olds wearing short pants suits, but knicker suits were much more common. Short pants suits seem more common for well-to-do families, but even here knicker suits were more common. We see fewer boys wearing suits to school in the 1920s. We mostly see boys waring knicker suits with dark long stockings, but beginning in the late-20s we see patterened knee socks. And during the 30s, knee socks began replacing long-stockings. We continue to see 8 year olds wearing knicker suits in the early-30s. Gradually as the decade progressed we see more boys wearing long pants suits and by this time American boys werev no longer commonly wearing suits to school. By the 1940s knicker suits had begun to disappear, although we still see some in the early-40s. By the end of the War (1945) they were rarely seen. Younger boys might wear short pants suits, but even for 8-year olds, long pats suits were more common. This varied from family to family, but social class factorswere also involved.

Created: 8:27 AM 9/11/2012
Last updated: 8:27 AM 9/11/2012