Figure 1.-- Here we see five siblings all dressed up for Easter Sunday 1946. The children are unidentified, but look to be about 8-16 years old. The boys' suits look very similar is not identical, except that the younger boy has knickers. Knickers suits were declining in popularity, still common at the beginning of the decade. After World War II we see very few boys wearing knickers. Both girls have headwear, the younger girl wears a kilt-like suit jacket and plaid skirt with what looks like a Brownie beanie.

American boys still wore knicker suits in the 1940s, but mostly the early-40s. Photographas taken in 1940-42 commonly show primary boys wear a variety of suits, including short pants, knickers, and long pants. The clear trend is for long pants. Even younger boys might wear long pants suits. This is clear both in the photographic record and in catalog offerings. While we still see knicker suits in the early-40s, they very rapidly went out of style during World War II which American entered as a result of Pearl Harbor (December 1941). We note one unidentified boy wearing a knicker suit during the War, but are not sure just which year. He looks to be about 10-years old. By the end of the War (August 1945) we no longer commonly see knicker suits. A reader writes, "It seems from the photo record and certain catalogs that knickers were still worn but not as often. Then after the War they seem to almost disappear." Our reader believes that knicker suits were somewht more common during the War than we do. We think that by the end if the War, especially 1944-45 that they had become increasingly a minor style. We are still working on the precise chronloy. School photography provides some clues, but for knickers in general because suits were no longer common in schools. We have a archive of 1940s school photographs. Here a factor may have been the War and the need to us fabric more efficiently. We see some boys wearing knickers in the early-40s, but knicker suits were becoming les common. We see a few knicker suits after the War, but not very many. The younger boy here wearing a knickers suit here for Easter Sunday in 1946 is an example (figure 1). By the end of the decade, knicker suits had virtually disappeared.

Created: 10:09 AM 7/31/2016
Last updated: 10:09 AM 7/31/2016