Figure 1.--

I found Eric's comments interesting because I was growing up about the same time. His recollection that shorts were only worn for Scout activities, except for the weird geeks in Madras plaid bermudas, I found interesting - and funny! HBC notes that in that by the 1950s and well into the 1960s that shorts were worn mainly by boys in warmer climates and boys from affluent families. Although Eric tells us that it was hot in Conncticut, making jeans almost unbearable, shorts were out of the question, save for Scouts. Peer pressure or local customs, no doubt, overruled a more comfortable alternative. Except for the weird geeks in madras shorts! This style may not have been so well liked where Eric grew up as in the south. Down here, I remember seeing boys wearing those plaid shorts. The plaid shorts I remember weren't the loud plaids of the 1970's (think "Brady Bunch" and polyester here!), but nice tartan plaids (think Black Watch tartan!) They were suitable for everyday wear or even dress-up occasions for younger boys.

Even in the early 1960s photos show that Scout-age boys wore shorts in warm/hot weather. Even non-southerner, suburban looking types. I came across a yearbook of news events from 1963. All the pics were taken from wireservices, and probably found their way into newspapers. This was the summer of Dr. King's "I have a dream" speech in Washington. A backlash against racial desegregation, though, was felt. In one pic, a group of kids in a Philadelphia suburb has joined their elders to taunt a black family that has moved into the neighborhood. There in the foreground are two boys, about 12 and 14, in the longish walk shorts typical in the US at this time. What was accepted (or acceptable), then, depends on lots of things. Peers, family, where you live, background.

Created: 1:58 AM 9/30/2005
Last updated: 1:58 AM 9/30/2005