difficult images: country #9








Difficult Images: Countries #9


Figure 9.--This photograph is obviously continental European. I would guess that it is probably Dutch, perhaps taken in the late 1940s, but we have no real information. Notice the tassles on the boys' kneesocks.

HBC has no idea as to the nationality of these brothers and their father. This photograph is obviously continental European. I would guess that it is probably Dutch, perhaps taken in the late 1940s, but we have no real information. Notice the tassles on the boys' kneesocks. There are few clues as to nationality, other than the ethnic appearance of the children.

Provinace

No information is available on the provinace of this portrait, other than it was with a collection of European portraits. Many looked German, although no information was available on the individual image.

Chronology

No information is available on the date this portrait was taken. We would guess that it was taken in the late 1940s, but the 1930s before World War II is poosible.

Individuals

HBC believes that the individuals here are surely brothers and their father.

Clothing

The boys wear matching plaid suits. There are small shirt-like jackets with matching short pants. The shorts seem to button to to the boys' shirts. It is hard to see what kind of shirts they are wearing. Their white kneesocks have very long tassles which they wear with closed-toe sandals. The sandals may be red, but it is hard to be sure with a black and white photograph.

Hair Styles

The boys wear medium length hair cuts. One boy appears to have slanted bangs.

Country

The image is European, obviously continental, but we are unsure about the nationality. It was with some German images, but HBC is not sure that it is German. I have not seen German boys in suits quite like this. I think that the Netherlands is a possibility. A Dutch reader tells us, however, "Figure 9 is definitely not Dutch. I can tell by the building. That kind of stone is not used in the Netherlands."

Reader Comments

A French reader comments, "HBC is right, image 9 seems rather Dutch. There seems to be rather a French influence. Dutch boys did wear white kneesocks in the summer. If this had been French the boys probably would have had Peter Pan collars ( col Claudine ). But these trends are not absolute. In several photos I am wearing white knee sock in the summer. This suit and its length is the same found in France, except the collar which was more often rounded in the 1940s." Another reader comments, "It could be German, Austrian, Swiss or Czechoslovakian by looking at the building, the window and the pavement. I couldn't tell by the clothes".







Christopher Wagner





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Created: July 13, 2001
Last updated: October 19, 2002