* boys' clothing : family chronological trends 20th century








Family Chronological Trends: The 20th Century


Figure 1.--This is definitely a European snapshot which looks like a celebration honoring the grand parents at the center. A photograph seller dated this family snapshot to the 1930s, we would guess it was the 1950s, probably the early-50s, because of the clothing. What is not indicated is the country involved. We would guess Germany, but England is a possibility. France is another possibility. And a reader thinks it is a French family and points to what looks like a French accordian. Notice the large family and rather small number of children--only three.

Most of the informtion we have archived has come from the 20th century, largely because our site relies so heavily on photography. Photography was developed in the mid-19th century, but for most of the century was for most families confined to the studio. This changed dramatically with the Kodak Brownie. The power of the camera was unleashd and we suddenly see countless family snapshots added to the photographic record. In fact the family snapshot would soon superceed the stidio portrait as the primary photographic form. This means we know much more about family life than ever before. And in the 20th century the industrial revolution spread to many more countries, including Japan at the beginning of the century. As families moved into the expanding cities, large families were no longer valuable. Children became more of an economic burden than an assett. Another factor were advances in public health and medicine. As more children survived, again fewer children were needed to ensure continuation of the family. This declining family size can clearly be seen in our chronological archive in Europe and America, less so in the developing countries still largely based on agriculture. But here too there were changes as the Asian Tigers, China, and India demostrated the wealth generating power of capitalism. While the trend toward smaller families is notable in the 20th century, we see differences from country to country, as well demographic, social class, religious, and other variations. In the post-World War II periods, especilly by the 1970s we see a convergence in fashions as a kind of pan-European fashion emerges similar to American fashions, thus we find it increasingly difficult to identify the country unless noted on the back of the photograph.







HBC





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Created: 11:07 PM 12/3/2017
Last updated: 11:07 PM 12/3/2017