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The 1940s were dominated by World War II. we have very little information on German catalogs or advertisements from the 1940s. We do note a Kinder Korselett in an unidentified 1940 catalog or periodical advertisement. It seems like more of a Leibchen. We know that large quantities of consumer goods, including clothing, were obtained in France as part of the German exloitation of that country during the occupation (1940-44). We do not know if any of these shipments appeared in catlogs. The War began to go ahainst Germany (December 1941) and this affected the availability of consumer goods. We do not have catalog items, however, to follow this. With the destruction of German industry in the final year of the war, companies presumably ceased printing catalogs. Of course large numbers of factories including textile and garment plants were destroyed. We motice a magazine article after the War advising mothers how to make a boy's school suit, a short pants vest suit, out of father's old clothes. It reflected the scarcity of consumer goods and limited income of German families after the War.
We notice a magazine article after the War advising mothers how to make a boy's school suit, a short pants vest suit, out of father's old clothes (figure 1). It reflected the scarcity of consumer goods and limited income of German families after the War. The title is 'Aus Vaters alter Sporthose ein neuer Schulanzug' meaning 'From father old sports trousers a new school suit'. It is not clearly apparent to us just why father had 'sports trousers'. Apparently many German men had them. This was notthe case in America. Or just how the material could be turned into a boys' suit, but the illustration at the lower right seems to explain that. . Unfortunarely the available scan does not permit reading the text of the article. The article is not dated, but would have appeared in the later 1940s or possibly even the early-50s. By the early-50s the Germn Economic Miracle begn to remake Germany making salvaging used clothing a thing of the past, at least in the 1940s or 50s. We have not noted many of these vest suit in the photographic record.
Immediatekly ion the outbreak of War, Britain instituted a blockade which seriously restricted German access to world markets. Petroleum, sugar, coffee, chocolate and cotton all became extremely scarce. Cotton was central to clothing production. Germany had to import all of its cotton. We do note a Kinder Korselett in an unidentified 1940 catalog or periodical advertisement. It seems like more of a Leibchen. Hitler and Stalin launched World War II (September 1939). The character of the War changed dramatucally when the Germand in vaded France and France capitulated (June 1940).
As part of the Armistice signed in 1940, France had to pay for the occupation and pay reparations. Given the exchange rates imposed by the NAZIS, shipments of food, manufactyred goods, and equipment became a main stay of the German war economy. Germany had a substantial fashion industry, but it was shifted to the production military uniforms. As part of the reparations, a substantial partof French clothing production was shipped to the Reich. This included children's clothing. We have no ideas on how these shipments were sold, presumbly in the stores. We have not yet obtined informationn on catalogs.
Clothing production in both Germany and France would have been affected by the inability to import cotton and other fabrics. Cotton was notb produced anywhere in NAZI-occupied Europe.
Production of civilian clothing must have declined substantially in both Germany and France by 1943. There was no way to obtain supplies of cotton.
The Germans could no longercount on french support for their war industries even bfore D-Day. As part of the preparations for D-Day, the Allies began bombing the French rail system (March 1944). The goal was to interdict German supply lines to the German Atlantic Wall. But in doing so, it also restricted shipments of French food and supplies to the Reich. In addution, German occupation policies were seriously impairing economic activity in France. Then with D-Day and the liberation of France, it ended permantely. As a result the German people began to experience the privations they had imposed on countless other people as a matter of policy. The most serious matter was food, but clothing was also involved.
Much of the damage to Germany was done in the last year of the War after the nreak out from Normandy. By this time the Lufwaffe had been largely destroyed and the Allied air chiefs could focus on Germany's ability to make war. German cities were left piles of rubble. Factories were destroyed are not fuctioning because of the inability to obtain raw materials. The Reich Bahn was largely sestoyed making it impossible to move goods and supplies. There were shortages of everything, especually food, but also clothing and consumer goods. Germany during the War had maintained a reasonable stnadard of living by exploiting the food, rawmaterilas, and factory production of the occupied countries, essentilly exportin hungerb and privation. The War came homev to Germany which was now on its own.
Here we have an undated catalog page with mostly girls summer clothing. We think the page here would have appeared about 1947, but may be off a year or so. While most of the outfits are for girls there is a pajama outfit for boys and coordinated sun suits for boys and girls 2-6 years old, The short pants sun suit for boys is done with an H-bar arrangement and could be worn with or without a shirt, depending on the weather. There are options for girls with romper pants and pinafore-styled shoulders. There are also styles for older girls. The rather primitive nature of the layout is why we believe it was from the late-1940s. Germany was still recovering from the catastrophic damage resulting from World War II.
The year 1948 can be seen as the beginning of the German Economic Miracle. In response to Soviet efforts to drain the West German economy, the West German administration in cooperation with the Western Allies, introduced currency reforms followed by other free market (capitalist) measures. The result was an economic revival that startled the world--especial the potentates in Kremlin expecting capitalist economies to collapse. The ensuing prosperity which followed was soon on display in the mail order catalogs of the 1950s. The German Economic Miracle was so powerful that the Communist East Germans would have to erect a monstrous wall to keep East Germans from fleeing to the West. And they had to make it fiendishly deadly to deter the magnet of freedom beckoning in the West
We have not yet found German catalogs from the 1940s. But we have found a few stray pages and sewing patterns. We notice an offering for boys outfits along with patterns in a German publication during 1949. Consumer goods were still scarce in 1949 which encouraged home sewing. We are not sure what kind of publication, but it was clearly aimed at women. It had many pages, the illustration was on what we thought was page 80, but 80 seems to be an item number. We suspect that the entire publication was not composed of pages like this, but this was included as a kind of bonus for mothers with children. There is some text in the upper right hand corner, but we cannot make it out. The pattern is for a boy's outfit consisting of a small jacket and short pants. The pattern is the same, but can be done in several ways and can be worn with various blouses/shirts giving varied looks. One assessment reads, "A jacket, a shirt, and a pair of shorts are all the pieces of this outfit suite for young boys. This set would be ideal for summer or a warmer spring day where shorts would be appropriate. What makes this whole set unique is that these pattern pieces are so simple that with little additions and variations there would be an infinite amount of possibilities here for dressing your young boy. I would recommend a fine cotton or linen for the shirt and for the shorts and jacket, a fine wool, linen, etc. The options are up to you and your needs." The pattern pieces for the blouse run along the top of the card with the front that has pleats, a back, and a Peter Pan collar. The sleeve is towards the bottom edge there above the line and under the shorts pattern which has two pieces. The shorts close at the sides if you looks closely at the pattern although you could add a front fly if you wanted.. The jacket is a bolero type short cut-away jacket with a front, back and a two piece sleeve. We do not see any size data, but the models in the illustrations suggest primary school age boys. Done in velvet with a frilly blouse we have a Fauntleroy look. With a more standard blouse or shirt we have a more mature look.
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