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Here we have an unidentified European primary school class from the 1930s, probably the late-1930s. When we first looked at it we thought it was German. After thinking about it we are not sure. The teacher looks rather German, but many of the children look rather English to us. Also the boy's sailor scarf is not tied in the German style. And the ties and sweaters look more English than German. None of the girls wear pinafores which were common in Germany. And finally we do bo see any long stockings which were very common in Germany. The building in the background also looks more English than German. The sailor suits, however, do not look English. A reader thinks the children are Dutch. "The bricks look very Dutch, some of the children less, especially the ones at the far right. Perhaps other readers will have some insights to offer here.
The school portait is undated. We think it was taken in the 1930s. Boys still wore rather long short osnts in the early-30s. They became shorter as the decade oprogressed. It could have been taken in the early-40s, but sailor suits were less common in the 40s.
We are not sure what lind of school this is. We would guess a primary school. A French reader thinks it may thr the younger chikldren at a secondary school. Note the mized gender class. This was not very common in Europe at the time. We notice it at small village schools, but the children are dressed rather smartly for a village school. Secondary schools before the war were generally single-gender facilities. Her the United States with its mixed gender schools was rather an exception. A French reader tells us that e\ven at coed school, the cgenders were separated in the classroom.
We are not sure just where this school photograph was taken. We think Englsnd or Switzerland are the most likely, but there are other possivilities.
Some of the faces in the class look rather British to us. They look to be dressed rather like English school children. The V-neck sweaters and ties in particular look like British schoolwear. The building in the background also looks more English than German. The sailor suits, however, do not look English. Sailor suits by the 1930s were much more poular on the continent than in Britain. We do not see many sailor suits in British school photographs in the 1930s.
A French reader writes, "I can't be sure, but the could possibly be French. Several children, however, don't really have French-looking faces. Immigration was fairly limited at the time, except for small numbers of Poles. Later a lot of people came from Italy entered France, mostly after the War. One point leading me to beliece that the image is not French is that boys in in primary schools never wore ties, although some boys did in seondary schools. Long stockings were unknwon in France. Almopst all children wore siocks. All the children have shoes, it was impossible for a child to be without shoes, even during World War II. In secondary the pupils didn't wore smock anymore. Perhaps two otr three children came from Italy; others have French faces. The teacher looks severe alike they were in this time.
Many French schools are build with bricks like the ones seen here."
When we first looked at this photograph, we thought it was German. After thinking about it we are not sure. The teacher looks rather German, but many of the children look rather English to us. Also the boy's sailor scarf is not tied in the German style. And the ties and sweaters look more English than German. None of the girls wear pinafores which were common in Germany. And finally we do bo see any long stockings which were very common in Germany.
A reader thinks the children are Dutch. "The bricks look very Dutch, some of the children less, especially the ones at the far right."
A reader points out, "The boy in the front is wearing a checked smock. If I had to guess, I would say Switzerland." The child does have short hair and he is posed along with three boys in the front. The pose was not very common for girls. It is also true that children did wear smocks in Switzerland, at least in the French cantons. But none of the other children are wearing smocks and this child seems to be wearing girls' shoes. Some girls did have short hair and to the outfit looks more like a dress than a smock. Note that the childis not wearing short pants as a boy would under a smock. Anothervreader writes, "The comment about it being a Swiss school made me look at the picture more carefully. It is odd that the child in the 'smock' is sprawled like the three other children who are obviously boys. Your contributor could be right that this is a boy in a smock. However none of the other children is wearing a smock. So the more likely conclusion is a girl with short hair, but this still leaves us with question of where the photograph was taken."
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