English School Uniform: Individual School -- Boston Grammar School, the 1930s


Figure 1.--This photograph shows the boys at the Boston Grammar School in 1939. The school had a blazer, but the boys did not have to wear it. Another option was long or short trousers, even for the younger boys. Except for ties, the uniform does not look greatly different than in the 1940s after World War II. Click on the image for nothr view of the school.

Boys at the school are formally dressed up for the school portrait. The school has a blzer, but did not insist on the boys wearig it. Mny did, but many did not. We wonder if this was a reflection that many boys came from middle-class homes that ould not easily afford a blazer. Perhaps there was another reason. Perhaps our British readers can provide ome information here. We do not know if the school even incouraged the boys to wear the blazers. The boys without the blazers all wear suit coats. Most are single breasted, but many are double breasted. Notably while many junior boys wear the blazers, none of the senior boys wear them. We wonder if the blazer was only recently introduced or seen as a garment for younger boys. HBC notes that almost all the boys at the school in 1939 were wearing ties. I'm not sure about the color of the blazer, but it had piping and the school badge. Most of the younger boys wore short trousers, but they were not required, even for junior boys. There appears to have been school kneesocks with two dark bands, but they do not seem to be required.

A reader writes, "My father was at the school for the 1939 photograph. The image is indeed from his copy of the photograph. It was only when we started examining it that we noticed the pupils without black blazers. He was puzzled, because as far as he remembered, they were compulsory. At that time it was also compulsory to have a cap, and wearing it was compulsory when out of doors. At that time the blazer had gold braid piping." [Meeds]

Sources

Meeds, Simon. Internet message, February 12, 2004. Simon is the Webmadster of the Old Bostonian Association internet site.








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Created: March 23, 2002
Last updated: February 12, 2004.