Figure 1.--This is some of the illustrations from our French text book which we used to write essays. Here the children are coming out of church on Sunday and mother suggests a picnic.

I remember some of the images from a French textbook we used in our French classes. (I didn't pinch these books – we had to buy them at my school so got to keep them. This was another headache for my mum and why she would have preferred that I went to the same type of grammar school as my brother where textbooks were provided free). These “picture stories” were intended to provoke discussion on what was being depicted.Our French mistress would then write down any words that we needed and we would then have to write an account of the story in French for homework. One of these assignments brought up the subject of clothing. There were about 20 or 30 images. The ones here show the beginning and end of the story. After church on a Sunday a boy's mother suggests that he and his sister go on a picnic. The boy tears his shorts climbing into a field and then burns his shirt while trying to dry it out over a fire.When he gets home his mother is furious as the clothes were new and he is punished.

Textbook

I remember some of the images from a French textbook we used in our French classes. (I didn't pinch these books--we had to buy them at my school so got to keep them. This was another headache for my mum and why she would have preferred that I went to the same type of grammar school as my brother where textbooks were provided free).

Accuracy of the Images

This book was a new one, published in 1970, and it always showed the boys in it wearing shorts – although the girl in this story wore jeans to go on the picnic. Our French mistress said this was accurate – yet some of the pages I read on HBC seem to suggest otherwise.As the textbooks we used were aimed at private/direct grant grammar school pupils. I wonder if they only portrayed French families who were from a similar background? HBC doubts this. Private schools were less common in France than in Britain. Rather as these text books were published in Britain, it is likely that the editors just assumed all French boys wore shorts. Actually the images are somewhat inaccurate for 1970. It is true that girls were beginning to wear shorts and pants rather than dresses all the time. At the same time, boys were beginning to wear long pants much more commonly, bith to school and for casual wear. Thus it is unlikely that the boy would have worn short pants and the girl long pants, unless the boy was much younger. In this case the girl is shown as the boy's little sister. It is unlikely in 1970 that the little sister would wear jeans and the big brother short pants. Of course the editors may have been trying to provide a diversity of garments, but in this case a dress would have made more sence. HBC readers may want to have a look at the French 1970s catalog pages to see popular styles being worn by French children.

I think HBC may have hit the nail on the head here as regards English textbook publishers making assumptions about what French boys were wearing in the 1970s. I also think that our French mistress's claims that the pictures were accurate were based on her coming from the South of France and also her having lived over here for some time so she could be out of touch. Our normal French master who used to take his holidays in France every Summer. He always brought us back some French magazines to look at. So he was probably more in touch with current French fashions than she was! It was also him who told us that we could use the term "un short" rather than "une culotte" for shorts although our French mistress would not allow that. HBC's discussion here on this terminology is very interesting. I wish it had been available during our lessons! We did also note that the boy's sister did wear a dress for church in the story but the French mistress insisted that she would then change into jeans for the picnic but the boy would change out of his "best" Sunday clothes ("endimanche") into more casual clothes-- but still shorts (culotte courte). She was obviously out of touch with her own country - as I discovered when Didier came to stay with us and I was surprised that his clothes were not at all as she'd led us to expect.

Figure 1.--Here the boy tears his short pants going over a fence. Note that the boy wears shorts while his little sister wears jeans.

Picture Stories

These “picture stories” were intended to provoke discussion on what was being depicted.Our French mistress would then write down any words that we needed and we would then have to write an account of the story in French for homework.

Clothing Story

One of these assignments brought up the subject of clothing. There were about 20 or 30 images. The ones here show the beginning and end of the story. After church on a Sunday a boy's mother suggests that he and his sister go on a picnic. The boy tears his shorts climbing into a field and then burns his shirt while trying to dry it out over a fire.When he gets home his mother is furious as the clothes were new and he is punished.

Vocabulary

Figure 3.--Mon is not to happy that the boy has torn his shorts.

French Clothing Terms--Culottes

The French term "culotte" like the English word "pants" is a good example of multiple meanings for clothing terms and how how terms change over time. The principal French term for short pants is "culottes" The terminology is, however, more complicated than that. Some French sources suggest the word "culotte" being used for pants in general and not necesarily short pants. Through much of the 20th century, "culote" in France meant short pants. Until the 1970s one said "une culotte" for boys' short pants and also the underwear pants for girl, rather like the British use the term knickers. In all older fashion magazines, even for sport, the term culotte was normally used. A French reader who wa a boy in the 1940s-50s, tells us, "My parents and family only used the term culotte." The French adopted the English term "un short" meaning shorts for sport or seaside activity. A related term was "un slip" meaning underwear briefs. Since 1970-80 usage has changed. Now "une culotte courte" is used for short pants with somewhat the sence of a of a petit garçon modèle or model child. The term "un short" now is much more common and used to describe any pair of short panys, including formal, dressy, casual, atletic/sports, ect. This is the term used by the new generation who rarely say culotte any more. The older generation often still uses the formerly common terms like culotte and slip.

Created: February 8, 2004
Last updated: February 8, 2004