Figure 1.--Ce garçon français porte un uniforme d'École privée pendant les années 30. Notez le chapeau de militaire-modèle et le blazer sans insigne ou revers. This French boy wears a private school uniform during the 1930s. Note the military-style cap and the blazer without a badge or lapels.

Un lecteur français nous a fourni cette photo des années 1930 et une analyse perspicace.. A French reader has kindly provided us this photpgraph from the 1930s and an insightful analysis.

Texte Français

Si l'uniforme scolaire est un phénomène fortement développé dans les pays sous influence de la Grande Bretagne, nous n'avons pas l'équivalent en France. Seules quelque écoles privées ont imposé le port d'un uniforme. Ci-joint une photo des années 1930. Elle représente un garçon de 11 ou 12 ans portant l'uniforme d'une école privée. Cet uniforme est très classique. Il comprend : une chemise blanche, un veston de lainage, une culotte courte, en lainage, arrêtée légèrement au dessus des genoux, des socquettes blanches roulées sur les chevilles, des souliers bas en cuir. L'élément le plus remarquable est la casquette plate avec l'écusson de l' école. Ce style de casquette plate (d'allure légèrement militaire) correspond à l'usage des écoles privées en France. Cette casquette est de teinte plus sombre que ses autres vêtements (en France l'uniforme est, le plus souvent, bleu marine (surtout en hiver), ici il parait dans des nuances de gris ou de beige alors que la casquette est probablement bleu marine). Je suppose que la photo a été prise en saison douce (les socquettes basses confirment cette impression, en hiver on aurait eu des chaussettes montantes arrivant aux genoux). Ici 2 hypothèses : - soit ce garçon porte l'uniforme, clair, d'été, de son école, mais la casquette est celle de l'uniforme d'hiver (la casquette n'était généralement pas obligatoire mais recommandée toutefois le trousseau d'un étudiant est lourd à acquérir, alors avait-il 2 casquettes, 1 d'été et 1 d'hiver? ) - soit il porte une tenue libre (dite « de ville »), mais par fierté pour son école, il a revêtu sa casquette d'hiver. On notera qu'il n'a pas de cravate. C'est donc un jour de congé. Sinon, cet oubli lui aurait valu une réprimande. En France, à cette époque, les noeud de cravates pour enfants étaient préfabriqués et fixés au moyen d'un élastique. A 11 ou 12 ans, on ne sais pas faire un noeud de cravate et puis on n'a pas la patience pour ces détails.

English Translation

The school uniform is a phenomenon strongly developed in the countries influenced by the United Kingdom. We here in France do not have the equivalent. Only some private schools required children to wear uniforms. Here is a photograph from the 1930s. The photograph shows a boy of 11 or 12 years wearing a private school uniform. This uniform is very traditional. It includes: a white shirt, a wool blazer, short knee-length wool trousers, white socks turned over at the ankles, and leather low-cut shoes. The most remarkable element of the uniform is the flat cap with the school badge. This style of flat cap (of slightly military style) was widely used in French schools. This cap is a darker color than his other clothing. (In France school uniforms are generally navy blue, especially in winter, here the boy's uniform appears to be shades of gray or beige whereas the cap is probably navy blue.) I suppose that the photo was taken in milder season of the year. (The ankle socks confirm this impression. During the winter, a boy would have worn knee socks.) Here there are two assumptions. The boy is wearing a summer school uniform, but the cap is that of the winter uniform. (The school cap was generally not obligatory but recommended). Did the school uniforms during the 1930s have two caps, one for summer and one for winter. Wearing it was optional (known as "of city"/« de ville »), but boys might wear them out of pride for their school, [?il a revêtu] his winter cap. Note that the boy does not wear a tie. It may be his day off. If not, this lapse of memory would have resulted in a reprimand. In France, at that time, necktie knots for children were prefabricated and fixed by means of a rubber band. Many 11 or 12 year old boys did not know how how to tie a necktie nor have the patience to learn

HBC Note

Besides the interesting comments provided by our French reader, we also note two other aspects of the boys uniform. First, there are no lapels on his jacket. Second, there is no badge or school crest on the blazer. In the images of French schools we have noted in the 1930s, we have not seen many French school boys wearing ties. Usually they seem to have worn open collars. The one exception that we have noted is the oldest boys at secondary schools.

Reader Comment

Another French reader disagrees with a few details of the above assessment. He reports, "During the 1930s, few French boys wore ties. They were practically unknown in primary schools and rare even in secondary schools. Pre-tied ties appeared in the 1960s. Even at private schools in France, most did not require either a cap or a tie as part of the school uniform."

Created: May 16, 2002
Last updated: May 16, 2002