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We have much more information on the 20th century. We see children routinely wearing these classic leather book bags to school throughout the early 20th century. They seem to be the same styles used during the 19th century. we note that it was very common for German primary children to have book satchels through the 1930s. We have less information after the the 1930s, but they have also been common after World War II (1939-45) as well. A German reader tells us that these school book satchells were common through the 50s and 60s and can even occassionally be seen nowadays in the 2000s. The odern bags are made in many different, sizes, styles, and colors. You no longer see mny children with the classic leather bags. The school satches are now very different. A German reader tells us, "Consider the present situation. The scool bags are no longer made of leather and are less durable. Colourful big bags with a lot of separate small pouches for many purposes, changing fashion - one year a monkey, the next year a horse, later with the sign of a football club painted on the back. Now not usable the whole school time or for generations. Times have changed."
We have much more information on the 20th century. The photographic record is very extensive. We see children routinely wearing these classic leather book bags to school throughout the early 20th century. They seem to be the same styles used during the 19th century.
A major probem during the 1910s was that leather was a critical strategic material during World War I. It was used for various equipment items issued to the soldiers, especially footwear, as well as horse tackle and horses were a major element in transport for both the Allies and Central Powers. Trucks were beginning to be employed, especially by the Americans, but horses were still the primary source of transport beyond thecrail lines. Thus after the outbreak of the War (1914), we suspect that far fewer school satchels were made.
We note German primary children in the 1920s continuing to use the traditional learher satchels. The images we have noted show fairly standard styles. The clothing styles change, but the satchels continue relatively unchanged. We continue to note small differences, but the basic construction and size seems largely unchanged. The tooling and designs varied. We notice some of these satchels have a kind of flap cover that went completely over the front side. Others had a kind of flap that only went midway down the front. Others had what look like aligator leather. These seem to be more popular with the girls. We do not notice stylish differences between the boy and girl satchels as we do notice in Switzerland. All seem to be leather satchels and left in natural leather colors. We think virtually every German primary child had one of these satchels, including working-class children. We note both individual and group photographs of children with these sarchels which suggest that they were very common.
we note that it was very common for German primary children to have book satchels through the 1930s. We are not entirely sure, however, how the satchels were affected by the dramatic events of the decade. The Depression dominated the economy of the early-30s. This would have affected the ability of working-class Germans to afford expensive leather satchels. The older primary children of course already had them. (A German school sarchel could be used by a child all through primary schoolmand often passed on to younger sublings.) Many families, however, had to purchase them for the children just beginning school. The NAZIs seized power and begun to aggressively deal with the problems of unemployment. The methods they used, however, were in many cases cosmetic. It is true that people found jobs, but this was done through a mixture of defecit spending, make work (the RAD), military conscription, government spending on arms, dimissing Jews and women, and other measures. Not only was the whole process unsustainanle, but much of the improvement did not filter through to real increases in consumtion. NAZI-controlled labor units were not allowed to make substantial wage demands.
It is true that the destitution of the unemployed was ended. We suspect that the production of school satchels did increase over Depression levels, but we are not sure just how extensively.
School book satchels continue to be common used during the 1940s, both during and after World War II (1939-45). There may not, however, have been a lot of new ones made. Leather was still a strategic material. Footwear and equipment required leather. Horses were not as important as in World War I, but still used. The Wehrmacht still extensively used horses despite the image of a modern mehanized army. This meant that leather tackle was urgently needed. After the War, the cost of leather items put a new satchel out of the price range of many families, even if they could find them. Many families could bit even afford shoes for the childrem. We see a lot of barefoot German children after the War in the late-1940s.
A German reader tells us that German school book satchells continued to be common after World War II through the 50s and 60s. The lunch satchels have disappeared, but the leather book satchels are still very common. And we do continue to see traditional leather school stachels in the 1950s, although at least by the late-50s we begin to see some new styles. Here we see two German boys going to school with their school satchels (figure 1). The photograph is undated, but looks like the late-1950s. The basic style seems traditional, but they look larger than the ones we have seen earlier. Notice the metals closures. Earlier satchels seem to have leather strap closures. They were much more common and can help date th satchels. A German reader writes, "I suppose the photo is from the 50s. The old form of the satchels disappeared. It became 'modern' to have a bag with a handle on top. You see it with the boy on the right. This allowed the boy to also carry by hand, not only on the back. And the bags as you mention became broader."
A german reader tells us, "Then in the 1960s boys stopped wearing their school satchel on their back. This disappeared more or less totally. "
A German reader tells us, "In the 1980s the fashion changed to the colorful bags which you describe in your remarks. This trend began in the 80s and is still true in the 2000s."
Best regards
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