Figure 1.--This is a class photo from a Czech school of unknown name or location. The photo was taken in 1934, only a few years before the country was invaded by the NAZIs. Since it was taken outdoors in front of the school and no outdoor wraps are required it is probably autumn or early spring. If it were summer, we would expect some of the boys to be wearing knee socks rather than long stockings. It is pretty clearly a secondary school. Note that many secondary schools in Czrchoslovakia, Germany, and other European countries were before World War II single gender schools. They look to me like boys just becoming teenagers or younger teens, probablyaboutv12-14 years of age.

This is a class photo from a Czech school of unknown name or location. The photo was taken in 1934, only a few years before the country was invaded by the NAZIs. Since it was taken outdoors in front of the school and no outdoor wraps are required it is probably autumn or early spring. If it were summer, we would expect some of the boys to be wearing knee socks rather than long stockings. It is pretty clearly a secondary school. Note that many secondary schools in Czrchoslovakia, Germany, and other European countries were before World War II single gender schools. They look to me like boys just becoming teenagers or younger teens, probablyaboutv12-14 years of age. Some of the boys standing in the back look a bit older than the boys sitting in the first row, but this may just be my imagination. The dress looks very similar in style to what we would find in a German secondary school or gymnasium. The boys are generally rather formally dressed with suits and shirts with neckties; also some of the boys wear open-necked white shirts with Schiller collars. The style of trousers is somewhat varied. One boy wears a suit with long trousers, and two boys wear knickers, but five of the boys, two standing and three sitting, wear short trousers with long stockings. The boy in the front row, third from the left, is dressed almost exactly as I was dressed for church on Sundays with a single-breasted dark suit, white shirt and tie, long tan stockings with supporters, and low-cut shoes. One style of trousers shown here is something that we have not too often seen--very close-fitting knickers with very little blousing--almost like knee breeches with what look like grey or tan ribbed stockings. Two of the boys wear the more conservative black stockings that were more common in the 1920s. It seems as if nearly all the boys wear suits with matching trousers and jackets, but notice the boy standing at the end of the second row (right), who is wearing a double-breasted jacket with dark short trousers and brown long stockings. He also seems to have unusual light-colored shoes, perhaps even white shoes. Another somewhat unusual feature of the picture is the woman teacher, seated prominently in the front row. Most schools with all-male classes were taught by men in the 1930s. In Germany we rarely see female teachers in all-boys schools at the secondary or high-school level.

Related Style Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Long pants suits] [Knicker suits] [Short pants suits] [Socks] [Eton suits] [Jacket and trousers] [Blazer]
[School sandals] [School smocks] [Sailor suits] [Pinafores] [Long stockings]

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Created: 11:04 PM 4/2/2009
Last updated: 11:04 PM 4/2/2009