Figure 1.--This photo postcard is undated, but HBC belieces it was probably sent around 1920. At first because of the hat we did not think the boy was wearing a school uniform, but because of the tie, snake belt, and schooll socks we think he may be wearing a prepschool uniform. The hat is presumably not part of the regulation uniform. The boy's name was Cyril and he was photographed in Edinburgh. The card was sent to dear Uncle Harold, but there is no message. Click on the image for additional details.

School uniforms in Scotland during the inter-war era appear to have been quite similar to England. Children in state primary schools did not wear a uniform, but many boys wore caps with suits to school. I'm not sure about state secondary schppls, but assume they had uniforms that paralleled those of Scottish and English public (elite private) schools. We do not know to what extent kilts were worn at public schools. The uniform at Scottish private schools consisted of a blazer, school tie, and short pants. Uniforms at private Scottish schools were largely identical to English uniforms, but with a few differences. I know less about regulations on school uniforms at state schools. HBC has few images of Scottish school children during this era. Those we do have suggest that boys generally dressed much like English school boys to the south.

Similar to England

School uniforms in Scotland during the inter-war era appear to have been quite similar to England. Uniforms at private Scottish schools were largely identical to English uniforms, but with a few differences. For the most part, unless an image is identified, there are few destinctive uniform items. The most obvious is kilts. olored knee socks are another difference, but not definitive. And we are not sure when colored knee socks (blue, green, purple, and red) began to be worn in Scotland. We also tend to see fewer sandals in Scotland which scandals becane very common in England during the 1920s.

Types of Schools

Children in state primary schools did not wear a uniform, but many boys wore caps with suits to school. Many available images do not identify the school, but the lack of uniforms is a good indicator that it was a state primary. Parish and Burgh schools were the backbone od Scottish education into the 19th century. These schools served as a basis for what became state primaries, although the Catholic schools were not brought into the system until later (1!918). Many children did not attend secondary schools. Primasry schools had programs for children through up to 12 years, although the scjjo leaving age was raised to 14 years old (1901). There were different schenmes such as vocational programs hooked into the primary scystemd. Cities and lsrger towns set up higher grade ssecondatry schools, essentially an early fornm of middle schiools. Most working-class childtren did not continue their education into secondary dschools, but Scotland gabe more attention to secondaty school than Enhland did until after World War II. We are not sure about state secondary schools, but assume they had uniforms that paralleled those of Scottish and English public (elite private) schools. Scottish private schools were commonly called accademies. Many had primary and secondary sctions. We do not know to what extent kilts were worn at public schools. The uniform at Scottish private schools consisted of a blazer, school tie, and short pants. We know less about regulations on school uniforms at state schools.

Garments

We see some shifts in school uniform garments during the inter-War era, mostly in the 1920s. We no longer commonly see girls wearing pinafores. The boys mo longer commonly wear Eton collars, a least in state schools. This varied somewhat from school to school. Suit became somewhat less common, at lwast in state schools. Nany boys wore them and others did not. We see few boys wearing knee pants in the 20s and none at all by the 1930s. Most boys wore short pants, both in state and private schools. We do not see many kilts being worn, but we believe they were worn in some private schools, often as a dress garment for sunday and special occassions and in state schools in the Higlands. As we still have fairly limited archive, we can not yet conform this with actual images. Most boys wore knee socks to school, often schools socks with colored bands. We still see some boys wearing long stockings in the early-20s, but rarely after that. Girls also wore knee socks, but we see ;ong stockings persisting as girls' wear a little longer than was the cae for boys.

Decades

HBC has few images of Scottish school children during the inter-War era. Those we do have suggest that boys generally dressed much like English school boys to the south. Here we not only look at the 1920s and 30s, but the first half of the 1940s as little changes during the War years. Makor changes occurred in Scottish schools after World War I in the 1920s. The mnost obvious Pinafores very quickly disappeared for the girls. Boys began wearing soft and Eton collars moe commonly. This was especially the case in the state schools. We see fewer suitsin the state schools, but they were still common. Most boys still wore ties. Knee pants very quickly disappeared as short pants became common. And knee socks also became standard, often school socks. We no longer see boys wearing long stocks at least after the earky-20s. Sone girls did continue wearing them. but knee soks were more common with the girks as well, but not school socks. We do not see many changes in the 1930s. The new styles set in the 1920s had become standard. Shorts were slightly shorter, but still worn at fairly long lengths. The end of the War in the 1940s was a major dividing point in many countries. This was somewhat less true in Scotland and the rest of Britain. This was because World War II rationing continued into the 1950s. The principal factor here was the Socialist economic policies adopted by the post-War Labour Government. Unlike Germany and other Western European countries on the Continent, there was no British economic miracle.

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Created: December 5, 2001
Last updated: 2:48 AM 4/24/2018