Figure 1.--Boys and girls at Greenock Academy in 1962 wore the same maroon blazer. Ron Spence in the back row has provided us some details about the uniform he and his classmates wore. The children here are mostly 12 years old and are in their first year of the senior school. |
Greenock was a coeducational school by 1962. The boys and girls all wore the same maroon blazers and school tie. Caps were not worn. Only the junior boys wore short pants and grey kneesocks. Unlike the early 1950s, there are no boys wearing suits or with open collars. All the boys and most of the girls wear the school blazer and tie. A HBC reader provides us details on the school uniform and regulations during 1962. He explains that boys at Greenock did not wear kilts to school, but that this may have been more common north of Glasgow, but even there not wide spread.
Boys at Greenock wore a maroon blazer and school crest with grey/black trousers with a white shirt and a striped maroon tie. Grey kneesocks were required for the junior boys wearing shorts. The junior school was thriugh age 11. The school jumper was grey with two maroon Vs at the neck but black was acceptable.
The girls also wore a maroon blazer with grey/black skirt. Junior girls wore white socks, but nylons when older as boys began weraring long trousers. The jumper was the same for boys and girls. In the summer the girls had a gingham dress to wear if they wished and they also had a gym dress which apparently was maroon.
A Greenock student, Ron Spence, informs HBC that the uniform was adhered to reasonably strictly. As you can see from the photos in the 1940s and 50s, however, some boys had a grey jacket. Perhaps they were new pupils. By the 1960s the grey suits and other non-uniform items were no longer allowed.
HBC has wondered throughout this section if perhaps the children on school photograph day perhaps dressed especially smartly and thus were not a good relection of the uniform that they normally wore. (Given HBC's American experiences, the boys in these photographs look as though they had dressed for the photograph.) Ron who is in the 1962 photograph tells us that the school photographs from the 1960s onwards would be as if you had just told the class to go outside for a photo during an ordinary school day.
Ron provides HBC other interesting observation on previous years. He reports, "You queried why some of the pupils had open necked shirts. This would probably be because of hot weather when we were allowed to take our ties off. Note the open sandals that some boys wear in the 1940s and 50s. Of course such warm weather in Greenock where it pours with rain constantly."
Some boys at Greenock came from state primary school. Ron reports, "I did wear a cap in primary school and I think it was mandatory but I can't remember anyone having one after the first few years. Certainly not after 9-10 yrs age. I don't think shorts were compulsory for primary school but in the early 1950s every youngster wore shorts and I certainly didn't have long trousers untill about 11-12 yrs of age.
HBC has been struck by the fact that throughout the years at Greenock that none of the boys wore kilts. We thought that at least a few boys would wear kilts. Ron tells us that, "I would think that the percentage of pupils owning a kilt would be less than 5 percent and nobody wore one to school. I don't even know if it was allowed. I don't remember any one especially interested in wearing a kilt. The kilt was normally only worn by some scout groups, pipe bands, and army regiments. You would have to go further north of
Glasgow to see it worn and even there they were not commonly worn, except perhaps at some private scools. Actually,I had to wear a kilt to church and hated it as I was the odd man out. It was a MacDuff tartan. There were probably some schools in the highlands that wore kilts, but I don't have any information on this.
Related Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[The 1880s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1950s]
[The 1960s]
[The 1970s]
[The 1980s]
Related Style Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Long pants suits]
[Short pants suits]
[Socks]
[Eton suits]
[Jacket and trousers]
[Blazer]
[School sandals]