Figure 1.--Here I am when I first arrived at my boarding school in 1949. I was 11 years old. I am wearing my Sunday knickers suit.
|
Figure 1.--Here I am when I first arrived at my boarding school in 1949. I was 11 years old. I am wearing my Sunday knickers suit. |
At age 12 in 1948 I began boarding school and went to the same school for 8 years. This was not as common in Switzerland and other European countries as it was in Britain so I thought I write you a few notes about my years at the boardingschool. It was an all boys' school. It was called "Evangelische Lehranstalt, Schiers." There were about 350 boys boarding there from the ages of 11 to about 19 years old. We were housed by age. I was about 11 years old when I got there and I had to share my room with three other boys. Discipline was strict and our daily schedules were coordinated from morning utill bed-time. This was a dramatic change for me. Surrounded by 350 boys from all over Switzerland, far away from home, required considerable adjustment on my part. I was very ill prepared for my step from the elementary school to the secondary boarding school and had to repeat one year. I was not trained well enough to keep up with the fast pace of teaching at the boarding school and was also very shy and had problems interfacing with so many class-mates. After about a year, I had adjusted to the changes. > Our school had a well used court yard. Here we would often gather after classes fr a range of of fun activities.
I will tell you a bit about clothing. During the summer months all the boys wore in shorts and knee-socks and depending on the weather wore a sweater over their shirts. On Sundays we had to wear something nicer, which consisted mostly of knickers with knee-socks and a jacket. While I was at boarding school I was active in the Scout-troop at the school. We too had many activities and many weekend-camping trips. The one thing we did not do, we did not organize a summer camp, as all the members of the school understandably wanted to remain at home during the summer.
When I turned 12 the decision was made to send me to a boarding-school, as there was no advanced school in our region. So at age 12 in 1948 I began boarding school and went to the same school for 8 years.
Boarding was not as common in Switzerland and other European countries as it was in Britain.
Ny school was an all boys' school. It was called "Evangelische Lehranstalt, Schiers." There were about 350 boys boarding there from the ages of 11 to about 19 years old. We were housed by age. I was about 12 years old when I got there and I had to share my room with three other boys. Discipline was strict and our daily schedules were coordinated from morning utill bed-time.
This was a dramatic change for me. Surrounded by 350 boys from all over Switzerland, far away from home, required considerable adjustment on my part. I was very ill prepared for my step from the elementary school to the secondary boarding school and had to repeat one year. I was not trained well enough to keep up with the fast pace of teaching at the boarding school and was also very shy and had problems interfacing with so many class-mates. After about a year, I had adjusted to the changes. When I arrived, I realized there were the "flashy" kids from the city and some,like me, who came from the country and had a rather isolated life. This was very much reflected in the type of clothing we had. We "country-pumpkins" had more old-fashioned clothing and underwear, whereas the city boys had already the more "in-things" to wear. I recall that, as I grew and needed new clothing, I begged my parents to buy me more of "the up to date" stuff. I thought that would help me fit in better. Such as underwear which was more "modern" or clothing that was made of lighter material. So I changed from the "combinaisons" and stockings to jockey-type briefs and undershirts and to more manly long underwear as well as tights as well as eventually long pants instead of knickers.
Our school had a well used court yard. Here we would often gather after classes fr a range of of fun activities. The courtyard was most definitely the focal point and central gathering point of the school. It was surrounded by school buildings or residences on all four sides. It was the size of two soccerfields and could accommodate the whole school. Especially in spring, summer and fall there were always some kind of activities, from concerts, to outdoor meals to celebrations of special occasions or just small groups getting together having a good time. It was also the natural gathering point during recession or during lunch breaks etc. Music was a important part of our leisure activities. This was also true of the court yard.
The school like most continental boarding schools did not place as great an emphasis on sports as was common at British boarding schools. Still sports at our school plyed an integral part in the daily activities at the school. Sport was much more important than was the case at day schools. In Spring and Summer Athletics, swimming, soccer, and orienteering was big. We had very nice sportsfields and a big swimming-pool. Besides that every weekend hikes into the mountains or biking-trips were organized. In wintertime the sportsfield were converted into a skating rink where we played ice-hockey. Naturally skiing was very big, We had a sport and fun day at our boarding school. Here we would have a variety of sporting events, mostly races. In addition there were some competitions more for fun. This ws usually held during the Spring at the end end of the school year when there was nice weather. We all looked forward to it as many parents would come to visit to enjoy the day with us. Not all the prents could make it, but many did. Many parents would bring a picnic lunch for the day.
One nice aspect of going to school in Switzerland, at leadt at the time, is that school trips to ski lodges were easy to arrange and relatively inexpensive. We really enjoyed these trips. And while I had some academic problems when I first arrived, growng up in Montana, I was an excellent skier when I arrived at school.
I will tell you a bit about clothing. At the boarding-school smocks did not exist.
Other then long underwear in wintertime, there were no regulations on clothing at the boarding-school. During the summer months all the boys wore in shorts and knee-socks and depending on the weather wore a sweater over their shirts. On Sundays we had to wear something nicer, which consisted mostly of knickers with knee-socks and a jacket. When I first got there you could still find boys who wore short-legged and short sleeve unionsuits during the summer months, but most of us wore jockey-type briefs and athletic undershirts. In wintertime we were mandated to wear long underwear. The long underwear was required, as the rooms were kept at a relatively low temperature, which allowed the school to save a lot of money in heating costs. Again, in my early years at the school, union-suits or occasionally stockings and waists were the common underwear. These two garments started to disappear in favor of regular long underwear and then mostly tights. Winter-clothing consisted throughout the period of my stay at the school of knickers and sweaters. In the later years blue-jeans started to appear and on Sundays many boys wore long pants instead of knickers. Most of us wore regluar leather shoes. In winter the wore boots that reached over the ankles and in very hot weather we had sandals. Sneakers were only worn for athletic activities. This was still a period where underwear or clothing was not changed on a daily basis. Actually, most of us sent our dirty clothing home through the postal service. We had laundry-bags, which were equipped with a pad-lock and our parents and we had each a key. Every week a bag with dirty laundry made it's way home and a bag with clean laundry was on the way to the school.
While I was at boarding school I was active in the Scout-troop at the school. We too had many activities and many weekend-camping trips. The one thing we did not do, we did not organize a summer camp, as all the members of the school understandably wanted to remain at home during the summer.
Voute, Tom. E-mail message, May 13 and 16, 2006.
Related Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Main Chronology Page]
[The 1900s]
[The 1910s]
[The 1920s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1950s]
[The 1960s]
[The 1970s]
Navigate the Relate Boys Historical Clothing Style Pages
[Main country page]
[Long pants suits]
[Short pants suits]
[Lederhosen]
[Kneesocks]
[Eton suits]
[Jacket and trousers]
[Smocks]
[Blazer
[School sandals]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing School Uniform Pages
[Return to the Main Tom's school page]
[Return to the Main Tom page]
[Return to the Main Swiss School Uniform Page]
[Return to the Main National School Uniform Page]
[Australia]
[England]
[France]
[Germany]
[Ireland]
[Italy]
[Japan]
[New Zealand]
[The Philippines]
[Poland]
[Scotland]
[South Africa]
[United States]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Page
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossary]
[Satellite sites]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
