Figure 1.--The North Side School was located in Fort Worth, Texas. We have one class portrait of a 4th grade class in the 1949-50 school year. The girls mostly wear simple dresses. The boy wear "T"-shirts, colored collar shirts, and apropo of Texas--Western-styled shirts. Most wear jeans. At least two boys are barefoot, another boy wears sneakers, but most wear leather shoes. One girl wears cowboy boots. I recall at about the same time getting in trouble for wearing cowboy boots to school, but I wan't from Texas.

The North Side School was located in Fort Worth, Texas. We have one class portrait of a 4th grade class in the 1949-50 school year. This would mean mostly 9-year ols, but many would turn 10 during the school year. The girls mostly wear dresses. One girl wears a sweater and skirt. That became a major style in the 1959s. The boy wear "T"-shirts, colored collar shirts, and apropo of Texas--Western-styled shirts. Western or cowboy shirts had contrasting collars abd pockets with a varierty of detailing. They were usually long-sleeve shirts. Most wear jeans. Jeans were not very common before World War II, but they were a major item after the War. At first only elementary (primary) school boys wore them. At least two boys are barefoot. This began to disappear in the 1940s, but was still seen in southern schools during the early 50s. Another boy wears sneakers, but most wear leather shoes. One girl wears saddle shoes. Another girl wears cowboy boots. I recall at about the same time getting in trouble for wearing cowboy boots to school, but I wan't from Texas.

The School

The North Side School was an American elementary school, meaning primary school. That varied slightly, but in the 1940s was mostly grades 1-6. After which the children would go on to a junior high school. Each state had their own school system and this approach of grade 1-6 elementary schools was very widely followed across the country. There was no Federal rule here, it was just a convention that was widely adopted.

Location

The school was located in Fort Worth, Texas. Texas was a state with both a southern and western ethos. At the time, regional clothing styles were still of some importance. And you can see it in this class portrait. Today, the national media and newcomers from all over have made Texans less regional and distinct in their clothing, but in some corners the old styles still rule.

The Class

We have one class portrait of a 4th grade class in the 1949-50 school year. This would mean mostly 9-year ols, but many would turn 10 during the school year.

The Clothes

The girls mostly wear dresses. One girl wears a sweater and skirt. That became a major style in the 1959s. We see boys wearing "T"-shirts, colored collar shirts, and apropo of Texas--Western-styled shirts. Western or cowboy shirts had contrasting collars abd pockets with a varierty of detailing. They were usually long-sleeve shirts. Here three boys wear them. Most of the boys wear jeans. Jeans were not very common before World War II, but they were a major item after the War. At first only elementary (primary) school boys wore them. At least two boys are barefoot. This began to disappear in the 1940s, but was still seen in southern schools during the early 50s. Another boy wears sneakers, but most wear leather shoes. One girl wears saddle shoes. Another girl wears cowboy boots. I recall at about the same time getting in trouble for wearing cowboy boots to school, but I wan't from Texas.

Western Shirts

A Texas reader writes, "You describe the western shirts very well. In the farming and ranching areas of Texas they are still very well liked, and even in larger towns and cities some this style of shirt. Most school aged kids in the cities and suburbs, though, wear the American uniform of tee shirt, jeans, or carpenter's shorts, and some kind of sports shoes. A year or so ago, I began noticing 7 -12 years olds wearing these shoes that have regular soles, but the shoes also have retractable wheels for rolling.. Don't know what those shoes are called."

Western Style Clothes

The North Side photo is from 1949/50 when Hopalong Cassidy and The Lone Ranger were popular radio and TV heroes. Department store catalogues from this period have lines of western style clothes, and boys (maybe girls, too) all over the U.S. dressed like "Hoppy" and "Kemosabe" (Hopalong and the Lone Ranger!). You can bet that the boys in this photograph were bix fans of Hoppy and the Long Ranger. They probably listened to them on the radio. This was the time just before America made the big shift from radio to TV. I'm not sure about the present generation, but most young Texans in times past have had a pair of boots all thw while they were growing up. Some adult Texans have an amazing collection of boots. I worked with a man, retired a few years now, who owns something on the order of thirty pairs of boots. That's a few pair more, suffice it to say, than most Texans own.

Jeans

Our Texan reader tells us, "Jeans are so common in Texas they are not a fashion statement, but simply fashion. High fashion, upscale consumers may prefer high priced, upscale jeans with the correct and requisite labels, but Levis, Lee, and Wrangler jeans seem the choice of the honest to goodness rancher or farmer in Texas."

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Created: 5:23 PM 3/16/2009
Last updated: 8:34 PM 3/17/2009