Figure 1.-- WRA like British public schools had a lot of traditions and activities, some of which involved the boys behaving in clownish ways as in this photograph from about 1944. The point was to look as silly as possible by appearing on roller skates, for instance, without one's trousers and affecting ridiculous hats.

WRA like British public schools had a lot of traditions and activities, some of which involved the boys behaving in clownish ways as in this photograph from about 1944. The point was to look as silly as possible by appearing on roller skates, for instance, without one's trousers and affecting ridiculous hats. Some of the boys still wore knickers (notice the third boy from the left and the second boy from the right) whereas others had graduated already to long trousers (although the long trousers have obviously been discarded in this exhibition of absurdity). One of the interesting features of the photograph is the universal wearing of adult men's garters to hold up three-quarter-length socks. This was standard for well-dressed men of the period, and the boys who wore long trousers were of course imitating their fathers or other well-healed grown-ups. The boys still in knickers continued to wear knee socks. Note that one boy, the one on the extreme left, wears knickers also, but he has unfastened the buckles so that they droop down to ankle height. The standard underwear, as is also illustrated here, was boxer drawers and sleeveless white undershirts (sometimes referred to as singlets in England). I remember that in the winter we wore union suits under our knickers or long trousers, but this photo was taken probably in the late spring after the union suits had been discarded.Some boys, as I recall, actually did skate as a recreational activity. There was no ice hockey at the school at this time, so of course the boys used roller skates.

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Created: February 12, 2004
Last updated: April 22, 2004