Figure 1.-- A Berlin schoolboy about 10 years old is listening to a student teacher in class who is playing a radio to the students as part of a school exercise. (I think the use of radio in the schools increased with the NAZI -takeover, but this requires further research.) Notice the typical Berlin schoolboy clothing--a sweater with corduroy short pants, tan long stockings held in place by a Strapsleibchen with white elastic supporters. The photo illustrates one of the complaints we have heard from several German contributors on wearing long stockings during the 1930s--namely that the stockings were sometimes not knitted long enough to avoid the embarassing exposure of the hose supporter clasps, which are fully visible in this photo. Source: Timeline images / timeline classics, 01.01.1934, Schulklasse beim Radiohoren, 1934. The ID for the photo is 00198089.

Children continued to wear long stockings to school in the 1930s, but this varied substantially from country to country, primarily on a geographic basis. Stockings were mostly worn by countries at northern lattitudes. To an extent they were worn for formality, but geography was a factor. This included countries in Asia, Europe and North America. We see Japanese school children commonly wearing long stockings and we think Korean children as well, although we have less information. North American children also wore long stockings, although they were declining in popularity. American school boys and girls began to chage from long stockings to knee socks in the 1930s. Long stockings were still worn, but much less commonly than the 20s. Boys mostly wore knickers with knee socks. Some younger boys wore long stockings with short pants during chilly weather. Long stockings were more popular in Canada. It is in northern Europe that we mostly see long stockings during the 30s. Short pants were still widely worn in the 30s even during the winter. Children wore long stockings seaonally. Long stockings were not very common in England, presumably the winters are more mild than the rest of northern Europe. We see long stockings commonly worn in Scandanavia, Germany, Poland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, the Baltics, and the Soviet Union. Knickers were also worn, but short pants were much more common. We mostly see pre-teens wearings long stockings, but in Germany and ome other countries we also see younger teens wearing them.

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Created: 6:23 AM 11/24/2012
Last updated: 6:24 AM 11/24/2012