Figure 1.-- Here we see a small American class group, probably from a private school. The small class and cthe fact they are all boys suggesta a private school. The boys are nicely dressed, but their school looks a little decreit. Most wear suits, one boy with an Eton collar. They wear knickers and short pants with both knee socks and long stockings. They look to be younger primary boys, about 6-7 years old. The snapshot is undated, but we woukd guess was taken in the 1930s. Some younger American boys wire short pants to school, but most boys by age 8 or 9 years wore knickers and by the ebd of tghe decade, long pants were becoming increasingly common. Names are written on the back of this snapshot. The writing is not real clear, but it looks like Wallace Dorain, Preston Dibble, David Simpson, Robert Piffer, Richard McKenzie, Charlie Condon, and John Fierenton.

The type of pants boys wore for school in the 20th century varied some what by ages, but this changed over time and from country to country. It was much more varied than in the 19th century. Boys in the 19th century mostly wore long pants to school. This was fairly common in both America and Europe. We begin to see younger boys wearing shortened-length pants (mostly knee pants) to school in the late-19th century. By the turn-of the 20th century we see many boys wearing knee pants to school, including many older boys. This was especilly common in America. Most older Europen boys wore long pants. This began to change in the 1910s, especially after World War I. We see European boys wearing short pants. American boys mostly wore knickers. Some younger boys wore short pants. Here there were socisl class connitations. Short pants were very common in urope, even with younger teenagers. Soine teen agers worn knickers, but most teenagers by about 15-16 years of age wore long pants to school. Changes occurred after World War II. Knickers disappeared in America. Boys mostly wore long pants, even younger boys in primary school. This did not begin to change unil the late-20th cntury when we begin tgio see short pants in school again. Europen boys continued to wear short pants and knickers after World War II into the 1950s. By the 1960s we see more anfd more boys wearing long pants which were common with the younger boys in primary school by the 70s. There wee differences from country to country and even within countries depending on the type of school.

Related Style Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Long pants suits] [Short pants suits] [Socks] [Eton suits] [Jacket and trousers] [Blazer] [School sandals]

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Created: 10:51 PM 10/3/2011
Last updated: 10:51 PM 10/3/2011