Figure 1.--Only a few boys at this French school in Morocco wear smocks, but they are all back buttoning smocks. The image is undated, but it looks like the early 1950s.
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Figure 1.--Only a few boys at this French school in Morocco wear smocks, but they are all back buttoning smocks. The image is undated, but it looks like the early 1950s. |
HB has very limited information about early French school smocks. We believe that virtually all school smocks were when introduced by the Third Republic in 1871 back buttoning smocks. We also believe that smocks for boys and girls were intially quite similar, if not identical--but our information is still quite limited. I'm not sure why this back buttoning style was adopted as it made it difficult for boys to put them on and take them off. It made some sence for younger boys as it was easier for mother to help them dress, but it made it difficult for even older boys to put then on or take then off by themselves. Back buttoning smocks continued to be the pimary types of smocks worn after World ar I and even World War II. Many stylistic variations appeared in he 1930s, including side and front buttoning smocks. We have seen back buttoining smocks made for boys as young as 2 years of age. This suggests that some mothers used back-buttoning smocks for pre-school boys still at home. By the 1950s boys usuallu wore these back bittoning smocks to about 8 years of age, however, it was not uncommon to see boys wearing them up to about age 10.
HB has very limited information about early French school smocks. We believe that virtually all school smocks were when introduced by the Third Republic in 1871 back buttoning smocks. Back buttoning smocks continued to be the pimarty types of smocks worn after World War I and even World War II. Many stylistic variations appeared in he 1930s, including side and front buttoning smocks.
We also believe that smocks for boys and girls were intially quite similar, if not identical--but our information is still quite limited. Gradually the back buttoning styles began to be less popular, especially for boys.
Figure 2.--Here is an elargement of the image above. The boys in the front row wear back-buttoning smocks. Note the older boy in the back row who appears to be wearing a side buttoning smock. |
I'm not sure why this back buttoning style was adopted as it made it difficult for boys to put them on and take them off. They were not a garment made specifically for schools, but rather a garment that was used for farm laborers and workers. We do not know if the smock's adoption for schools helped to popularizse the smock for childrn or if it was already widely worn by children. We do not know to hat extent the smock was worn by French school childrn before it was adopted by the Third Republic's part of its educational reforms. It made some sence for younger boys as it was easier for mother to help them dress, but it made it difficult for even older boys to put then on or take then off by themselves.
The ages of the boys wearing back-buttoning smocks hs varied over time. In the late 19th century even yoiunger teenagrs might wear them. Gradually in the 20th century they were worn by younger boys. We have seen back buttoining smocks made for boys as young as 2 years of age. This suggests that some mothers used back-buttoning smocks for pre-school boys still at home. By the 1950s boys usuallu wore these back buttoning smocks to about 8 years of age, however, it was not uncommon to see boys wearing thrm up to about age 10.
