Figure 1.--Here we see an unidentified father and son, probanly in the 1950s. Themnan could be from either Europe or Ameruica. Given the boy's romper suit and long gair, hiowever, we blieve they opriobably are French.

Rompers with the exception of North America were a largely European fashion. They were popular as a practical way to dress active younger boys in easily laundered play outfits. The style was most popular in France where they were no only a popular play garment, but also used for dressing up younger boys. They were commonly worn by pre-school boys. Gils did not wear them until after they had declined in popularity aa a boys' style. We also see it as a opular style in Belgium wher French styles were prevalent. We see German boys wearing rompers, but almost entirely as oplay garments. We do not see German boys dressed up in rompers. While rompers were most popular in France, we also see them being worn in many other European countries. The styles and conventins varies widely. Such variations often were affected as to what degree styles were affected by French or German trends. We also notice European boys living aborad waring rompers.

Austria

A HBC reader reports that in Austria the traditional French romper were unkown. There was no local translation used for rompers. It seems this suit were unknown except a sort of bloomer for baby. All the little garment-like pants with buttons, bib, very short pants for baby the mothers call "Bloomer" or "Spielhöschen". These two words are still used in Austria today. A reader reports, "I lived in Austria for a few years as a boy during 1952-54, but rarely saw boys wearing rompers." "Spielanzug" were apparently not very popular in Austria.

Belgium

HBC notes younger Belgian boys wearing rompers in the 1920s, although we have not yet developed a complete time-line for these garments. They were a very popular fashion for boys through the 1950s, but began to be seen as somewhat old fashioned. They were initially a garment for play and an enormous change from the more restrictive, formals garments in which boys were once dressed. More dressy, formal rompers appeared, but like the play garments were comfortable non-restrictive garments. We believe that rompers in Belgium were primarily adopted from the French fashion. We know of no important difference between French and Belgian rompers. As in France, we assumed rompers were called "barboteuse" in Belgium. Theywere made in several different styles. A variety of materials were used. There may have been differences in the popularity of rompers between French speaking Walonia and Dutch speaking Flanders.

Denmark

We have very limited information about rompers in Denmark. That reflects our limited Danish archive rather than any reflection on the actual prevalence of ropers in Denmark. Rompers were primarily a French style, but we see them being worn in other countries as well. As in France, rompers seems primarily a garment worn by boys. his is, however, only our initial assessment. We see both play and dress rompers. We think that trends were somewhat similar to those in Germany, although dress rompers do not seem common in Germany. We see Danish boys wearing rompers in the 1910s. The first example we have is a boy wearing a sailor-styled romper suit in the Danish West Indies, about 1915. Unlike the adult outfits, it is a colored suit, probably light blue. One portrait of a unidentified Danish boy in 1942 looks to be a blue velvet romper suit. We note some images of Danish boys wearing rompers. One example is Bohr family in the 1950s. So far we have only found romper suits and not the vstious permutations such as strap and bib-front rompers, but this is probably because of our small archive. The Danesc use both kravledragt and gymnastiktøj to mean rompers. The later term seems to stem from the use in school physical education classes.

England

Rompers in England were mostly worn as play clothes. HBC has little information about English rompers and in fact was not even sure if these outfits are also called rompers in England. We are not sure when they first appeared in England, but we do note then after World war I in the 1920s. A HBC reader remembers during the post-World War II period that he has dim memories of children (younger than 4 years) wearing a combination garment of blouse and knickers, waistless, these were usually smocked across the upper chest, and with elasticated legs, the seat was wide enough to accomodate a nappy.

France

Rompers were a popular style in France. We are beginning to acquire the information needed to develop atime line for rompers or barboteuse in France. They appear to have appeared in the early 1900s, but do not appear to have been very commonl until after World War I. They became increasingly popular in the 1930s. They were mostly worn by pre-school age boys, althogh boys as old as 6 or 7 might alsdo have worn them for formal dress occasions. They were still being worn by pre-school boys in the 1950s. By about the 1960s, however, they became increasingly less common, except for infants anf toddlers.

Germany

I have no historical information on rompers in Germany. Clothing catalogs did carry rompers for little boys' play clothes during the 1960s. I have not noted rompers in the photographs of boys clothes before World War II (1939-45), but this may be due to HBC's still limited information on Germany. They were widely worn in France and Italy. Rompers did appear as little boys' wear after World War II. Clothing catalogs did carry rompers for little boys' play clothes during the 1960s. Shown here is summer romper suit which might be called a sunsuit in America. We note that two terms are used in German, "Spielhöschen" and "Spielanzug". These terms, however are not words exclusively used for rompers, but for other outfits for small boys like sunsuits without the puffed pants.

Greece

The Greek terms for rompers are ενδυμ and παιδική φόρμα. We do not yet have any information about Greek children wearing romprs, but our Greek archive is limited.

Hungary

We are not sure how common rompers were in hungary. We have so few images that we do not have a good idea about trends and conventions. We suspect that trends were very similar to Germany. We only seepre-school boys wearing rompers. We are not sure to what extent if any girls wore them. We suspect that girls in secondary schools wore middy blouses and bloomers for gym, but we do not kmow about romper suits. We note boys in one family wearing rompers in 1939. We see bib-front rompers, although there may be H-bar rompers as well. The boys look to be about 1-5 years old. They seem to be summer play suits. We do not know if there were dressy rompers as in France. We think play suits with regular shorts were much more common.

Italy

The Italian term for rompers is "pagliaccetto". Rompers may have been more popular in Italy than any other country with the possible exception of France. Unlike some countries, romers were not hust play wear in Italy. Some Italian boys wore quite dressy romper outfits. We have not yet, however, been able to collect information on Itlaian rompers. We note them in the Italian film "LIfe is Beautiful", but we are uncertain about the accuracy of te film costuming. We notice some Italian boys wearing romper unifoms at summer camps. We see boys wearing romper pants at Balilla summer camps. We notice a romper suit uniform at another summer camp. We think girls also wore rompers. We notice an unidentified orphanage after the War adopting a rompers sun-suit type uniform for the boys.

(The) Netherlands

Although not a common style, some Dutch boys, likeboys in other European countries did wrar romers. It was a style for younger boys and appears to have been most common during the 1940s and 50s. They could have been worn earlier, but HBC at this time had little information on the 1930s. The 1950s romper outfits were generally the sun suit style.

Portugal

One reader translates rompers as "Fato-macaco". A similar term is used in Spain. The Portuguese meaning used for rompers is probably mono used in the sence of "monkey" or "little monkey suit". Presumably the derivation of the word is that a little boy in a comfortable romper suit is free of restrictive clothing and can romp and swing like a monkey. We have also seen traquinas and traje infantil used. We are unsure how common rompers were in Portugal. The lack of a definitive term suggests that they were not a major style.

Romania

We note some Romanian boys wearing rompers, his may have been a French influence. They do not seem to have been very common, but our Romanian archive is so limited, we are not sure. We do see a school age girl wearing a basic romper suitt at a summer camp in the 1930s. Many of the boys are wearing romper pants. We have found a family beach snapsghot with a boy wearing a sunsuit romper out fit, what the French call a 'bain de soleil', meaning 'sunbath'. This was because there was no top, mostly the suspender straps or a bib-front. So the child was sunbathing.

Serbia

We have only limited information of Serbia which at the time rompers were popular was part of Yugoslavia. We don not have any information on Serb rompers in the inter-War era before World War II. We do have found an image we think from Serbia in what was a the time Yugoslavia. It shows a 4-year old boy wearing a voluminous romper for his birthday party. We have no idea how popular rompers were in Yugoslavia at the time. This was rather a French fashion and suggests rompers were worn by children of the Communist ruling class. the scene here suggests a family at the mid-level of Communist bureaucrats. The Yugoslavs were at first after the war fervent Communists. After the split with the Soviets they re engineered themselves as a middle way between Soviet Communism and Western capitalism. This is important in fashion history as the Soviets viewed fashion as unhealthy Western decadence. .

Spain

We believe that Spanish boys did wear rompers, but they were much less common than in France and there is no widely recohnized Spanish-language term as "barboteuse" in French. One French reader tells us that rompers were not widely worn in Spain. He recalls that his Spanish nanny ("ninara") used the French word "barboteuse" when speaking of the rompers. When speaking of other garments ("blusa," "trajecito," ect) she would invariably use the Spanish term. Rompers in Spain were more likely to be worn by boys from affluent families. HBC has encountered considerable difference of opinion as to whay rompers are called in Spain as well as the derivation of those words. One reader in Spain translates rompers as "mono", which has many other meanings and is not used exclusively for rompers in Spain. Bib oberalls, for example might be called "mono". Rompers might also be called "pichi". He take it as a presumption that rompers were not very popular in Spain as no specific word was set for this garment. The Spanish meaning used for rompers is probably mono used in the sence of "monkey" and thus appears to relate to the Portuguese "fato-macaco" or "little monkey suit". Presumably the derivation of the word is that a little boy in a comfortable romper suit is free of restrictive clothing and can romp and swing like a monkey. A reader in Spain comments, "This makes sense. If Spain would not be just next to Portugal with identical relation to "monkey", I would have linked word mono to notion of one, single, unique outfit." A Spanish-speaking French reader contends, "I don't agree with the use of "momo" for rompers in the sence of the word meaning monkey. I believe that more likely it is used concerning the boy garment in the sence of a one-piece outfit--"un momo". This includes a variety of outfits like bib-front shorts, snow-suits, and other outfits as well as rompers. The word "mono" and the word "trajecito" are a bit similar. In the Spanish language the word trajecito means a small for a small boy, done in a juvenile style. It's true that "mono" also means monkey, but I think it has nothing in common with garments. In Spanish people used to use "mono" in the sense of sweet, adorable for a child. For instance, "Es un nino muy mono"--It is a very sweet child!" Que nene mas mono!"--What a beautifull baby! Such expressions are now less common. To day "mono" is used when speaking of a older man and is a bit peorative." HBC remembers mono being used as a term of endearment for a girl friend. We have also noticed pelele and mameluco used for rompers.

Sweden

We do not yet have much information on Swedish casual clothing. The Swedish term for rompers appears to be sparkbyxor. We are unsure just how popular they were. We do not several examples of Swedish boys wearing rompers. We note pre-school Swedish boys wearing rompers. Swedish readers mention two kinds of rompers. Younger boys wore romper suits likethe ones worn in other countries, only with destinctive detailing. Swedish reader also tell us that older children wore romper shorts. We have few details as to chronological or age trends. We also notice them being worn in school gym classes during the 1950s.

Switzerland

We do not see many Swiss boys wearing rompers. We do believe that younger boys wore them, perhaps morecin the French-speaking than the German speaking cantons. As in France, they woukd have been mostlyvwirn by younger, pre-school boys. We do notice some school-age boys wearing romper pants as a kind of gym suit or outfit for fresh aor activities. An exmple is an unidentified rural school in 1929.