Figure 1.--This family snapshot shows an unidentified brother and (we think) sister wearing identical H-bar rompers in 1941. They are riding their trikes in 1941. We have an early snapshot of one of he children wearing a similar romper suit. 1941 of course was just before America was thrust into World War II. After this it became virtually impossible to get new bikes and trikes. Anything metal went into the war effort. My dad got my trike in 1947, but thet were just beginning to become widely available. It was by far my most prized possession.

We do not have a lot of information on American rompers during the 1940s. We see girls wearing romper outfits as casual summer wear. They were, however, not very common for boys. We have found very littlecevidence of boys wearing rompers beyond the infant or very early toddler stage in the phitographic record. We see a few pre-school boys wearing them, but relatively few. We note matching brother-sister H-bar rompers in 1941. In this case it was a rare example of an older boy and younger girl. And also a rare example of an American boy wearing rompers beyond the toddler stage. They were entirely a summer play outfit. We think the relative rarity in the photographic record is a good relection of actual prevalence. At school we see girls' gym uniforms making the transitions from bloomers to romper suits.