Figure 1.--Here we see an American boy about to take a Pan Am flight in 1955. He wears a short pants outfit. Notice the white gloves and coat, both suggesting he came from a well-to-do family. Long stockings were not very common in America by the 1950s. Perhaps he was living in Europe. Pan Am had largely international routes. We think he is an American boy, in part, because the snapshot was being sold by a dealer in America. Click on the image for a fuller discussion.

We had thought that long stockings had largely disappeared in the 1930s. Mail order catalogs (Sears and Wards) through the 1940s, however, show that long stockings and hose supporters were still being sold in the early 1940s War years. We note pages with displays of some prmonance, After the War in the late 40s the poularity of long stockings appears to rapidly declined. We note that long stockings and hose supporters for them were still offered for sale in the Sears catalogs for 1946-47 and 1947-48. We don't think there were very common, perhaps worn in the northern states bordering Canada. A clue here is the fact that unlike previous years, the catalog display are less and less prevalent. Growing up in the 1940s and 50s, I never remember seeing long stockings. I was rather surprised to find that they were still being worn by boys or girls. Wards also appears to have handled long stockings, apparently through 1950 or 51. The last dated photographic example we have acquired comes from 1955. At the time long stockings were still being worn in Europe, although going out of style in Western Europe.

Post-war Years: Late-1940s (1946-49)

We had thought that long stockings had largely disappeared in the 1930s. Mail order catalogs (Sears and Wards) through the 1940s, however, show that long stockings and hose supporters were still being sold in the early-1940s War years. We note pages with displays of some prominance, After the War in the late-40s the poularity of long stockings appears to rapidly declined. We note that long stockings and hose supporters for them were still offered for sale in the Sears catalogs for 1946-47 and 1947-48. We don't think there were very common, perhaps worn in the northern states bordering Canada. A clue here is the fact that unlike previous years, the catalog display are less and less prevalent. Growing up in the 1940s and 50s, I never remember seeing long stockings. I was rather surprised to find that they were still being worn by boys or girls in the Post-War era.

Post-war Years: Early-1950s (1950-55)

Some American children still wore long stockings in the early, 1950s, but we do not think very mny. Wards also appeares to have handled long stockings, apparently through 1950 or 51. The last dated photographic example we have acquired comes from 1955, a boy taking an airplane flifgt (figure 1). He looks to be about 6-7 years old. At the time long stockings were still being worn in Europe, although declining in Western Europe. Growing up in the 40s and 50s, I might have been too young to notice such things in the 40s, but I was old enough in the early-50s to hve noticed long stockings if they were worn to any extent. Of course I woulkd have only noticed if boys were wearing short pants, but I don't think many boys wore long stockings with long pants. and of course girls still wore modtly dresses and I don't call seeing girls wearing long stockings.

Created: 5:20 AM 2/13/2012
Last updated: 6:02 PM 2/13/2012