Figure 1.--

We do begin to see boys wearing tan/beige long stockings in the early-20th century. These tan shades were not at all common before the War, but we do see some. During the 1910s and 1920s nearly all advertisements for long stockings offered buyers a choice between black and white or dark brown. Girls often wore white and some younger boys did also, especially for special occasions such as first communions and weddings. Tan long stockings had begun to be worn in the 1920s by both boys and girls, but these were rarely featured by the main American mail order houses, which tended to stick to the tried and true colors, i.e. black, white, and dark brown. This changed after (1914-18). The various light-brown tan shades became very popular after the War in the 1920s. This sudden shift in the color of long stockings has been noted on many HBC pages. We have discussed several times on HBC the fashion for tan long stockings as a style that gradually replaced the traditional black stockingsthat became standard in the 1890s. Black long stockings did not disappear, but were generally replaced by the tan/beige long stockings, at least for more informal wear. Long stockings went of of style in the 1940s. At the time it was mostly these tan/beige shades that were being worn.

The 1900s

We do begin to see boys wearing tan/beige long stockings in the early-20th century. These tan shades were not at all common before the War, but we do see some. Wwe notice tan long stockings for boys in a brief fashion article that appeared in the San Jose Evening News, page 2, (March 24, 1909). The article is only one-sentence long and is unsigned, but is an early confirmation that tam/beige long stockings were being worn. The writer recommends tan stockings for boys as a spring fashion. The article is headed simly, "Good For Boys" and reads as follows: "Tan long stockings and shoes are more stylish for spring wear than plain black, and are especially suggested for boys who do not wear white after 7 or 8 years." It is interesting to note that the writer mentions the tendency of parents to avoid white long stockings for boys older than 8 years, except possibly for specail uses such as weddings and first communions, where white stockings were traditional.

The 1910s

Department stores appear to have began carrying tan or beige long stockings for children by the late-1900s. They were common place by the 1910s. We do not, however, see many American boys wearing them. We do see younger boys wearing white stockings for formal occassions, but not the tan/beige shades.

The 1920s

These tan/beige long stockings shades became especially common after World War I (1914-18). We see a few mentions of long stockings in the 1920s such as “Birch (Light Tan)” offered in fine silk and cotton dress stockings by Sears in 1924. These would have appealed mainly to girls although boys probably wore them also for dress-up occasions at the behest of their fashion-conscious mothers. Then in 1927, one of the available colors at Sears was a shade called “French Tan” (a very light shade approaching beige). This sudden shift in the color of long stockings has been noted on many HBC pages. We have discussed several times on HBC the fashion for tan long stockings as a style that rather suddenly replaced the traditional black stockingsthat became standard in the 1890s. This appears to be a fashion shift that took place in other countries as well. A reader writes, "In the United States, younger boys and girls often wore similar clothes till sometime in the 1950s as those gender differences were for older children. Maybe it is the same with the color of stockings." This surely was a factor, although there were duifferences for white long stocks, especially after the 1920s. The trend in America was a little different. Girls of all ages began to wear them as wll as younger boys. They were, however, not very common for older boys who mostly wore black long stockings with knickers. We also begin to see bodly patterened knee socks at the end of the decade. There are, however, numerous examples archived on HBC. One of the first American boys we note wearing tan stockings is an unidentified boy wearing tan stockings with above-the-knee knickers about 1922-23. We see two American brothers about 1925 wearing double-breasted suits with tan long stockings, looking very dressed up. We also observe another pair of brothers with their sister with beige-colored long stockings. Interestingly the two boys wear ribbed hosiery with their coordinated sailor suits while their sister wears smooth-textured stockings of the same light shade. This photo was taken at some point after 1923, probably about 1927-28. An Arizona toddler wears beige long stockings with his play suit, probably during the later=1920s. We see Warren Benedict wearing beige stockings in 1929.

The 1930s

Tan long stockings by the 1930s had become established as the dominant color for both boys and girls, and the garter waists of the period, advertised prominently in the catalogues, show the supporters attached mainly to the tops of various shades of tan and brown stockings. Various descriptive terms for the new shades of tan and light brown begin to appear in the catalogues—“French tan (a shade approaching beige), “Champagne,” and even “Nude” (which gives us an insight into the motivation behind the trend to lighter shades). We also see colors such as “camel color,” “camel tan,” “beige,” “light tan,” “medium tan”, and “dark tan.” A few variegated colors such as “tan heather” or “brown heather” begin to show up—an appeal to mothers who favored a more rugged and sporty look and to boys who wanted a more masculine appearance in long stockings. Many mothers considered it immodest or “tacky” as well as impractical to let boys and girls go bare-legged, especially in winter time, but the motive was also to free children from the standard heavy black stockings that had been virtually universal during the 1890s, 1900s, and 1910s. Black stockings, when frequently washed, often had a dingy green, faded cast to them, and the new lighter shades, often accompanied by lighter textures and weights, seemed more natural, more fashionable, and indeed more modern while still offering boys and girls in short clothes the protection of warmth as well as a certain dressiness if the stockings were properly supported. The great prominence of ads for support garments (underwaists and garter waists) shows that neatness of appearance as well as posture and health concerns were prominent in mothers’ minds for their children. Black stockings for children almost disappear from the Sears and Wards catalogues of the 1930s and 1940s, although black was still available in one 1941 Sears catalogue because some mothers undoubtedly insisted on black long stockings for funerals and other very formal occasions. A boy named Jack in 1930 dressed up in his best shirt and tie for a visit to Santa Claus. Two unidentified American lads with their toy cars (1930) wear similar light tan or beige stockings while sitting on a curb. A Sears catalogue of 1930 shows a drawing of two school children of about ten or eleven, the boy in short trousers, wearing tan or light brown “Boyville” long stockings, but the same drawing also illustrates the patterned knee socks that many boys had begun wearing with knickers. A blind boy from the Perkins School for the Blind wears tan stockings with the necessary hose supporters visible in 1934. The new tan stockings were worn not only with short trousers but also with knickers because some conservative parents rejected the more popular patterned knee socks that were customary and that tended to slip down and look sloppy. The photo of an unidentified boy, probably accompanying his grandfather, from a 1936 advertisement shows beige long stockings, probably with supporters to hold them securely in place, worn with a knickers suit. This was not very common in the photographic record, but we do see examples like this. Tan stockings proliferated during the 1930s. One of the most obvious evidences of this is a full-page ad in a Wards catalogue of 1935-36, showing the current range of popular colors, which is totally dominated by tan and light brown shades of long stockings. Darker brown is still an option, but it is now a minority choice. A boy of about 8 years named Bob from upper New York state in the early 1930s can be seen sitting on a porch in shorts and light tan long stockings. We see Teddy Kennedy, while his father was ambassador to Britain, for instance, wearing black long stockings with a dark suit for his family’s audience with the Pope in 1939. Teddy rarely wore long stockings, but for an audience with the pope, Mrs. Kennedy decided the formality of long stockings were required. One revealing advertisement from a 1939 Sears catalogue provides a bit of insight into the 1930s preference for long stockings that to some extent simulated natural flesh tones. This ad offers long stockings that attempt a somewhat unsatisfactory compromise between knee-socks (or in this case 5/8th length socks) and full-length stockings worn with supporters. Here we see a dark and cuffed portion of the stockings below the knee and a flesh-colored or beige part of the hosiery above the knee. These long stockings were designed for both boys and girls although a girl is shown in the illustration. Such stockings were also sold by Wards. They were a commercial failure and quickly disappeared, but here we can see the cultural conflict between youngsters who wanted to wear knee socks with bare knees and mothers who insisted on their children’s knees being protected in the chillier climates.

The 1940s

Black long stockings did not disappear, but were generally replaced by the tan/beige long stockings, at least for more informal wear. Long stockings went of of style in the 1940s. At the time it was mostly these tan/beige shades that were being worn.

Created: 8:37 PM 10/6/2010
Last updated: 9:09 PM 10/7/2010