Figure 1.-- This tintype shows two unidentifid American children. They look to be anouy 9-13 years old. We have no idea where the portrait was taken. The studio backdrop looks more like England than America. Both children wear striped (actually banded) long stockings. They were more commn for boys, but girls also wore them. The portrait is undated, but we would guess was taken in the mid-1870s. The 1870s was the most popular decades for these striped stockings.

We see long stockings done in different patterns, but the great bulk of long stockings in the photographic record are plain or flat colored stockings. The prevalence of different colors varied over the century or o in which long stockings were worn. time. Both white and black stockings were at times popular. Other colors are much more difficult to assess because of the black and white photgraphy of the day. Patterns are possible to identify. And the most common patterns are stripes or more accurately colored bands. They were, however, only popular for a relatively short period, primarily the 1870s, although we see some in the ate-60s and early-80s. We have begun to compile chrnology. The striped stockings were done in an incredibke number of ways. We see some stockings with wide bands. More common were a mix of wide and narrow bands. Furter complications were added by the fact that the bnarrow bands were done in mny differnt wdths. And they were mixed together in a veariety of ways. A wide varty of colors were used in these striped stockings. Stripes were the most common pattern. There were, however, some more elaborate patterns. Many are rather like the paterned knee socks worn during the 1930s, but we se arange of other patterns. This is, however, a small fraction of the patterned stockings. We see see a range of dots, bands, and semi-argyles. Te stockings the boy her s wearingis a good example. We can not yet describe them in detail because we have so few examples which we believe suggests the prevalence.

Striped Stockings

Patterned long stockings were quite common in the mid-19th century. We see many children wearing long stockings done in colored bands. We are not sure about the colors. Our information is limited, primarily because we have relatively little 19th century catalog information. As far as we can tell, the long stockings worn by American boys and girls in the 20th century were primarily solid colors. Some stockings had destinctive ribbing, suggesting a pattern, but in fact were solid colors. Patterned stockings were not unknown, but we have rarely seen children wearing them in the photographic record. One of the rare catalog offerings for patterned long stockings that we have noted was in the Sears 1928 catalog. But the patterned long stockings don't seem to have had much commercial staying power. They were sporty looking of course (like the golf style knicker socks), but one of the main reason for dressing boys in short pants with long stockings was for a look of greater formality and conservatism. This is one of the reasons, I think, that they didn't seem to catch on. Conservative mothers might have thought they looked a little too flash-in-the-pan and a bit undignified. Commercially, they seem to have been a bit like the button-on stockings or the combination stockings (long stockings made to look as though they were knee socks). These styles had a brief life, but didn't turn out to sell well enough to remain in the catalogs more than a year or two.

Other Patterns

Stripes were by far the most common pattern used in long stockings. There were, however, some more elaborate patterns. We do not see a lot of examples, but we have found some. We begin to see them in the 1870s. The technology for patterned long stockings seems to hve been developed in Europe in the 1850s, but we do noy see it in America until the 1870s. Many are rather like the paterned knee socks worn during the 1930s, but we se arange of other patterns. This is, however, a small fraction of the patterned stockings. We see see a range of dots, bands, and semi-argyles. The stockings the boy hear is wearing is a good example (figure 1). We are not sure just how to describe the pattern. They look like the patterns we see with knee sovks in the 1930s. Nor can we describe the pattrns in detail because we have so few examples. We think this suggests the relative prevalence. Wjile these patterns became very common for knee socks. This was not the case for long stockings. We are not sure just why this was.

Created: 1:54 PM 8/4/2023
Last updated: 1:54 PM 8/4/2023