Figure 1.--These German children in the 1910s all wear heavy weight ribbed stockings. We believe that the portrait was probably taken during the winter. They also look to be wearing long underwear under the stockings.

Both ribbed and non-ribbed stockings can be seen in the visual evidence from the 1910s. Plain stockings seem to predominate, partly because HBC’s archives show numerous instances of white long stockings, which were almost always worn for dressy occasions and were all but invariably knitted in smooth textures. Most boys in dressy outfits wear flat-weave long stockings. This is observeable in numerous images arvhived on HBC. Some boys may have worn ribbed stockings for dressy occassions, especially during the winter, but fla-weave stockings were much more common. We notice both ribbed and flat-weave (unribbed stockings) being worn in several countries. They seem more common in northern countries, but we hasve fewer images from those countries. Black long stockings were still very common in the 1910s, but we begin to see some differences. White stockings were still worn by younger boys. And we begin to see tan shades like beige. Color affected ribbing to a degree. We very rarely note white ribbed stockings. We also see tan shades, especially during the late 1910s. We are not sure if ribbed tan long stockings were worn in the 1910s. We suspect they were, but do not have any images showing this. We note flat and and ribbed weave stockings being worn year round, but there was a distinct seasonality. Chilfren mostly wore flat-weave stockings during the summer. We note ribbed stockings being commonly worn in northerly countries during the winter.

Assessing Images

We are often unable to assess available images. It is no always clear as to wehther flat weave or ribbed stockings were worn. Two Canadian boys shown wearing double breasted suits during the 1910s illustrate both ribbed and non-ribbed styles. The younger of the two boys wears a knee pants suits with smooth-weave black stockings whereas his older brother, holding a clarinet, wears a knickers suit, buckled below the knees, with black ribbed long stockings. Age-grading may be involved here, but we know that both plain and ribbed stockings were sometimes worn with both knee pants and knickers.

Popularity

Plain stockings were very common in both Europe and America during the decade. A color photo of two children with their grandmother, presumably American, shows a boy in 1910 wearing smoothly textured white long stockings with quite short knee pants. Although there is a general presumption that white stockings were favored more by girls than by boys, we see many images of boys in white stockings during this decade, probably as a matter of their parents’ choice rather than their own preference.

Dresswear

Most boys in dressy outfits wear flat-weave long stockings. This is observeable in numerous images arvhived on HBC. Some boys may have worn ribbed stockings for dressy occassions, especially during the winter, but fla-weave stockings were much more common. A Canadian boy from Beauce, Quebec, photographed in his Sunday best about 1910, is dressed for Mass and wearing heavily ribbed, woolen long stockings (Fig. 1). Dark long stockings of plain weave continued to be worn by boys of all ages. This American teenager, photographed playing the viola, wears his stockings with above-the-knee knickers as part of a double breasted suit in 1910. An American boy with a very elaborate lace collar (holding a cat) also wears above-the-knee knickers--in this case white with matching white long stockings. The stockings of course are of smooth, dressy texture. The photo is dated about 1910. We note an American boy during the 1910s wearing a light-weight summer sailor suit with white long stockings, obviously of smooth texture. We note another American boy wearing a dressy white Norfolk suit (1910) with above-the-knee knickers and smooth white long stockings. He seems to have dressed up to please his mother, who sits beside him. White was of course appropriate for Easter. Note this American boy in his Easter suit with knee pants and long white stockings (of smooth weave, naturally). Belgian royalty during the decade tended to dress their boys very formally, even for purposes of recreation. A 1912 photo of Prince Leopold at age 11 shows him with his mother wearing an elaborately refined blouse, very short knee pants (almost like shorts) with what appear to be white silk stockings. They are certainly very finely woven and quite sheer. Another photograph, taken the same year, shows Leopold and his younger brother Prince Charles in very fancy play clothes. Even sitting astride a toy elephant, they are dressed in fancy knee pants suits with similar white stockings, perhaps knitted of silk. These somewhat impractically refined clothes were undoubtedly chosen by their fastidious mother. The formal photograph of an older American boy, Frank Bailey (also 1915) shows him in what appears to be a private school uniform (notice the peaked cap). He wears smoothly textured long black stockings with his knickers suit. A different American teenager, unidentified, wears a natty tweed above-the-knee knickers suit with long black smoothly woven stockings. He seems to be dressed for a recital or a music lesson. These stockings could be ribbed, but if so, they are knit in very fine gauge to give a dressier appearance.

Casualwear

We are less sure about casualwear as we have fewer imafes. We see an American boy wearing ribbed black stockings with a knee pants suit during the same decade. He sits on a porch holding his dog.

Country Trends

We notice both ribbed and flat-weave (unribbed stockings) being worn in several countries. They seem more common in northern countries, but we hasve fewer images from those countries. Belgian first communion outfits for boys during the 1910s traditionally featured sober black knee pants suits with matching long stockings of smooth texture. We note an unidentified Belgiasn boy wearing an elegant and unusually formal suit. Perhaps he was from an aristocratic or other affluent family. An English boy, also during the 1910s, likewise wears a knee pants suit with heavily, ribbed stockings, sitting beside his little sister. A German teenager from the same period wears a dark sailor suit with long dark stockings that also seem to be finely ribbed. Narrow-gauge ribbing of course frequently gives the appearance of smoothness, which may the case here. We see a class of German schoolboys in 1918 Cologne at least one of whom wears wide-ribbed woolen stockings--with knee pants. Such heavy hosiery seems a bit unnecessary on a day when some of the boys wear either short socks or no socks at all, but in Germany long stockings were often worn as much because of conservative family tradition as for actual warmth. The ribbed stockings here have the look of home-knitted hosiery. In the late 1910s plain weave long stockings worn with knee pants (or even short pants) were standard wear for German school boys (Fig. 2). A charming photograph from Sweden (1911) shows the young Prince Gustaf Adolf playing soldier and wearing white knee pants with black ribbed long stockings. Gustaf’s stockings are of heavy weight, appropriate for the rough-and-tumble activities of a five-year-old.

Age Trends

Boys as old as 18 years still wore knee pants with long plain stockings during the decade. Note these two American boys (about 18 and 13) very formally dressed. We think that older boys preferred the ribbed stockings, but we can not yet confirm this.

Color

Black long stockings were still very common in the 1910s, but we begin to see some differences. White stockings were still worn by younger boys. And we begin to see tan shades like beige. Color affected ribbing to a degree. We very rarely note white ribbed stockings. James Urnsby, an American boy, wore plain weave white stockings with his soldier suit during the decade. One might have expected to see a different color or even ribbed stockings with a military uniform, but white stockings were considered very dressy, especially for younger boys. The sandals are a slightly unexpected touch. A mixture of formality and informality appears in the 1915 First Communion photograph of the American Oelschlagen family. The youngest boy, Henry, wears the traditional white shirt, white knee pants, and smooth white long stockings. Notice his corsage. But notice, too, that he rather spoils the dressy effect by wearing what look like tennis shoes or sneakers. Perhaps he was growing fast and these were the only shoes that fit. Also in 1915 we observe the young Schaefer boy, about five, sitting on a porch in Spokane, Washington, holding his cat. It is difficult to be certain, but he appears to be wearing a dress with which he wears smooth white long stockings held up by supporters. Another First Communion photo (dated 1917) shows a Missouri boy wearing the traditional white outfit (white blouse, white knee pants, white long stockings of smooth texture). The church was called St. Anthony’s. Winthrop Rockefeller, wears very formal long white stockings with his latter-day Fauntleroy suit and strap shoes. He and his brothers are of course very dressed up for a family portrait. An older boy in a modified Fauntleroy suit (the photo seems to be from the late 1910s or early 1920s), also wears quite short knee pants (or perhaps even shorts) with elegantly sheer white long stockings. Since the boy seems to about ten or eleven, here the white stockings are less a matter of age appropriateness than of the extreme formality desired (Fig. 1). Another American boy, William Bradford Ross, wears beige plain stockings with his knee pants suit. The same fine-gauge beige long stockings appear also in Canada. Note this 1919 photograph of a boy from the Montreal McCrae family, where the dark short pants suit with Eton-style white collar is worn with plain-weave beige long stockings. We are not sure if ribbed tan long stockings were worn in the 1910s. We suspect they were, but do not have any images showing this.

Seasonality

We note flat and and ribbed weave stockings being worn year round, but there was a distinct seasonality. Chilfren mostly wore flat-weave stockings during the summer. We note ribbed stockings being commonly worn in northerly countries during the winter. The son of a missionary in China, John Espey, wears the traditional schoolboy clothes of an American abroad in 1918. Even during the warm summer months (note the flowers), John wears long black stockings of standard plain weave with his summer suit.

Advertisements

Advertisements for boys’ clothes can be revealing about the texture of stockings. An American A. Schuman & Co. ad for a boy’s Norfolk-style suit with below-the-knee knickers clearly shows long black ribbed stockings in 1911. A French advertisement for a boy’s suit the same years also shows ribbed long stockings being worn with briefly cut knickers that look almost like knee breeches. The dressy aspect of smoothly knit black long hosiery is nicely illustrated by a 1916 advertisement for Black Cat Stockings. The boy’s hosiery is being compared visually to the stylish hosiery that both his parents wear. The appeal here is obviously to a certain level of luxury. Toward the end of the decade we note a 1919 ad for velocipedes, in which the boy model is shown wearing the by then common plain beige long stockings with short pants that had begun to replace black stockings. Again the texture seems to be fine gauge.