Figure 1.--This little German boy seems to be wearing tights. Notice the ribbing. The snapshot is undated, but looks to be from the early 1960s. A reader writes, "I feel the boy here is wearing longjohns with long stockings over them with high top rubber bands . Usually, ribbed tights are ribbed to the waist." Our reader may have a point here. I thought at first the boy was wearing shorts with tights. Looking at the image more carefully, they do look rather like long stockings pulled up and cuffed at the top and short pants tucked under them. I haven't notice anything like this before.

This little German boy seems to be wearing tights. Notice the ribbing. The snapshot is undated, but looks to be from the early 1960s. A reader writes, "I feel the boy here is wearing longjohns with long stockings over them with high top rubber bands . Usually, ribbed tights are ribbed to the waist." Our reader may have a point here. I thought at first the boy was wearing shorts with tights. Looking at the image more carefully, they do look rather like long stockings pulled up and cuffed at the top and short pants tucked under them. I haven't notice anything like this before. Click on the image for a more detailed discussion.

Initial HBC Assessment

This little German boy seems to be wearing a sweater with tassles, short pants, and tights. Notice the ribbing. The snapshot is undated, but looks to be from the early 1960s. The sweater seems simple enough. The pants and hosiery are a little more complicated.

Reader Comment

A reader writes, "I feel the boy here is wearing longjohns with long stockings over them with high top rubber bands . Usually, ribbed tights are ribbed to the waist." Our reader may have a point here.

Reader Comment

I agree with your assessment that this boy is wearing ribbed tights (as a replacement for long stockings) sometime in the early 1960s. We know that tights became commerically available in Germany in the late 1950s (about 1957 actually), and that they began to be worn then to some extent. But we also know that many mothers and some children (especially boys) continued to prefer long stockings to tights during the 1960s. There were two reasons for the more conservative preference. One was cost. Tights were much more expensive, and if a boy damaged them, they had to be completely replaced whereas a damaged stocking could either be mended or replaced without discarding the other member of the pair. The second reason that long stockings continued to be preferred by many children was the greater freedom involved. Long stockings could be rolled down during the hotter hours of the day and then rolled back up again when it got chillier. Many boys liked this option and disliked the fact that tights were more restrictive (and sometimes too warm). I have read quite a few accounts of German men who recall the innovation of tights. Most of these men seem to have preferred the greater freedom and greater "airiness" of long stockings. They also report that their economy-minded mothers continued to purchase long stockings rather than tights because of the lesser expense. Apparently there was some difference between the more affluent and urban classes (who adopted tights more readily) and the more rural families, who continued to prefer long stockings. Long stockings also seem to have been more flexible as regards age considerations. A growing boy, for example, could often wear the same pair of stockings as he grew taller because his foot size differed less than his height, whereas tights would quickly become too small because of the length of the legs.

Reader Comment

I think the boy is wearing rather tight corduroy shorts and that what we see is the somewhat form-fitting hem of the shorts, not a band or garter. I think we are dealing with tights. What makes the image a bit confusing is that the shorts are ribbed (corduroy) and so are the tights.

HBC Reassessment

We thought at first the boy was wearing shorts with tights. Comments from our readers have caused us to look more carefully at the image. As a result, I am not at all sure what the boy here is wearing. He is at home. Thus we are not even sure if he is wearing regular outer wear or some kind of sleepwear. As best we can make out, the boy is wearing a sweater with I think flannel shorts. They do not lok like cord shorts to me. We would say they are flannel. Anothef reader believes they are long johns, but they seen very baggy to us. We think short pants are more likely. What is most confusing here is the band of ribbing between the shorts and the hose. It is not immediately apparent if this band is part of the shorts or pat of the hosiery. Here if you look carefully the shorts seem wider above the band than at the band itself. This suggests to us that the hose are ribbed long stickings and have been pulled up over the hem of the shorts and the shorts thus tucked under them. . They may be kept in place by an elastic band under the top cuff of the stockings. Also the fact that the shorts are not ribbed and the hise are ribbed, suggests that the banded area is part of the stickings and not part of the shorts. This is the best we can make of the boy's out fit and we are not entirely sure. We haven't notice anything quite like this before.

Further Reader Comments

One reader replies to HBC's reassessment. "Yes maybe the boy here is wearing short pants. But there exists long-johns without long legs. But you are right: longjohns always have a fly." HBC's experience has been that short-leg longjohns or knee length and tot the veey short length seen here. Our other reader writes, " An interesting discussion. On second look, I agree with you that the shorts are not corduroy but probably flannel. But I don't think long underwear is involved. I'm still skeptical that the boy is wearing long stockings. Certainly there is little evidence of hose supporters worn with a Leibchen because of the way the hosiery lies--i.e., no suggestion of a clasp or button that would pull the stockings upward in a slightly uneven manner. If round garters are being worn, the stockings are turned over the elastic so that the band doesn't show. But I still lean toward the idea that the boy is wearing tights."

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Created: 10:09 PM 3/7/2008
Last updated: 1:00 AM 3/8/2008