|
Knickers declined in popularity during the 1930s. There were still, however, many boys still wearing knickers at the begiining of the 1940s. This is apparent both from available photographs and the number of knickers offered in catalogs. The photograophic record shows a higly variable situation. We notice photographs will all the boys wearing lon pants and others with all the boys wearing knickers and of course mixed knickers and long pants in groups. Most of the boys wearing knickers seen to be wearing knee socks rather than long stockings. We also notice short pants. There seem to be a range of factors such as age , seasonality, and regions involved. We still note quite a few boys wearing knickers during 1940 and 1941. We note however that after Pearl Harbor and America's entry into World War II that knickers very rapidly go out of style. There was a destinct drop in knickers by 1943. You can see this trend very clearly in 1940s school portraits. The Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts even dropped knickers in 1943. By the end of the War in 1945, knickers are not at all common in catalogs and a rarilty in available period photographs. We still see boys occassional wearing knickers even in the early 1950s, but they are by 1945 not all all common. An increasingly rare example is an unidentified suburban boy wearing knickers for Easter egg hunting during 1945. His little brother wears a short pants Eton suit. I started school in the late-1940s and never recall ever seeing them.
Knickers declined in popularity during the 1930s. We see increasing numbers of boys wearing long pant and short pants by the end of the decade. There were still, however, many boys still wearing knickers at the begiining of the 1940s. This is apparent both from available photographs and the number of knickers offered in catalogs. The photographic record shows a higly variable situation. We notice photographs will all the boys wearing lon pants and others with all the boys wearing knickers and of course mixed knickers and long pants in groups. You can see this in the school portrait here in 1940 (figure 1).
American boys when knickers first appeared wore long stocling with them, the same long stockings that they wore with knee pants. For the most part they were black long stockings. This did not change until the late-1920s when knee socks became more popular. Briughtly colored patterned knee socks were popular, although flat (plain) knee socks were also worn. Around the mid-1930s knee socks for some reason began to become less popular. We begin to see boys wrearing knickers with ankle socks, especially during the summer and on casual occassions. By the 1940s most of gthe boys wearing knickers were wearing them with ankle socks. The photograohic record suggestas that most of boys wearing knickers in the 1940s were swraring them with ankle socks rather than wearing knee socks or long stockings. Ankle socks were becoming more common in general. Boys wearing short pants and long pants generally wore ankle socks, mostly colored ankle vsocks with patterns--often bands. I was born nin 1943 and never had a pair of knee socks. I only wore ankle socks and don't recall seeing boys wearing knickers.
There are a range of factors affecting the type of trousers. They include age , seasonality, and regions involved.
We still note quite a few boys wearing knickers during 1940 and 1941. We note however that after Pearl Harbor and America's entry into World War II that knickers very rapidly going out of style. There was a destinct drop in knickers by 1943. You can see this trend very clearly in 1940s school portraits. By the end of the War in 1945, knickers are not at all common in catalogs and a rarilty in available period photographs. We still see boys occassional wearing knickers even in the early 1950s, but they are by 1945 not all all common. An increasingly rare example is an unidentified suburban boy wearing knickers for Easter egg hunting during 1945. His little brother wears a short pants Eton suit. I started school in 1949 and do not recall ever seeing knickers. Perhaps my memory is faulty after all these years, but they dfenitely were no longer common.
The Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts even dropped knickers in 1943.
American maufacturers and the fashion industry gave no real thought to economy of material material before America entered World War II. The countries that enteresd the War did (September 1939), but not the United States. Just considering men's fashions, men purchased a suit commonly bought a package deal with a jacket, a vest, and two pairs of trousers. This was also true of many boys' suits. You see this in catalog offerings. The bous suits often had differentnbpamtsd when offering two, variably long pants, knickers, and short pants. And rember that suits were far more important for men and boys at the time than is the case today. The Japanese carrier attack pn Pearl Harbor thrusting America into World War II changed all that (December 1941). We still see knickers and knicker suits in the early-1940s. A New York City school scene is a good example. The War Production Board (WPB) issued order L-85 (March 8, 1942). The objective was reduce civilain usage of material by 15 percent. We begin to see what became known as a Victory Suit. This was asuit that cut down on the fabric involved. It eliminated the vest and second pair of pants altogether. The styling was changed to reduce the material needed. This included single-breasted jackets, narrow lapels, no cuffs, and no pocket flaps. Similar stylistic changes were made in women's clothing. We have not yet been able to find details on children's clothing. But of course knickers required extra fabric. While we do not have details on PPB rules, we do know that the British did regulate children's clothing. Manufacturers only profuced short pants for boys. Footwear was a special problem because leather was in short supply. And sneakers could not be substituted because of the rubbershoiertage which was severe at first because of the Japanese conquest of rubber producung areas (Malaya and the Dutch East Indies). This of course was all necessary because of the 11 million servicemen mobilized for the War and the need to outfit them.
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main U.S. inter-war knickers page]
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Cloth and textiles]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Topics]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
Navigate the Historic Boys ' Clothing Web chronol ogical pages:
[The 1900s]
[The 1910s]
[The 1920s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1950s]
Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web style pages:
[Jackets]
[Long pants suits]
[Blazers]
[Kilts]
[S ailor suits]
[Short pants suits]
[Ring bearer/page costumes]
[Eton suits]
