Knee Pants: Ages


Figure 1.--The portrait here is a postcard showing two American boys (about 13 and 11, I think) photographed in a portrait studio. It is undated, but we estimate was taken in the 1900s. Interestingly, the boys don't wear jackets--only shirts and ties. The older boy wears a round collar (probably detachable) with an interestingly narrow tie. He seems to wear some sort of stick pin on the tie to hold it in place. The younger boy wears a similar shirt but with a rather small bow tie. Both boys wear knee pants with black long stockings, the standard wear for boys at this period.

The ages of the boys wearing kneepants varied from country to country an over time. At this tpoint HBC only has a rough idea of the ages of American boys wearing kneepants. Boys generally wore long pants in the early 19th century. Some boys by the 1850s were wearing calf-length kneepants, but only younger boys. Clothing was still quite expensive in real terms in the mid-19th century. Clothes were not generally discarded just because they had become little small.Thus some fast growing boys might be wearing long pants than were well above the ankles. Only in the 1870s did kneepants become widespread, but still for boys only up to 10 or 12. Older boys began wearing kneeoants in the 1880s and by the 1890s quite old boys were wearing them--including highschool age boys. At the turn of the 20th centurty kneepants were worn by boys up to about 16 to 18 years of age--although at that age many boys also wore long pants. Kneepants for older were still common in the 1900s, but began to be replaced by knickers in the 1910s.

Country


Chronology

The ages of the boys wearing kneepants varied from country to country an over time. At this tpoint HBC only has a rough idea of the ages of American boys wearing kneepants. Boys generally wore long pants in the early 19th century. Some boys by the 1850s were wearing calf-length kneepants, but only younger boys. Clothing was still quite expensive in real terms in the mid-19th century. Clothes were not generally discarded just because they had become little small.Thus some fast growing boys might be wearing long pants than were well above the ankles. Only in the 1870s did kneepants become widespread, but still for boys only up to 10 or 12. Older boys began wearing kneeoants in the 1880s and by the 1890s quite old boys were wearing them--including highschool age boys. At the turn of the 20th centurty kneepants were worn by boys up to about 16 to 18 years of age--although at that age many boys also wore long pants. Kneepants for older were still common in the 1900s, but began to be replaced by knickers in the 1910s.

Age

We have noted boys of quite a wide age wearing kneepants. The age range waried from aboyt 3-19 years, although aboy 5-15 was most common. The age range varied considerable over time and among countries. At first it was only younger boys wearing kneepants when they began to become popular inthe 1860s. We note quite old boys wearing kneepants at the turn of the 20th century and this contined through the early 1910s. Kneepants after World War I rapidly went out of style. We no longer see teenagers wearing them much in the early 1920s, although older boys were wearing knickers.






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Created: February 24, 2004
Last edited: 5:36 AM 9/26/2004