Figure 1.--These French boys in 1961-62 were photographed in an Algiers school. This is the CM2 class, comparable to an American 5th grade class. The boys are about 10-11 years old. As the photograph here appears to have been taken at the beginning of the school year in late 1961, many of the boys may have still been 10 years old. Only one boy in the class wears suspender shorts.

Suspender shorts seem to have been popular in France through the 1950s, but declimed during the 1960s. We notice French boys wearing suspender shorts to school in the early 1960s. They were most common for the younger boys, but a few of the older primary school boys also wear them. The French boy here wearing suspendr shorts was from a CM2 class and would have been about 10-11 years old in 1961. (CM2 was the last year of primary school in the French school system. As the photograph here appears to have been taken at the beginning of the school year in late 1961, many of the boys may have still ben 10 years old. AHBC reader writes, "I suspect that the dull 11-12-year-olds would be among the boys in the back row. The boy with the suspender shorts looks younger than some of the other boys." The one boy here wears suspender shorts, but was the only one in his class to do so. There may have been more boys wearing suspender shorts in the younger classes. A HBC reader has provided an account of his boyhood experience when traveling to France in the 1960s. American boys are no longer wearing suspender shorts, with the exception of with Eton suits.

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Created: December 10, 2003
Last updated: December 10, 2003