Figure 1.--This unidentified German boy was photographed in Berlin, prabably around the turn of the 20th century. It is a CDV image. The photographer was J.C. Schaarwachter, Konigl. Hofphotograph. Image courtesy of the MD collection. |
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We are not precisely sure how popular the Norfolk jacket was in Germany. We note quite a few German boys in the early 20th century wearing Norfolk suits and jackets, at least belted jackets looking rather like Norfolk jackets. Many school portraits before and right after World War I show quite a few boys wearing Norfolk-style jackets. A good example here is the HBC 1910s German chronology page. A HBC reader reports, however, that he has noted relatively few photographic portraits of German boys wearing Norfolk jackets. One reader reports hearing a German tailor talking about a crease or pleat in the back of a "Norfolk Jacken" in combination with a belt or strap, a so-called "Golffalte" (golf pleat) that could run from the center of the back or alongside the sleeves. Other German terms associated with the Norfolk jacket included: Norfolk suits (Norfolkanzug, Nofolkpaletot) or suits in style of it (Norfolkform). At some schools Norfolk jackets were even more popular than sailor suits, but this varied from school to school and over time.
We do not have a large numbers of images of German boys wearing Norfolk jackets at this time. Those images that we do have are often unfortunately not dates. As best we can tell, Norfolk jackets were especially popular in Germany in the early 20th century, from about 1900-25, but that is just a preliminary assessment at this time. We are not precisely sure when German boys first began wearing Norfolk jackets, but the style is much less in evidence by the 1930s. Unfortunately, like the portrait here, many of the available images of German boys wearing Norfolk jackets are undated.
We are not precisely sure how popular the Norfolk jacket was in Germany. We note quite a few German boys in the early 20th century wearing Norfolk suits and jackets, at least belted jackets looking rather like Norfolk jackets. Many school portraits before and right after World War I show quite a few boys wearing Norfolk-style jackets.
We notice schoo-age boys, both tounger boys and teenagers wearing Norfolk suits. They were not the most common style for boys just beginning school, but we see yonger primsary childre wesaring them. They were very common for older boys and teensagers. A good example is an unidentified teenager in 1933.
We note that mant German boys wore Norfolk jackets which buttoned at the collar rather than suit jackets with lapels. Age may have been a factor here. Also this style may have varied over time. The Norfolk styling of belts and pleats also varied. The boy here, foe example, had a define belt, but other aspects of the Norfolk styling are less pronounced (figure 1). Many available images look to be two-piece suits composed of jacket and knickers. We have also seen three-piece suits with an added vest (waistcoat). Most of the Eton jackets we have noted have been single breasted, but there were also doubled-breasted jackets as well.
We see boys wearing Norfolk suits for a wide range of occassions. This was affected by boh chronological and social class trends. Here a factor was that when Norfolk suits were most popular, it was quite common for boys to wear suits, even for casual or sporty occassions. Also social class was a factor. Boys from modest income families would have only one nice suit that he would wear for all occassions. This was especially true in the early 20th century when the Norfolk suit was more popular. These boys would thus wear Norfolk suits for formal occassions such as First Communion or Confirmations. Boys from more affluent families would have a larger wardrobe, including suits for sporty and casual occassions. Boys might play tennis or other social sports in Norfolk suits. They were also commonly worn to school. These boys would be less likely to wear Norfolk suits for formal occassions.
One reader reports hearing a German tailor talking about a crease or pleat in the back of a "Norfolk Jacken" in combination with a belt or strap, a so-called "Golffalte" (golf pleat) that could run from the center of the back or alongside the sleeves. Other German terms associated with the Norfolk jacket included: Norfolk suits (Norfolkanzug, Nofolkpaletot) or suits in style of it (Norfolkform). Although the term Norfolk jackets is often used in association with this style, we note quite a few bous wearing Norfolk suits, with the jacket and pants matching.
We do not yet have sufficient images to assess the shirts and collars worn with Norfolk suits in Germany. We notice quite a few boys having their portrait taken in Norfolk jackets wearing Eton collars. We are not sure how common this was in Germany. It appears to have been much less common with the primary schoo boys in some school portraits. German boys wore these Eton collars in a variety of ways. The boy here wears a floppy bow (figure 1). We note another very similar example of a father and son on a bicycke outing about 1905-10. Others wore others forms of neckwear. Others German boys wore these Eton collars without ant neckwear at all. We have also noted boys wearing high collars that were covered by their jackets and thus difficult to assess.
Most of the German boys we note wearing Norfolk suits wear knickers or kneepanrs. We notice fewer boys wearing long pants. We are not sure if this has to do with the age of the boys wearing Norfolk suits or because the Norfolk suit was seen as a sporty style. All of the Norfolk styling was in the jacket. We have not noted any special styling in the pants that went with Norfolk suits.
We not only see Norfolk jackets in school portraits, but also individual portraits take of German boys. The image here is a good example. There are several portraits of boys with Eton suits on HBC. A good example is a bicycle portrait taken of a father and son about 1905-10.
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