Figure 1.--The boys seem to be on a bike-camping expedition. Notice all the gear they are carrying on their bikes. I think they might have used the ship here to reach a beach camping site, perhaps on a Baltic island. The boys seem very well kitted out for a group involved in a bike-camp expedition. I'm not sure where this pjotograph was taken, but would guess some where aong the Baltic. The caption read, "Eine Seefahrt, die ist lustig". This was the title of a popular song and means, "A boat trip, that is fun". The name of the ship was "Preußen" (Prussia) which rather corfirms a Baltic location.

In our HJ boy's album we mostly see the boys on various biking expeditions. They wear their uniforms for these expeditions and we often note the lead boy with the HJ single rune banner. Not every German boy had a bike in the 1930s. These would have been mostly middle-class boys. Most working-class boys would not have had a bike. Actually many workers used bikes to go to work. Few workers could aford cars. The HJ was a mass movement which eventually involved almost all German boys. Thus I'm not entirely sure where the bikes came from. We at first thought these would be trips out into the local countryside. Some of the biking trips seem, however, to be trips to various parts of Germany and would have been substantial trips. We see some biking images with just the boys and the bikes. In other instances the bikes are heavily loaded. They involve stays in hodstels and camping. This would have mean that many of the younger boys probably would not have been involved as long troups would have been to arduous.

Bikes in Germany

Not every German boy had a bike in the 1930s. These would have been mostly middle-class boys. Most working-class boys would not have had a bike. Actually many workers used bikes to go to work. Few workers could aford cars.

Bikes and the HJ

The HJ was a mass movement which eventually involved almost all German boys. Thus I'm not entirely sure where the bikes came from. The bikes all look very similar.

Local Outings

We at first thought these would be trips out into the local countryside. These may have been day trips or weekend events. Surely most bike outings weretese brief day events close to home.

Biking Expeditions

Some of the biking trips depicted in the HJ boy's album seem to be much more than that day outings. We see trips to various parts of Germany and would have been substantial trips. These boys were involved in trips in both western and easter GermanY. There are even bike excurisons that seem to involve se legs. Even so there seems to be no adult supervision. We see some biking images with just the boys and their bikes without loads. In other instances the bikes are heavily loaded. They involve stays in hostels as well as camping. This would have mean that many of the younger boys probably would not have been involved as long troups would have been to arduous. We note the boys with bikes that were heaviy loaded. Even so the boys we see are not older teenagers. Some look to be about 13-years old or even younger in a few instances.

Uniforms

In our HJ boy's album we mostly see the boys on various biking expeditions. They wear their uniforms for these expeditions and we often note the lead boy with the HJ single rune banner. Te unifors the boys wear vary. We note both the summer uniform. We also see them wearing the heavoer blue unifrm, but with short pants rather than the ankle-length knickers. I'm not sure why that was. Sometimes like the boys here they are very neatly kitted out, even wearing white uniforms (figure 1) Other photographs show them dressed somewhat more casully, but they always are wearing their uniforms.