England: Chronologies 1950s--Demographics

Figure 1.--Here we see children Lower Slaughter, a picturesque village in the Cotswolds during the 1950s. They are playing after school. Notice all the wellies. The village name does not derive from a bloody battle, but rather from the Old English name for a wet land 'slough' or 'slothre' (Old English for muddy place).

We are looking at clothing trends througout England in rural areas, villages, towns and major cities. Basic trends were largely determined in the major cities and unlike some countries, we do no notice major differences in the various areas. Boys in rural areas were most likely to be involvd in actul work, thus requiring practical clothing. ellies were a necesity in rural areas and widely worn in villages. But other than work clothing we do not notice major differences. The 1950s is the firsr decade in which most children attended secondary schools, schools in which there were required unifoms. We also see some primsry schools adopting uniform by the end of the decade. This all affected how children dressed. Many boys wore their school uniforms as their dress up clothing. A factor here was the economic policies of the Lbour Government. The Socialist policies meant that World War II rationing continued for nearly a decade (1953). In addition there was nothing like the German Economic Miracle in England. This all affected fmily income and the anount a family could spend on clothing.


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Created: 3:10 AM 7/9/2017
Last updated: 3:10 AM 7/9/2017