Didn't People Wear Shorts?

[clyde]

Just watching The Heritage. It takes place on what is supposed to be a hot summer day. Everyone, even the kids, is wearing long pants or dresses, long sleeved shirts, etc. Didn't people wear shorts back then (although I'll have to admit the thought of Grandma in shorts gives one pause . . .)?

[JeriJet]

Even in the 1940's shorts were pretty much only worn at the beach, picnic, on vacation, etc.... and, actually, skirts can be cooler!  People were accustomed to hot weather -- no A/C yet!  Although there was the occasional person who wore shorts (probably of a rebellious nature and "encouraged" by a movie), I seem to remember little boys having shorts first.... little girls wore sundresses and mom, too.... dad's and grandparents stuck to long pants, dresses....  By the mid 50's teens started wearing shorts more frequently, with adults to follow.

[Brenda]

I think up until about 1920, women didn't even show their ankles in public. During the '20s, younger women did start wearing their dresses shorter, and some started wearing pants. I think people in rural places like Waltons Mountain were probably more conservative in their dress, and the trend to wear shorts probably started when they started going to movie theaters and saw actresses on the screen wearing shorts. My grandmother was born in 1888, and she lived until 1983, and she always wore dresses at least to mid calf or longer, usually with long sleeves, even in the summertime.

The entire time I was in public school, girls always wore dresses to school. I didn't wear pants to school until I was in college. I posted my old 2nd grade class picture from 1959 on Facebook the other day, and all the girls had on frilly dresses and most were wearing ankle socks and mary janes. We dressed up to go to school in those days (well, at least on picture day).

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[wmfan/waltonsportwriter]

Check out Mary. Ellen in the Dust Bowl Cousins after she got caught for smoking, walking back into the house in hot pants or cutoff s. 1970s style blending into the 1930s show. Another example . WmFan AND I recall baseball players used to wear wool uniforms even on a hot day back then. They itched and soaked sweat, just DIDNT wear anything else. Lol

[daniela]

Feb 21, 2014 12:36:52 GMT -5 wmfan/waltonsportwriter said:

Check out Mary. Ellen in the Dust Bowl Cousins after she got caught for smoking, walking back into the house in hot pants or cutoff s. 1970s style blending into the 1930s show. Another example . WmFan AND I recall baseball players used to wear wool uniforms even on a hot day back then. They itched and soaked sweat, just DIDNT wear anything else. Lol

Mary Ellen was wearing her " daisy dukes" in that episode. I can't believe she had the nerve to even have them in her closet, much less wear them with mama and grandma around!  It looked out of place for her to wear them. It just didn't fit the character or the times. 

[Brenda]

I remembered that "Dust Bowl Cousins" episode after I posted my comment. Didn't Olivia say something to her like, "Put on something decent?"

Another example we have discussed here before was in "The Silver Wings" when Jim Bob fell in love with Betsy Randolph who wore the skimpy outfits.

[wmfan/waltonsportwriter]

Good comment Daniela and. I believe it was only a brief scene that you saw them and Im sure the producers knew or would have edited it out if they wanted, butit was the 1970s like Olivia with a cigarette lol

[wmfan/waltonsportwriter]

Feb 21, 2014 12:51:03 GMT -5 Brenda said:

I remembered that "Dust Bowl Cousins" episode after I posted my comment. Didn't Olivia say something to her like, "Put on something decent?"

Another example we have discussed here before was in "The Silver Wings" when Jim Bob fell in love with Betsy Randolph who wore the skimpy outfits.

AS I said glimpses of the 1970 s Brenda, Jason's longhair and mustache. If you made a show like that today Im sure some form of today's technology or style would seep in lol.

[Brenda]

Mary Ellen in her short shorts. And yes, Mama did tell her to put on something decent (right after telling her to learn 10 Bible verses before supper).

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[ForeverWaltons]

In The Wager (Season 8, Ep. 11) Erin & Mary Ellen trained to enter a foot/horse race against men. When Mary Ellen & Erin go for a run around the outside of the house...Mary Ellen's shorts were absolutely positively definitely short shorts!

[clyde]

Then of course there was The Pin Up in Season 7 when Erin became the darling of Camp Lee after Ben's picture of her in very short shorts appeared on the front page of the paper. Judging by John's reaction to that, it appears that women wearing such things were considered "trashy".

[bucky]

Sure they wore shorts. I have family pictures from the twenties and thirties that show girls and young women in shorts - and short shorts at that...and they were rural people and Presbyterian. What they wouldn't have done was wear them off the farm though, unless it was to the beach. I don't know why they kept the Waltons in long pants and dresses - maybe it was just a lack of research by the staff.

[JeriJet]

Whether or not shorts were worn may well have had to do with the locale, as well as permissiveness by parents/family or lack thereof!  They certainly existed but were not necessarily an item worn by many....  The advent of movies made a big difference, in many ways -- there's the story about women wearing slacks once Katharine Hepburn was seen wearing them in a movie.... but that doesn't mean every women suddenly started wearing slacks.... it was a slow progression.  Much like jeans (or blue jeans, dungarees) -- they existed, but it wasn't until the late 60's/early 70's that jeans took over the world!  Even then, many mature people (over, say, 50 by 1970) still did not take up the habit of wearing jeans for anything and everything.... neither my father, nor father-in-law, nor my two uncles, nor my two aunts, nor my mother ever wore a pair of jeans!! ... they weren't about to change their "life-style." -- Actually, neither did my husband, purely because of a preference for Dockers!!  Of course, I bought him a pair.... he tried them on, they looked great on him, but he NEVER wore them -- I still have them!

[awesomemixtape10]

Shorts? Heck, they wore LONG SLEEVE SHIRTS all year long !

[ForeverWaltons]

My paternal grandmother always wore dresses year round. She never owned a skirt or pants of any kind. She also made her own dresses, never knew her to buy one. When she passed away I got all of her dresses that she wore in the summertime. They are 100% cotton and I started wearing them to church. I could not believe how much cooler (temperature wise) they are than my own dresses. It can be burning up outside and I will be nice and cool.