Youth Section

A couple of Era youth pictures from PondGirl Allison:

Left: "In this picture, they seem to be watching a parade. I wish I could see her dress in color. Looks like a dress I would have picked out way back then."
Right: "This picture made me smile. In the department store try-on area, a little girl puts on a new dress and looks at herself in the mirror. At that point, no girl can resist a twirl."

In The Era, little girls ALWAYS dressed like this for occasions, and many times for school and travel.

(ED: On our many flights to the Caribbean, we have
often noticed that even these days many Puerto Rican
[and perhaps other Latino] parents will do the same)

Offered by Crinolyn

Pretty flower girl frock

From Sylvia Marie

Story Book Heirlooms was a modern site which offered girls' dresses like these.
No longer in existence, it is further indication that, sadly, little girls no longer wear poufy dresses.

Well now:

Mike F. provides this refreshing departure from the ubiquitous
'pettiskirts' on little girls today, children who think they are
princesses, but don't really appreciate...well... the spirit of the thing.
The fad has become tiresome.

The event was the 2015 Zoo Parade in Erie, Pennsylvania

Crinolyn found this peek into an Era girl's room,
featuring a peek at her petti

There were times, in those days, when we would give anything to be in that room,
left alone to investigate the closets and drawers ,no?
If only Allison had known! She probably DID!

Ken R.:

"Photo for sale at eBay's Seattle Washington Archive. Cute little Vicki adds The Pond touch here for us."

Caption

This ad certainly enshrines the manner in which little girls
were dressed in The Era, even to go to school!

(It seems that some Latino cultures still dress their little girls that way,
especially when traveling or to church. We see them in airports and planes now and then.)
From Jean L.

Getting ready for some show...
Half petticoats were not the norm for girls of this age in
The Era; might have something to do with her costume.

Submitted by Abby Rhodes

Maypole dance - 1958

From Abby Rhodes
Similar on same topic

Joe A.:

"...certainly the prettiest party dress I can remember. The photo is from a wedding in the early 1960s, after the
great 'Era'. The little girl in the picture was my cousin, and the lovely party dress she was wearing had an amazing 14
layers of net petticoats. I know, because she sat beside me at the dinner table (I had to do some devious rearrangement
of the place cards to be sure that happened). During the entire meal my leg was buried beneath a froth of petticoats. I don’t
remember the number of times my hand also got 'lost' amidst all the petticoats. Anyway, at one point she became aware of my
very obvious interest in the number of layers of nylon net that were supporting her dress, and she actually lifted and counted each
each layer. Some of the petticoats we 'discovered' were also double layered. So actually there were about twenty layers all together."

TWENTY! TWENTY! GEEZ!

Here's a similar picture

...and here's Joe A.'s follow-up:

"In those days, the mid 1960s, when The Era had sadly passed, it was truly delightful to come across a genuine image
from The Era. How I loved to watch the old British movies from the 1950s on TV for a sudden fleeting glimpse of a cancan petticoat . I remember how the excitement would last for days, replaying the brief and lovely scene in my mind.

"So, you can imagine what the sight of my 9-year-old cousin wearing such a dress would do to me, a young 12-year-old lad. This was not just a fleeting glimpse. This was a 'hands on' experience! As you say, to discover she had twenty layers of petticoats on, and sitting beside me, well fifty years later I can still remember the sight and feel of the petticoats bunched up against me.

"A few months later my parents had a party in our house and she obliged by wearing the dress again. During the evening, my cousin, who was well aware of how I 'enjoyed' her dress, obliged by doing several twirls, so I could watch the petticoats spin out. I remember the high point of the evening was with some of my other young cousins in the living room. My young cousin joined me on the couch, but she sat on my lap, after actually asking me to lift the back of the dress, so she could spread all the layers of net behind her. The sight and feel of all those lovely petticoats on top of me is still very clear in my mind."

Fashions of The Fifties and Later Youth Section - Page eight

Well now:

Fashions of The Fifties and Later
Youth Section - Page eight