SHORTS FOR MEN

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19825, 30 December 1938, Page 14

SHORTS FOR MEN

BUT NOT FOR GIRLS HITLER ’ S DISAPPR 0V A L TARANAKI GIRL’S TOUR The wearing of shorts by German girls does not meet with the approval of Herr Hitler, and the contravention of this rule on a hiking tour through Bavaria by Miss Joan Deare, of New Plymouth, created some consternation among the villagers, which is humorously described by Miss Deare in a letter about her tour to her parents, Mr. and Mrs. R. J. Deare, ol Westown, New Plymouth. Many of the men of the German Youth movement wear shorts, and one of the guides (George) of the students with whom Miss Deare made the trip adopted this form of aftire. The type worn by the men are of soft leather or suede, and are sometimes elaborately braided. “George was wearing a pair which looked as if they had not seen a cleaner for years, and we asked him when he intended buying a new pair, - ’ Miss Deare wrote. “His answer was, ‘When I give these to my son.’ Poor George was only 22, and I don t expect he had a son, so the trousers had a couple of generations of wear before them. Everything is made for wear in Germany.” Shocked Curiosity Miss Deare’s shorts created a sensation. Herr Hitler does not approve of shorts for girls and the population of the villages through which they passed and in which they stayed at flhe Jugcndherhenge (Youth Hostels) regarded her with a kind of shocked curiosity. “In one place,” she said, “a policeman got off his bike and harangued me but as I couldn't understand a word he said it didn't trouble me much. It was worth going to Germany for the fun of it.” “The population were horrified at my shorts,” she continued. “Wherever we went all eyes were on me and my Shorts. The people swarmed out 01 buildings to look at me. If I went into a shop it took me all my time to gain the exit through the waiting crowds. Young men pulled at thenchins and made eyes. Day after day this sort of thing happened, and the rest of the party by then would never have permitted me to discard them, for they enjoyed the fun to ithe full.’ Love of Singing One of the features of the tour which interested Miss Deare was the lusty singing of the German Youths wherever they gathered, or whenever they were on the move. Many of their songs were of a patriotic and national kind, but many were full of fun and accompanied with actions. The visitors learned many of them and sang them with the Germans, and at some places the residents and the visitors “swapped” songs. During breakfast at one of the nostels at which the party stayed a group of young boys were made to sit at one end of the room. “That seemed so unnatural, but there they sat, singing blood and thunder songs. The singing was pleasant to hear and was made more so by a clever youngster accompanying them on an accordeon. “George, our guide, had brought a guitar with him,” said Miss Deare, “and every evening we spent singing songs to his playing. We heard lots of German songs, but George's favourites were ‘Horsey, Horsey,’ and ‘Clementine.’ Many of the Germans songs were full of fun. The row they made was deafening and we often became glad to creep away to bed and leave them to it.”