English School Uniform Garments: The
Snake Belt
Other iems like the snake belt seem to have been oprimatily
worn in England. Some like the snake belt have almost disappeared. The
so-called 'snake-belt' was at one time an extremely common item of English (and
indeed of British) school uniform, although it tended to be worn on many other
occasions too as part of regular boyswear. It consisted of an elasticated
strip, fastened at the front with an S-shaped metal hook-buckle fashioned as a
snake; it was, obviously, this feature of the belt which gave it its popular
name.
Introduction
The so-called 'snake-belt' was at one time an extremely
common item of English (and indeed of British) school uniform, although it
tended to be worn on many other occasions too as part of regular boyswear. It
consisted of an elasticated strip, fastened at the front with an S-shaped metal
hook-buckle fashioned as a snake; it was, obviously, this feature of the belt
which gave it its popular name. A metal slide, together with a loop in the
belt, enabled it to be adjusted to an individual boy's waist far more
sensitively than could be done with the usual tang and series of holes and
also, of course, allowed its length to be increased as a boy grew. The slide
and loop arrangement also ensured that there was no long end left dangling - an
important matter of safety during the frequent rough-and-tumble of boy life.
Sometimes, but not always, a flap was provided behind the snake-buckle. Boys'
short and long trousers were provided with loops through which the belt could be
threaded.
Chronology
We are not sure precisely when the snake belt first appeared
or who invented it. It was clearly being worn by the 1860s, but we are not sure
that it was a specifically school style. Another portrait shows three brothers
wearing tunics with snake belts over them. We do not know if these were school
outfits. The earliest we note the snake belt in the photographic record was
belts worn with tunic suits by two Glasgow brothers in 1863. An Origin in
Sportswear
Most items of what has come to be regarded as 'traditional'
English/British school uniform were borrowed from sportswear of the late 19th
or early 20th century and in this respect the snake-belt is no exception, for
it was in sportswear that this distinctive item of dress first appeared. In
1888 the famous English cricketer W. G. Grace declared that 'braces
['suspenders' in America] are not worn when playing cricket': belts, he
considered, were less restrictive of movement. [Cunnington and Mansfield, p.
31.] The snake-belt was a favourite form. The early examples were made from
silk and were often advertised as 'cricket and lawn tennis belts', as in a
catalogue of 1907: 'ORDINARY CRICKET AND LAWN TENNIS BELTS / Silk, striped
colours fitted with snake buckles, each 2/6 / plain ... 2/0'. [Aldbrugham, p.
994.] The sums of money are in the British pre-decimal coinage and stand for
two shillings and six pence and two shillings respectively: 12.5p and 10p in
modern British currency). As the advertisement states, they were available in a
single colour ('plain') or in stripes: where there were stripes they consisted
of two outer ones in one colour and a central one in a contrasting colour. The
different colours meant that sporting clubs - cricket clubs, for example -
could obtain them in their own club colours. Not surprisingly, schoolboys would
wear them in school colours with cricket flannels when playing in school
cricket matches. From there they were adopted as part of school uniform wear.
Colours
Their availability in a wide range of single or twinned
colours meant that they could be readily obtained in school colours to match
those of blazer, school cap, tie, and badge. The travel writer Eric Newby
recalls visits to the Boys' Shop at the world-famous Harrod's in London in the
1920s and '30s to be kitted out with, amongst other items of school uniform,
'flannel shorts supported by belts striped in the school colours with
snake-head buckles. [A Traveller's Life, p. 44.] Occasionally, they might be
compulsory but more often they were optional. At my own schools in Luton, Beds.
they were not compulsory but many boys wore them. At Hart Hill Primary School,
which introduced a school uniform during my time as a pupil there, the
snake-belt had two brown stripes and a central yellow stripe. At Luton Grammar
School, where I started in 1957, the belt had two red stripes and a central
yellow stripe. The secondary school which my elder brother attended had two
dark blue stripes and a central pale blue stripe. Those worn by other boys whom
I knew in the town had two black stripes with a central red or a central yellow
stripe, two maroon stripes with a central grey or a central white stripe, and
two green stripes with a central yellow stripe. But other combinations were
also available.
Out of school uniform, a boy would still often support his
trousers with such a belt, usually his school one. You could, however, obtain
them in with two black stripes and a central white stripe: since black and
white were the colours of the Luton Town Football Club, some boys in my home
town wore a snake-belt with those colours when going to matches on Saturday
afternoons. They might also wear them on other occasions out of school in order
to declare their allegiance to the local football team.
Changes in the 1930s
At first, snake-belts had been made quite wide - 1.75 inches
(44 mm) - and occasionally they incorporated two snake-buckles, one above the
other, as in an early 20th-century postcard-size photograph in my possession.
This width was not really suitable for boys, especially smaller ones; the belts
also had insufficient elasticity and tended to become loose. In the 1930s the
width was reduced to 1.25 inches (32 mm) whilst the introduction of artificial
fibres gave a lighter webbing with greater elasticity and durability: 'the
result was a better belt with a longer life and much neater appearance. [Guppy,
p. 59.]
Comfort
The later, improved version was, as I recall from my own
schooldays, very comfortable to wear, since it would stretch as necessary with
a boy's movements during play - the very reason for their introduction into
games such as cricket and tennis. The only discomfort came if the metal slide
got twisted, as could happen occasionally: 'One glance was enough to reveal the
cause of the trouble,' relates Anthony Buckeridge in one of his Jennings
stories: '"Yes, I see what it is," she said. "A clear case of
twisted-belt-buckle-itis." '"Wow! That sounds bad," Jennings
exclaimed. "Shall I have to see the doctor, Matron?"
'"Oh, no, it's not serious." She straightened out
the twisted belt and slackened the adjustable buckle [that is, the metal slide]
at the back, which had ridden up over the waistband of his shorts' (According
to Jennings, London and Glasgow, 1954, 247). They were worn with both short and
long trousers; indeed, in conformity with changed times, the more recent
revision of the Jennings story alters 'shorts' to 'trousers' (According to
Jennings, revised edition, Wendover, 1986, 182-3; paperback edition, London and
Basingstoke, 1991, 196). Partly because of their comfort and partly, I suppose,
because of their often bright colours, they were very popular amongst boys
themselves: in the post-World War II Austerity era Ray Watkins regretted not
having one because of continuing rationing, but eventually obtained one with
some change from the purchase of a grey school shirt (Interview in 'Now the War
is Over', BBC2 Television, repeat 23 July 1990). Sometimes girls might even
envy the boys' possession of these distinctive items of clothing, as Dora Saint
(writing as 'Miss Read') recalls (Times Remembered, paperback edition,
Harmondsworth, 1987, 36).
Snake-Belt versus Braces
Braces (suspenders) were sometimes worn with school uniform
and both short and long trousers were provided with braces-buttons as well as
belt-loops. John Mortimer amusingly recalls his preparatory school headmaster
vacillating over the issue of braces versus the snake-belt: '... you are
round-shouldered through the wearing of braces! Unbutton your braces and cast
them from you. Each boy to acquire a dark-blue elastic belt with a
snake-buckle, to be slotted neatly into the loops provided at the top of school
shorts.' But a little later he fulminates: 'Why are you an offence to the eyes,
all tied up like parcels? I say unto you, there will be no more belts or the
wearing thereof. Abandon belts! Each boy to equip himself with a decent pair of
sturdy elastic braces!' (Clinging to the Wreckage: a Part of Life, London,
1982, paperback edition, Harmondsworth, 1983, 31-32)
Availability
In their heyday, from the 1930s through to the 1960s,
snake-belts were easily available from a large number of shops and stores and
even from market stalls which sold boyswear. Official school outfitters stocked
them in the colours of local schools, but most colour combinations - certainly
the brown and yellow of my primary school and the red and yellow of my grammar
school - were available at the other outlets, usually at less cost, although
they were inexpensive items wherever they were purchased - certainly when
compared with leather belts.
The Situation Today
The snake-belt is seen much less often these days, although
they can sometimes be found. They are sometimes even thinner, being about 1
inch (25 mm) in width. Occasionally too trousers for smaller boys will have a
sort of false version, consisting of just the two ends, sewn to the sides of
the trousers and fastening in front with the snake-buckle. The trousers have
elasticated backs and are self-supporting so that the 'belts' are decorative
rather than functional.
Sources
Aldbrugham, Alison. "Introduction", Yesterday's
Shopping: the Army and Navy Stores Catalogue, 1907, (Newton Abbot, 1969).
Cunnington, Phillis and Alan Mansfield, English Costume for
Sports and Outdoor Activities, London, 1969).
Guppy, Alice. Children's Clothes 1939-1970: The Advent of
Fashion (Poole, 1978).
Smith, Terence Paul. Terence submitted the first draft of
this page.
A Traveller's Life (paperback edition, London, 1983).
In the era before low slung jeans every boy in the land
would have had his trousers held up by these elasticated belts with traditional
metal snake fastening.
We have now had them remade in adult sizes so they are both
practical and nostalgic.
The adult belts will adjust from 22" to 42" waist
and are 1 1/8" wide
Plain and striped colourways.
Actual colours may vary slightly from the images
Made in England and sent in presentation box so an ideal
gift for the overgrown schoolboy..
In the Kings’ Own regimental museum in Lancaster, there is a Captain of the militia’s uniform from the 18th century, complete with snake belt.
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