admittedly this is the least important thing to have picked up on from this whole post (and thanks, PeDe, for all the pictures!
) but this little boy appears to be wearing calf warmers and I've never seen such a thing before!
yup, they are a part of traditional Bavarian (also often Austrian, Tirolian) clothing. Sometimes men/boys wear long socks, short socks + calf warmers, or long calf warmers.
They are called "Loferls" > also called "Stutzn" or "Beinhösl", belong below the knee and are worn on the strongest part of the calf. Socks are then dispensed with, but so-called "footlets", which should not be seen in the shoes, are often offered in a set. Originally, however, the Loferl were worn without socks, especially on cool days. The rule, however, is: there must be skin between the calf and foot. The color and design of the Loferl should always be based on traditional clothing to fit the overall style. They are available in all kinds of variants.
Then, of course, you have to have the shoes > "Haferlschuhe", they are bound on the side, in suede or leather, with or without decorations
and a "Charivari" > (pronounced sharivari) a piece of traditional Bavarian jewelry made of solid silver or of rare silver-plated chain, adorned with trinkets, gemstone, coins (or possibly medals), horn discs, carved deer teeth, antlers, animal paws, badger hair, or other game teeth. The name charivari (from the Latin "caribaria" meaning "mess" or "madness") came into the German-speaking world during the Napoleonic era.
Bavarian men wear the charivari on the belt of their lederhosen. The charivari traditionally served as jewelry or as a talisman for a successful hunt. For farmers, it served as a valuable status symbol. The charivari probably originated from a watch chain, which was attached to the buttonhole of the lederhosen or shirt and hung from time to time with various hunting trophies. In the olden days it could not be bought, was carefully preserved, and was passed down in a single-family through the generations.
Women wore/wear a Charivari as well, not necessarily with the hunting trophies, but with coins and pendants (hearts, etc.) either in their waist attached to their Dirndl apron or across the chest, or both.
