Figure 1.--The illustration of three boys singing very enthusiastically is from a cover of a 1948 American music magazine. The image of a chorister in church robe and floppy bow is what first come into mind in America. Mny church choirs did wear these costumes. |
The image of a boys' choir in America commonly shows boys in a choir robe and large floppy bow. They were not organized professional choirs, but normally church choirs which sang on specil occassions such as Christmas. These images appear in the earl y 20th century, before boy choirs were common in America. Today in the United States there are quite a number of boy choirs, almost all of which were formed after World War II (1939-45). These choirs almost all have costumes different than the popular image of choir robe and bow. Even so, this image persists in the popular mind. I am less sure how common this image is in other countries. We think it is also an image familar in England, again from chirch choirs.
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