Figure 1.--This American boy is celebrating his birtday with his little brother. It kooks like a small family celebration. The by's are, however, wering their best sailor suits. This fmily photograph is undated, but was probably taken about 1930. It looks like his fourth birthday. It looks like mother has put out the best China.

HBC is not sure when the custom of the birthday party became firmly established in America. We think it was a Victorain development, presumably imported from Britain or Germany. It certinly was established by the late 19th century. I'm mot sure how much before that. We do not have many 19th century images of birthdays. This is primarily because photography until the turn of the century was a studio event. It was not until the Kodak Browine mde the home snap shot common that we begin to get large numbers of images of birthday parties. We have seen photographs from the early 20th century. The photographic record shows that the birthday party seems to have been a well established convention in the early 20th century The family snapshot of the event became an essential part of the event. Traditions varies from family to family, but early 20th century birthday parties were often forml events with boys wearing their best suits and girls party dresses. Party photographs provide interesting views of both fashion and social conventions over time. Here we see boys about 1930 wearing sailor suits for a small family affair. I certainly remember my parties in the late 1940s and early 50s. My birthdays were rather informal affairs.

Created: 2:57 AM 2/2/2005
Last updated: 8:20 PM 2/2/2005