Figure 1.--I think the instrument is too big for a violin but I could be wrong. The portrait was taken by Henry Wantland (1864-1953) a his studio in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The portrait shows a 16-year-old boy wearing an above the knees knicker suit. We think the portrait was probably taken about 1910 or so. Older boys still had not graduated to long trousers.

We note many portraits of boys with their musical instruments during he early 20th century. There are boy of all ages photographed. Ages range from early school age boys to teenagers. For some reason, after World War I (1914-18) it seems to have become less common for boys to be photographed with their instruments. Here we do not understand why this change occurred. Clothing styles changed apidly after the War. Before the War we not a lot of boys wearing sailor suits and knicker and kneepants suits. After the War some nboys wear short pants and knickers, but by the 1930s long pants beome more common, especilly for the teenage boys. Of course there was considerable differences among countries.

A HBC reader has sent along a portrait of an American boy. It is not dated, but was probably taken in the 1900s. He appears to be playing a viola. Our reder reports, "I think the instrument is too big for a violin but I could be wrong. The portrait was taken by Henry Wantland (1864-1953) a his studio in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Wantland was quite a famous photographer. For 20 years Wantland made hundreds of exposures on glass plates of the men, women and children of Stillwater. He produced cabinet cards and sold them for $1.50 per dozen from his business, The Peoples Photo Studio. He was active as a photographer in Stillwater from 1895-1918 after which he left photography and entered the army. Many of his photographs are preserved in a museum in Stillwater in an exhibition entitled "Fashion on the Plains". Our photograph is almost certainly from this collection. But at least we know the location and the approximate date. The portrait shows a 16-year-old boy wearing an above the knees knicker suit, which suggests that it was taken in the first decade of the 20th century. We think the portrait was probably taken about 1910 or so. Older boys still had not graduated to long trousers. A HBC reader writes, "I would guess that the photo is circa 1905-10, but you may have a better idea from your experience of the wearing of above-the-knee knickers by boys as old as 16--the age of the boy in the photo."

HBC

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Created: April 21, 2003
Last updated: April 21, 2003