Figure 1.--This Anguissola painting depicts Massimiliano Stampa, a 9-year old scion of a nobel Italian family. The painting was probanly executed about 1590.

Many famous and not so famous men remember the clothing and hair styles they wore as boys. Not so many years ago it was all up to mom how junior was dressed. In some cases, especially in the late 19th and early 20th Century, moms in Europe and America let their imaginations run wild, choosing elaborate Fauntleroy and kilt outfits for their darling sons. The wife in affluent families rarely worked and thus she had a great deal of time, and in some cases the assistance of nannies and governesses, to see to the care and dressing of their children. The results were very little boys kept in dresses. Ever after they passed out of dresses, little and not little boys done up in dress-like tunics and kilts and lacy Fauntleroy suits and kilts as well as more manly sailor suits. Here is information on individuals from A-B. This page is still being developed. If you have any historical information to add, do let us hear from you.

A

Alexander the Great - Greece, 356-?? BC): Alexander is one of the most fascinating fifure in history. As a boy he was schooled by the great Aristotle, one of the most revered thinkers in Western history. Alexander began military campaigning at the age of 14. In a decade he would proceed to conquer the known world.

Alexander, Harold - (England, 1891-1969): Field Marshall Alexander, Earl of Tunis was on of England's most successful army commanders. He was born in London in 1891. He grew up in a privlidged English-Irish family. A portrait of him at about 6 years of age show him wearing long gair and a white dress or smock with leggings. I'm not sure what other clothes he wore as a boy. He was educated at Sanhurst and commanded a battalion of Irish Guards. it was his survice in World War against Rommel in North Africa, the Japanese in Burma, and later the Germans in Tunisia, Sicily, and Italy. Less flomboyant than Montgomery, he was a commander of exceptional ability.

Allingham, Helen - (UK, 1848-1926): English watercolorist Helen Allingham was born near Burton on Trent. Her family settling in Birmingham, after the untimely death of her father in 1862. Allingham studied art at the Birmingham School of Design. She is widely recognized as an important English watercolor painter of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Most of her work is exteriors, but a few are of her children, often in informal clothes. This provides a rare insight into play clothes in the late 19th Century. As most of the available portraits and photographs show the children in their dress party clothes, Mrs. Allingham's charming informal paintings of her son Henry provide valuable information.

Astaire, Fred - (US, ): Astaire's real name was Frederick Austerlitz. His father was a dashing young Austrian emigre who settled in Omaha, Nebraska. His family was musical. His father played the piano and Adele, his older sister, fluttered like a tiny Titania through her classes at the local dance academy. Fredie was unimpressed. "Dancing was merely something little girls did," he wrote many years later. "I let it go at that and the hell with it." But his parents weren't about to let it go at that. When Adele was 6 and Fredie 4 ½, mummy carted them both off to New York and installed them in the best dance academy she could find. "Adele has a real talent," his father said "and maybe Fred will come around to it someday too." He did not come around with out a struggle. For his stage debut, playing Roxane to his big sister's Cyrano, little Freddie was forced to wear a long blond wig that tickled his neck and a floor length satin dress that kept tripping him up. Mercifully, he was required to give only one performance and in the next school recital he had better luck. After less than a year of instruction, billed as the Astaires ("because Austerlitz sounded like a battle"), Adele and Fred made their first professional appearance in Keyport, N.J. They were quite successful, and the act prospered until Adele grew and Fred, who remained a skinny kid, could no longer dance with her. They returned to school, the only schooling that Fred ever got, then danced again for a few years until Fred began to grow. One of my favorire Astaire movies is "Easter Parade" (1948). We note what we thinkmis a portrait ofvFred fancing with his son, Fred Astaire Jr.

Auden, W.H. - (England, 1907-73): Wystan Hugh Auden was a noted English poet. He was born in York during 1907. He attended prep school with Christopher Isherwood and they were close friends throughout theor lives. Auden was a committed anti-Fascist. He married Erika Mann, the daughter of noted German novelist Thomas Mann (1935). The marriage was a cover to enable Mann to escape NAZI Germany. There were no children. He was horrified by the Spanish Civil War and wrote a poem about it. Auden had a varied literary career. He wrote criticism and essays and co-authored a few plays with his prep school friend Isherwood. It is his poetry, however, on which his literary reputation rests. He wrote both traditional poetry as well as unstructured verse. He was influential in re-introducing Anglo-Saxon accentual meter to the main stream of English poetry. Auden was associated with a group of writers including Edward Upward, Christopher Isherwood, and Stephen Spender. Auden moved to America as the World War II was beginning in Europe. Many British readers saw this a tantamount to disertion (1939). Auden lived in America for many years and became a U.S. citizen. At the end of his life he returned to England and lived briefly in Oxford. He died in Vienna (1973).

B

Baker, Bobby - (US, 1928- ): Few people were more astute students of the United States Congress than Bobby Baker a protoge of President Lyndon B.Johnson. Bobby crew up in a small town in South Carolina and was very much impressed with himself until he found out when he first arrived in Washington during 1943 during World War II to serve as a Senate page that there were a lot of other boys as bright as himself. He arrived in Washington still wearing long-handled underwear. He was upset when he found that he would have to wear knickers--which he detested. He though at age 14 he was too old to wear knickers. The House pages had already switched to long pants.

Balanchine - (US): The great dancer with the New York City Ballet got his start in dancing after getting beaned playing street ball. His buddies dumped him on his doorstop unconscious. The following week his mother, feeling he needed more supervision, enrolled him in the ballet class his sister was already taking. When his friends teased him, he fought them into submission. A good biography is Edward Villella's Prodigal Son: Dancing for Balanchine in a World of Pain and Magic (Simon and Schuster, 1992?).

Barrett Browning, Elizabeth (England, 18??-??): Elizabeth Barett Browning and Robert Browning are two of England's most noted romantic poets. Elizabeth grew up in a priviliged, wealthy family. Their mother, like many mothers of the era, dressed her sons in the same dresses and pantalettes as her daughters. Elizabeth and her siblings were schooled at home. She was an accomplished student. She led a closeted life until meeting Robert. The relationship was one of the great love stories of the Victorian era. Elizabeth and Robert had one child, Pen, who Elizabeth schooled at home and dresses with the same flair as her romantic poetry. Pen did not object as a younger boy, enjoying the attention and compliments from his mother's friends. As an older boy he began to object, but with little success in the face of his strong opinioned mother who had very definite ideas on the subject. Elizabeth is now best known for hautingly beautiful romantic poetry as well as her iterest in women's rights and social justice.

Barrie, Sir James Matthew (Scotland, 1860-1937): Scottish author J.M Barrie is the beloved author of the classic children's story--Peter Pan. Barrie was a Scottish dramacist and novelist. He was born at Kirriemuir, Forfarshire. I have little information on his childhood or what he wore as a boy. James for the first 6 years of his life, lived in the shadow of his elder brother David. Just before his 14th birthday, David was killed in a skating accident. James soon realised that, by dying so young, David would remain a boy forever in the minds of all those who had known him--just like Peter Pan.

Bede: (England, 672/673-735): The Venerable Bede (Baeda in Old English) is believed to have been born in 672 or 673 AD. Actual Bede was not an actual name but the word for "priest" in the Old Saxon lanuage. He was raised in Northumbria. After the dparture of the Romans, England splintered into several different kingdoms. Nothumbria was an Anglian kingdom north of the river Humber. He was almost certainly not of a noble family. We have little information about his life, especially his child hood. We do know that when he was 7 years old that his family left him at the Wearmouth monestary which is located at the mouth of the river Wear. At the time a poor family inable to care forits children might turn some over to the Church. TheChurch was also one of the few ways in which a boy of humble birth might rise in the society.

Beeghly, Milford: PBS (Point of View) on July 9, 2002 ran a piece entitled "The man who loved corn". It was about a man who make a career out of creating hybrid corn. He started farming in 1936 so I guess he was born before World War I. His daughter gave a brief description y of his childhood showing several photos. He was the oldest of four boys. The daughter said that his Mother wanted a girl when he was born. She dressed him but not his younger brother in dresses and long curls until he started school. The first photo is of the corn wizard and his brother. He is about a head taller than his brothers and wearing a white dress. His younger brothers are wearing shirts and pants. The second photo shows him at 6-7 years in a fancy white ankle length dress with petticoats visible at the bottom. His name was Melford but his Mother called him Meldred while wearing dresses. This is usual because you would think she treated the youngest rather than the oldest like this.

Benakis, Antonis - (Greece, 1873-1954): Antonis Benakis was a noted collector of Greek antiquities and brother of Peneope Delta, one of the most beloved authors of Greek children's literature. The two were close in age and grew up together in the 1879s and 80s. Antonis was often dressed in sailor suits.

Bernhardt, Sarah (France, 1844-1923): Sarah Bernhardt's actual name was Rosine Nernard. Her parents were were French and Dutch of Jewish descent, but she was raised in a Catholic convent. At age 13 she she entered the Conservatoire was soon astonishing her teachers with her acting skills. Bernhardt was perhaps the most accalimed actress of the 19th century, if not of all time. She was born in Paris in 1844. She had a spectacularly successful acting career in France and then went to England in 1876 where she soon became the leading actress of the London stage, making annual appearances. She made visits to America in the 1880s and there were two world tours during the 1890s. She asked Oscar Wilde in 1892 to write a play for her. Wilde wrote Salome for her, but the Lord Chamberlain banned it before it could be staged. She founded the Theatre Sarah Bernhardt in Paris during 1899. Her leg was amputated in 1914, but she continued to appear on the stage. She appeared at the front during World War I to entertain the troops and helped raise money in America and Britain. She had one child, Maurice (1864- ), after an affair with a Belgian nobleman, Charles-Joseph-Eugene-Henri, Prince de Ligne. She raised Maurice and spoiled himshamefully. She left his hair long and dressed him in fancy clothes until he was quite old. She continued working on the stage until her death. Maurice and Sarah were close their entire lives. She died in his arms during 1923.

Bernstein, Harry (England.America, 1910- ): Harry Bernstein grew up in Stockport, England. Harry was the youngest child in his family. He was raised on a poverty-stricken street in an English mill town where Jews and Christians were strictly divided. His parents were imigrants from Poland. His latest book, The Invisible Wall was published when the author was 96 years old. It is a memoir describing the anti-Semitic bigotry of which his family was a victim. It also tells the story of extreme poverty and the Romeo and Juliet romance of Berstein's older sister. Harry Berstein and his wife now live in New Jersey near the seashore. The family imigrated to the United States when Harry was 12 years old.

Bingham Family - (US): The Bingham family figured prominently in Kentucky history during the 1900s. The family owned and operated Louisville's main newspapers. The Judge was an early FDR supporter and a power in regional politics. One of the family members Barry Sr. dressed him family very smartly. In one 1941 picture, the boys are shown in short pants suits with kneesocks.

Bismarck, Otto von - (Germany, 1815-??): Otto von Bismarck is one of the most significant political figures of the 19th century. He is considered the founder of the German Empire. He changed Germany from a loose grouping of conflicting kingdoms and principalities to a united Empire that dominated Europe by the end of the 19th century. He created this new German Empire under the Prussian monarchy and embued it with Prussian anti-democratic military traditions. While he began as a represenative of Prussian Junker interests, he sought to gain the support of Germany's rising industrial class. His primary goal was to unify German and once that was achieved he became a master of ballancing alliances to keep the European peace, primarily by isolating France. Bismarck was the first important European leader to champion a system of social security for workers. Kaiser Wilhelm who fired Bismarck was more interested in imperial expansion and less interested in the Bismarcian alliance system. He believed that the powerful Germany army and a new German navy could be used through bombastic threats to achieve German goals.

Block, Herbert - (US, 1910?-2001): Famed editorial cartoonist Herblock was born and raised in Chicago. His mother Tesse was a Catholic and like his bothers was expected to do a First Communion. This was normally done at about age 7. Herb had trouble learning his catecism. Poor Herb had trouble, so she releented. He remarked that she was a kindly sole. Later when he was about to graduate, she insisted that he do his First Communion or she wouldn't but him long pants for graduation. I think he was talking about his highschool graduation, but am not positive. He says that his mother again relented and he graduated in long pants.

Bloomer, Amelia - (US, 1818-94): American reformer Amelia Bloomer (1818-94) was largely self-educated. At age 22 she married the lawyer Dexter Bloomer. He was a Quaker with progressive views and encouraged Amelia to write for his newspaper, the Seneca Falls County Courier. Over the next few years she wrote articles in favour of prohibition and women's rights. She lectured and wrote to support the temperance movement and women's sufferage, two inter-linked issues. In 1850 or 1851 she introduced fellow temperance worker Susan B. Anthony to Elizabeth Cady Stanton, initiating a collaboration that would last half a century. Bloomer began publication of The Lily, a monthly temperance paper in 1851. Bloomer is best knowm for energetic promotion beginning in 1848 of the "bloomer" costume. Although bloomers wre conceived as rational ladieswear, they also influenced boys' clothing. Younger boys wore bloomer knickers under tunics and garments like Buster Brown suits. In the 1920s bloomer-like rompers proved popular for boys.

Blyton, Enid - (England, 1897-1968): Enid Blyton is probably the most successful children's author of all time--although not the most famous. She published an amazing number of children's or juvenile books, 600 by one account. She certainly was the most prolific author of all time, and with over 700 books and 10,000 short stories to her name, she is likely to remain so for years to come. Her importance is that she wrote books that children loved to read and attracted them to books--much like J.D. Rowlings. Blyton's most famous series was The Famous Five. Blyton's works painted an idyllic vision of rural England and hearty Englishness and in recent years she has been criticized for this. It is interesting that Rowlings who also attracts children to books has been criticized for just the oppisite--a dangerous forbiding world of wizzadry.

Figure 2.--Danish Nobel lauriate nuclear physicist Neils Bohr was born and lived his life in Copenhagen. He grew up in a sophisticated and loving family.

Bohr, Niels - (Denmark 1885-1962): Danish Nobel lauriate nuclear physicist was born and lived his life in Copenhagen. He grew up in a sophisticated and loving family. He studies physics at and worked under J.J. Thomson, who had discovered the electron, in England. Bohr played a major role in understanding the structure of the atom after it was conceptualized by Ernest Rutherford as a dense miniature, nucleus surrounded by a cloud of nearly weightless electrons.

Boilley, Louis Leopold (France, 1761-1845): French genre and portrait painter, born at La Russee. He was much influenced by the Dutch genre painters. Notable among the incredible 5,000 paintings and drawing credited to him is The Arrival of the Diligence (Louvre, 1803). Some of his paintings and real life scenes provide interesting glimpses of French boys' fashions of his time.

Boone, Daniel (United States, 1734-1820): Daniel Boone is such a remarkable figure in American history that he often is viewed as more of a fictional folk hero than a historical figure. In fact his exploits are even more remarkable than fictional accounts. He was born in Pennsylvania (1734). We know very little about his early childhood. His father moved their large family to Virginian when Daniel was a teenager and then on to the Yadkin Valley of North Carolina. Still a teen ager, Daniel developed a reputation as a skilled trapper and hunter and particularly as an expert markesman. He married at age 19 to Rebecca Bryan who was 15. Rebecca is surely one of the most notable backwoods American women. He led the first pary through the Cumberland Gap (1769) at atime that the British Government was trying to restrict the colonists to the Eastern Seabord.

Brandt, Willie - (Germany, 1913-92): The man today we know as Willie Brandt was born as Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm. He was raised by his mother, Martha Frahm, a sales woman in a consumer's cooperative, and his grandfather, Ludwig Frahm, a truck driver. They were ardent social democrats and Willy grew up in the worker's movement. He participated in the Socialist youth movement--the Valcon. His mother was fond of sailor suits and he often wore them. Even as a young teenager he wore short pants sailor suits.

Breckenridge, Joseph C. (United States, 1872-98): One American boy from a prominent Kentucky family including a Vice President wore ringlet curls and hairbows as a boy in the 1870s. Unfortunalely we have no details. It does appear that Joseph was not to happy about his hairbow. His mother while declinning to cut his curls, allowed him to be breeched when he was still only 4 years old.

Browning, Robert (England, 18??-??): Unfortunately I have very little information on Browings own childhood and what he wore as a boy. He grew up in a family of fairly modest means. He had no formal schooling beyond the age of 14 years, but was a bright child. He was largely self educated. The mairrage with Elizabeth was one of the great romance stories of the day. Despite his modest upbrining he rose to become one of England's greatest poets. It is interesting to note that he took a real interest in raising his son Pen with Elizabth. He objected with Elizabeth's permissive approach to child raising. He also disagreed with how Elizabeth dressed Pen, but did not intervene.

Brummel, Beau (England, 1778-1840): One of the most noted figures in men's clothing is Beau Brummell. George Bryan beter known as Beau Brummel was the most famous of the dashing young men of the Regency. I know nothing about his childdhood at this time. He was not of artistocratic birth, but was drawn to the upper class life style. After becoming Prince Regent he became friends with Beau Brummel. While known as a flashy dresser today, Brummel in fact believed in a much more sober style and less bright colors. Prinny's approval caused many aristocrats to adopt Brummel's style. High heels and bright colors for gentlemen went out of style. Brummel began to regarded in the circles around the Prince as a virtual oracle on matters related to dress and etiquette. He played a major in popularizing trousers as opposed to knee breeches.

Bucanan, Patrick (US,1938?- ): The TV commentator cum presidential candidate crew up in Washington D.C (Chevy Chase). Just a few years earlier than me. His family was a right wing Irish Catholic family and very comfortable financially. Apparently mum dressed him and his brothers (he had eight brothers and sisters) in shorts. Hopefully more pictures of them will be published. There is a nice picture of him taken in 1946 of little Pat (known as "Paddy Joe") looking not to happy in his white first communion suit with short pants, but short white socks. He was ?? years old. Pat went to Catholic schools. First an elementary school run by tough nuns (Blessed Sacrament) and then a high school run by Jesuits (Gonzaga). The nuns had strict applications and used the ruler on the knuckles of errant students. His elementary school had a silent slogan, "No Shoddiness." The discipline was very strict. >Pat remembers a nun slamming the head of one 3rd gradrer against the blackboard repeatedly for clowing around. The Jesuit brothers dispensed Justice Under God (JUG) which included corporal punishment. There were also Saturday detentions where the malcreants might have to do 300 math problems or taking a pile of papers and subtracting 3,000 by 3 until reaching 0. This training was backed up at home. Dad was a real autocrat and it was "Sir" and "Ma'am" at the Bucanan home. He used his personal honesty and integrity as an example to the boys and punished violations with a generous application of his belt. Dad stressed toughness, the boys were required to work out on a punching bag every day. Jewish kids growing up in Chevy Chase recalled the Bucanan boys as calling them names and poking fights on the way home from school.

Buckeridge, Anthony - (England, 1902): Anthony Buckeridge is the author of the famous "Jennings" series of school stories. Anthony was born on June 20, 1912 in London. His father was a bank clerk who, like too many of his generation, was tragically killed during World War I when Anthony was very young. Anthony like many boys from affluent families was sent to a preparatory boarding school at age 8. It was a virtual rite of passage for boys of his class. Buckeridge was the first writer to use Prep Schools as a story setting, most school stories had been set in Public Schools. His first audience were the boys at his Ramsgate prep school in St. Laurence's and Buckeridge developed Jennings from one of the characters at the school. The boys would clamor for "another Jennings story, please sir," at bedtime before lights out. Jennings himself soon took control of his life.

Buchwald, Art - (United States, 1925- ): Art Buchwald is the noted American humorist, newspaper columnist, author, playwright, and cultural commentator. He was born in Mt. Vernon, New York, in 1925. Buchwald was the son of immigrant parents and of Jewish German-Hungarian descent. Although brought up in Hollis, N.Y. (in Queens) he never graduated from Forest Hills High school, running away to join the Marines where he served from 1942-45 in the Pacific.

Bukowski, Charles (US, 1920?- ): His parents were German and extremely authoritarian. He was born in Germany, but the family moved to the United States when he was 2-years old. Instead of becoming a docile, conformist and totally brow-beaten child he rebelled and became an imaginative, self-sufficient and powerfully-driven young man. He turned his fists on his father and left home after high school. His biographer describes him as an abused only child. (Neeli Cherkovski, Hank: The Life of Charles Bukowski). He became one of the most influential underground authors of his day.

Burke, Tom (England, 19??- ): Tom Burke was a boy from a poor background who wanted to be a famous singer. He did become famous but was not able to cope with the fame and became a forgotten figure in music. There have been difficulty pin pointing the crucial years when he was a teenager but certainly by the time he turned 20 he was at music college and then things really got going for him. This will be outside the Childhood reference but what he planned in his childhood and worked for in his teenage years came to fruition in his early adult years.

Byron, George Gordon (England, 1788-1824):Lord Byron is one of the best known and most important poets of the 19th century. His romantic verse made him a cultural icon of Victorian England. He led a short, but eventful life pursuing romantic adventures, mostly in southern Europe.

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Created: March 6, 1999
Spell checked: August 2, 1999
Last updated: 6:25 AM 11/12/2007