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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 D-F. This page is still being developed. If you have any historical information to add, do let me hear from you.
D'Amboise, Jacques (U.S., 1934- ): Sharing the exhilarating experience of dance has been Jacques d'Amboise's gift to children for the past two decades.Famed teacher and choreographer Jacques D'Amboise was born in 1934 at Dedham, Mass. He became a soloist with the New York City Ballet in 1953. He is best known for American-theme works, e.g., Filling Station, Western Symphony, films,
e.g., Carousel (1956), and his own ballets, e.g., Irish Fantasy (1964). D'Amboise founded the National Dance Institute in 1976 to bring the teaching of dance into the New York city public schools. He conducted classes in New York during the 1970s and 1980s amd continues
to promote dance education.
Dalton, John (England, 1766-1844): John Dalton is one of the greatest English chemists. His work achieved advances in many areas. He described color blindness scientifically (1794), in part because he was aflicted withthe condition. Dalton focused his work on gases. He noted over 200,000 observations of the atmosphere in notebooks he kept. He analized mixed gases and the expansion of gases under heat. Dalton's Law continues to be an important scientific principle to explain the law of partial pressures in chemistry. His work on gases helped him to conceptualize the atom--at the time a highly theoretical finding. Dalton produced a scientifically based atomic theory of matter. He lectured extensively and published a detailed account of his theories in A New System of Chemical Philosophy in 1808. We have no details of his childhood at this time, but do have a image on children while he was an adult.
Daubeville, Jean (France 18??-19??): This turn of the century French family dressed their little boy in dresses and pinafores. He was painted by a contemporary of Renoir. French painter Felix Vallotton was a contemporary of Pierre Renoir. A painting he did in 1906 was
included in a book on Renoir's Portraits and compared with Renoir paintings of children. the painting shows a little boy, Jean Dauberville, standing beside some kind of rocking toy. The painting demonstrates that well after the turn of the century, French mothers were still outfitting little boys in dresses.
De Gaulle, Charles (France, 1890-1970): Charles de Gaulle wore curls as a boy which was not uncommon for boys at the time. He developed his self confidence at an early age as saw himself as a great military leader. He is the most important French political leader of the 20th century. His name today is averywhere in France and the former colonies (airport, streets, places, ect.).
de Lesseps, Ferdinand Marie (France 1805-94): The Vicomte de Lesseps was one of the most famous Frenchman of the mid-19th Century
because of his role in building the
Suez Canal. He was not an engineer, but a great promoter. Even the failure of his Panama project and resulting financial crisis in his old age did not totally eclipse his great success at Suez. I am not sure how he was dressed as a boy, but the clothes wore by his prodigious family provide a glimpse of French boyhood
fashions in the late 19th Century. He fathered many children and the images of the family provide interesting insights into upper class French boys' fashions in 19th Century.
Delta, Penelope (Greece, 1874-1941): Penelope Delta was born in 1874, and she was the third of the six children of Emmanuel Benakis and Virginia Choremi. She spent her childhood and teenage years in Alexandria, frequently visiting Greece and other countries. Although raised in affluent urban surroundings and offered every opportunity to cultivate her intellect, she was subjected to a very strict upbringing at the hands of her mother. She became perhaps the mosdt noted author of Greek children's literature
Dennis, Lonnie L., - (US, 189?-19??): Lonnie was a 8-yearold boy was was known as a "Baby Preacher". While we know little about him, but a surviving photographic image does show how he was dressed. Hopefully HBC readers can provide additional information about him.
Devine, Andy - (US, 19??-??): Andy Devine was a popular character actor in Hollywood B films during the 1930s and 40s. His gravely voice was especially destinctive. He was best known as a sidekick in Western films. He had a son named Tad.
Dickens, Charles - (England, 1812-70): Charles Dickens is regarded by many as the greatest novelist in the English language. He is especially notable for the wonderfully diverse chracters he created. Among them are some of the most famous boy characters in literary history. Oliver Twist was in fact the first boy character to be the main character of a novel. Dickens authored 15 major novels and numerous short stories and articles. Oliver David, and Pip are the best known, but many other boys and girls populate his novels. The most memorable are those wounded and in some cases destroyed by poverty, in pat because of his boyhood experiences. The epitat on his tombstone in Poet's Corner, Westminster Abbey reads: "He was a sympathiser to the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England's greatest writers is lost to the world".
Doisneau, Robert - (France, 1912-94): Robert Doisneau is one of France's most noted photographers. He is noted for the many playful and unsuposing images chronicling everyday French life. His prolific outbook over the course of several decades provides us a marvelous record of French life. His images don't seek to overcome the viewer. They are often modest in scope and playful. He is at his best with people. His images of French childhood are especially helpful for HBC. He was influenced by the work of Kertesz, Atget, and Cartier-Bresson who also provided wonderful images of childhood. He published ober 20 books providing realistic, but charming images of quiet, often personal moments in the lives of individuals. He wrote: "The marvels of daily life are exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street."
Donat, Robert - (England, 1905-58): British movie buffs will recall Robert Donat, a wonderful actor who appeared in a number of classic films. Donat was born in Manchester, England in 1905. We note a portrait of young Robert with quite a set of curls wearing what looks like a belted tunic suit with a velvet collar and matching wrist cuffs. He looks to be about 6-7 years old so the photograph must have been taken around 1911-12. In boyhood he was described as a tall, lean boy, with a pronounced stammer. All through his childhood and into adulthood he suffered badly from asthma. Donat is orobably best remembered for his role as Mr. Chips, the beloved schoolmaster in the MGM film 1939 'Goodbye Mr. Chips' (1939). Chipps is the legendary Latin teacher at Brookfield School, whose career began as a troubles teacher who could not at first keep discipline, but came to be well liked by his pupils, especially after his unexpected marriage. It is based on a book by James Hilton who also wrote the film script. Interestingly both the author and actor came from Lancashire. James Hilton was born in Leigh and Donat in the near by city of Manchester. In his last film completed just before he died in 1958 he said: 'We shall not meet each other again. I think ....'.
Doolittle, Jimmy - (US, late 1890s- ): American aviator and World War II hero. The family moved to Alaska when he was three. There is a lovely picture of him, probably about 5 years covered in curls. I think he was wearing a sailor suit. The General who became bald remembers that "I hated that hair then. I had to put up a hell'a good argument before my mother finally agreed to cut it." He was small as a child. In another picture he has written, "My name is Jimmy Dollittle. I am the smallest boy in the class." His mother was a spartan and his father was a strict disciplinarian.
Douglas, Kirk - (US, 19 ): Douglas' autobiography (The Ragman's Son) apparently didn't reveal any thing interesting about himself, but confirmed some of Christine Crawfords account.
Downey, Morton, Jr. - (US, late-1930s?- ): Obnoxious, chain smoking host of a right-wing interview show during the 1980s. His father was a noted singer. There is a nice picture of him at 3 years old and his adopted brother about 5 years old, dressed in identical sailor suits, nice white middy blouses, dark shorts, and short socks. They were on their way to Europe. Later his mother ran off with another man and gave up custody. His father married. Mort was a difficult kid. The children were raised by their paternal grand parents. Dad eventually married an heiress. Mort was sent off to military school at 10.
Dunlop, John Boyd (Scotland, 1840-1921): Rubber became a major industry in the 20th century. Most of trave every day on pneumatic rubber tires. The industry was a very minor one in the 19th century, used to produce waterproof garmets or elastic. Mist people traveled on swood or metal wheels. Amazingly the transition came avout because John Boyd Dunlop wanted to make a better tire for his son's tricycle.
Eberle, Josef (Germany, 1901-86): Swabian journalist and author Josef Eberle was born September 8, 1901 at Rottenburg on the Neckar, were he also went to school. Later he became an antiquarian, book seller and journalist. Actually, he trained at the same book shop (Heckenhauer) in Tübingen, were Hermann Hesse had learned 20 years before. As a book seller, he went to Berlin, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Baden-Baden and Leipzig, worked 1927-1933 at the radio Stuttgart. The NAZIs beginning in 1936 refused to allow him to write anymore. He was arrested and held in the Heuberg Concentration Camp (KZ) during May-June. Later he worked as an assistant at the American consulate. After Wold War II from 1945-1971 he edited the Stuttgarter Zeitung, oneof Germany's most important newspapers. He died September 20, 1986 in Pontresina/Swizerland and was buried in Rottenburg on September 25, 1986. He is best known as a journalist, but he also wrote beautiful Swabian and Latin poems an well as sevral books, including his autobiography: Aller Tage morgen, and two essays on the Romans. All he’s poems are humorous sometimes melancholic. He was honored as Dr. phil. h.c., Prof. h.c. and poeta laureatus. A bridge was named after him, too.
Eddy, Nelson - (United States, 1901-67): Nelson Eddy was born Providence, Rhode Island in 1901. We do not have much information on how he was dressed as a boy. His parents were musical and he grew up surrounded by music as a boy. He was a prodigt in that he showed musical talent from a very early age. He did not, however, perform as a boy. He was also interested in art and language and was an avid reader. He was a good student, but did not go to high school as he had to help support his mother when his parents separated. He was fired from his first job as a telephone operator for singing to the customers. Nelson was a brilliant baritone and is best remembered for the musicals he made with Jeanette MacDonald (America's singing swwehearts) during the 1930s. After his film career flagged he began working in night clubs.
van Eeden, Frederik Williem - (Netherlands, 1860-1932): Williem Van Eeden was an important Dutch philosopher. Van Eeden's works, according to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, "reflect his lifelong search for a social and ethical philosophy. A family snapshot shows and his first wife Martha (1856-1943) with their two sons Paul (1889-1913) and Hans (1887-1981). The photograph was taken in Holland in 1895 and is a good example of clothing styles in an affluent Dutch middle-class family.
Einstein, Albert - (Germany, 1879-1955): The great theoretical physicist and nobel prize winner was slow to speak and not regarded as a particularly apt pupil as a boy. He graduated as a teacher of mathematics and physics. His therory of relativity as a young physicist revolutionized the science. He was awarded the Nobel Price for Physics in 1921. He was thus a world renowned physcists when the NAZIs seized power in Germany during 1933. He was, as a Jew, among the many authors who books were burned. He escaped the NAZIs and in 1935 was granted residency status in America. His letter tomPresident Roosevelt in 1939 played an important role in the American decission to build an atomic bomb.
Fallwell, Jerry - (US, late 1920s?- ): Fundamentalist TV evangelist apparently was a hell raiser as a boy. Once he and his twin brother thought the gym teacher in high school was unreasonable, so they got him down and took his pants off--locking him up and nailing his pants on the school bulletin board. Apparently the gym teacher was a bit off, the principal thought the incident was funny and just told the boys not to do it any more. He has two sons. The oldest (John) was born about 1969 and was cute as a button as a boy. He says his father was not particularly strict as a father. In one picture John was wearing shorts on a trip, he looked about eight. When he was a sophomore in high school, he got a friend (a girl I think) to take pictures in the girls locker room. All hell broke loose when her parents took the film to get it developed.
Fleming, Stanford - (Canada, 18??- ??): Stanford Fleming was the chief engineer for the Canadian Pacific Railroad. The Canadian Pacific was the railroad which connected Canada with a trans-conntinental line.
Flexner, James Thomas - (190?- ): In his biography (Maverick's Progress: An Autobiography, Fordham University Press, 1996), Flexner describes a poignant New York boyhood during the 1910s and 20s. He had a German governess and went to an unorthodox school, Lincoln School which was considered revolutionary because it did not enforce rules of discipline.
Forbes, Malcomb S. "Steve" Jr. - (US,1947- ): Steve is the son of famed U.S. business publisher Malcomb Forbes. Steve is best known today as a Republican presidential candidate. Malcomb Sr. required Steve and his brothers to dress up in kilts for church and other special occasions. The father liked to wear kilts himself. I understand that the boys all objected. Steve reportedly hated it, even more than his brothers who were younger. It would be one thing
doing this in Scotland or even England, but in America it must have really been embarrassing. Commenting on it during a TV interview, he said rather sarcastically that his friends didn't ascribe to his father's multi-cultural principles. They apparently teased him and called his kilt a dress and a skirt, and probably had lots of other little jibes. Some fist fights reportedly resulted. His father also had the boys learn the bagpipes and perform in their kilts for business guests. Apparently they were awful, but the guests always clapped. Steve says the boys who knew they played badly didn't understand it at the time, but now believes the applause was gratitude for them stopping.
Ford, Henry - (US, 1863-1947): Few individuals have so impacted the lives of individuals in America and around the world as Henry Ford. Henry grew up in rural Michigan and as an adult remained nostalgic about the rural way of life that he experienced. He loved to tinker, but dislike the hard work involved in farming and academic study. He was as a result poorly educated and left scool at 15 nearly illiterare. He seems to have been rather lazy as a boy and that did not change as he grew older. [Brinkley] A rather surprising trait in a man who was to become a champion of American industry.
Forster, E.M. (Edward Morgan)
(England, 1879- ) The noted English author was born in London and educated at King's College, Cambridge University. He wore dresses through the age of 5 years. A picture of his at the age of 5 in 1884 shows him wearing a Fauntleroy dress with lace trimmed pantalettes. These Fauntleroy outfits and the long curls were reportedly insisted on by his wealthy aunt, Marianne Thornton. The party outfits worn by Morgan up until 9 or 10 are described by
the author as Fauntleroy suits. When his Aunt Marianne died she left him 8,000 pounds which enabled him to pursue a career as a writer. His first novel, Where Angels Fear to Tread appeared when he was only 26 in 1905, but displayed an unusual maturity of style. He had left-wing leanings and in 1920 was the literary editor of the Daily Herald, a Labour paper. He traveled to India in 1920 and in 1922 published A Passage to India. He fought against censorship in Britain and was given a Government post in 1939 to study the question. The primary them in his work is the conflict between those who live by convention and those who live by emotion; between the love of property and possessions, and human values and relationships. Several of his novels have been made into important movies and television productions. One of his lesser known works is a biography of his aunt's family, the Thorntons. (See Inglis Synnot Thorton below.)
Franks, Bobby (United States, 1924) - One of the most notirious crimes of the 1920s in America was the senceless murder of 14-yearold Bobby Franks. Bobby was the victim of the sensational Leopold and Loeb thrill killing. They were teenagers from affluent families. The photograph of Bobby taken right before his murder is quite famous and has been reproduced many times in history and sociology books. Bobby wears the popular knickrs suit that ws so common at the time.
Frost, David (England, 19??- ) David Frost went to Gillingham Preparatory School. The attached photograph is of him in 1948. He was and is still a keen cricketer. He became a television star in the 1960s on both sides of the Atlantic simultaneously. I remember him on "That Was the week That was". I know less about his English televison career.
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