Figure 1.--This image shows Ernst and Wilhelm Mahla in 1894. They wear traditional sailor suits, but with beret-like tams that have poms. Photo supplied courtesy of the MD collection. |
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The HBC biography section is for people or families that have achieved some degree of notariety or fame. HBC readers in many cases have submitted family portraits. HBC has until now not added them to the biography section. We believe now that this is a mistake. Many of the HBC readers contributing family portraits can also provide details about the boy and him family. This background information help us to assess social trends and put the fashions involved in perspective. This is just why the biographical section is an important part of HBC. As a result, HBC has decided to create pages for these relatively unknown people, when some basic family data is available. Incidentally if you find a relative here, please do tell us somehing about him. Here we are listing these biographies alpahabetically to facilitate looking up individual names. The alphabdetical list is the primary data base in this section. While we have not persued geneolgical resreach on these individual, having the names and in many cases the loaction provide the potential to acquire more back ground information in the future which may provide additonal insights into the fashion and life style trends.
Frank and Eva McCellan had their portrait taken in 1909. we know little about them, but they were 5 and 6 years old. They are American children, although I do not know where in the United States that they were from. Given the fancy hair styling we suspect that they came from an affluent family. Their mother has chosen different clothes. Eva wears a white frock. Frank wears a white middy blouse and scarfe and bright plaid kneepants.
Here are the McCrea children from Montrel. We see H. McCrae and his baby brother. Unfortunately we do not have their Christian names. The photographs were taken in Montreal on December 2, 1919. Master H. McCrae (about age 7 or 8) wears a short pants style suit with a wide belt made of the same material as the suit and large front buttons. His very wide white collar covers almost half his shoulders and is secured by a black ribbon tie, I think with tassles. The jacket has patch side pockets.
Here we have a wonderful portrait of three generations of an America family taken in Bradley County, Arkansas. The grandparenrs were Thomas Henry and Sarah Voss Cox Stanfield. The parents were Lonnie and Katie McDougald. The children were Henry (oldest), Rufus (middle) and Beatrice (the baby). The boys wears blouses, kneepants, and were barefoot. It was very common for American boys, especially in the South, to go barefoot during the Summer. While wealthy children did not common go barefoot, it was common for poor children and many middle-class children to go barefoot. Age was another factor, younger children were more likely to go barefoot than older children. Here even for a formal portrait the boys are barefoot.
This portrait shows four brothers, stair stepped by age and height. I'd gues they are about 4-11 years old. The older boys look to be wearing sneakers, not very cmmon in formal portraits like this. Two notations written on the back - on the actual picture in pencil - Mrs. H. Multhauf (guessing on the spelling due to handwriting) 8728 Loomis St. We do not know who she was. There is also a small piece of paper taped on stating McErlean boys, Paul, John Henry, Charles & James. Thats not a family name we have noted before. The portrait is embossed in the lower right with the photographers mark - Wood Bros., 63rd St. and Union Ave., Chicago. The portrait is undated, but we would guess was taken during the 1920s.
Hugh Patrick McGinley was born April 5, 1922. He was photographed at avout age 2 years wearing a boy dress, a very plain long sleeved dress with a Peter Pan collar. This shows that wile outfitting boys in dresses declined after World War I (1914-18), the custom did continue into the 1920s.
Wecdo not know much about Sam McGown. We note a portrait of him in 1908. He looks to be about 8-9 years old. It was a destinctive Cynotype print. We do not know where in the United States Sam was from. He is sitting on the strps of what was probably a substantial home in a town or subburb of a large city. Sam is wearing a large wide-brimmed hat, side-buttoning blouse, and knee pants. It is summer and Sam is going barefoot.
This boy is posing for his portrait in full Scottish Highland attire. Written on the back of the matte is his name, Hugh McKay, son of Hugh and Cecelia Mc Kay. The photo was taken by the I. S. Griffing Studio in Jersey City, New Jersey. The portrait is undated, but looks to us as if it was taken in the 1870s. It is not possible to tell from the costume, but the mount suggests an early cabinet card. He wears a Glengary complete with feather, Eton cllar, bowtie, black jacket, plaid, kilt, sporan, and buckle shoes. Only the socks or stockings are a little unusual.
This professional portrait taken in a Montreal studio on January 30, 1897. Master McMaster looks as though he is about 6 years old. The photo is interesting because of the good detail it gives us about Fauntleroy blouses. Notice the elaborate lace collar and matching lace cuffs. The boy is young enough, apparently, to be very formally dressed without the traditional velvet jacket. Also, even though the boy was photographed in mid-winter (very cold in Montreal), he wears white knee pants which do not appear to have ornamental buttons at the hem. He wears strap shoes that fasten around the ankle. The haircut with bangs was fashionable for younger boys. Notice that the black stockings are quite long and
obviously worn with supporters, undoubtedly attached to an underwaist.
We note a portrait of Laurence McSwain in 1897. Laurence was from Boone County, Kentucky. He looks to be about 8 years old. Laurence wear a Norfolk suit with knee pants. The jacket has verical vents, but no belt. He has alarge white collar and floppy bow. A watch fob as been added to the jacket. He has black long stockings and hight-top shoes. Laurence holds a rounded-crown hat with a flexable brim. He has shot, slicked down hair.
This studio portrait is undated, but the mount suggests it was taken after the turn of the 20th century, perhaps about 1910. The boy seems to have written his name on the back--Allan Victor Mackenzie. We believe he is a Scottish boy, both because of his name and his Highland outfit. One question we have is how common kilts were in Scotland. Note that the outfit here is a formal costume, not clothes that Allan would normzlly wear. While we believe that Allan is Scottish, the portrait was not taken in Scotland. It was taken in in a High Street studio at Rhyl. This is a coastal town in northern Wales near Liverpool. Rhyl is a seaside town located in the Clwyd estuary on the Irish Sea. Rhyl was a small traditonal Welsh seaside town. It developed during the 19th century into an elegant Victorian resort. This may explain why a Scottish boy had his portrait taken there on the High Street. Since World war II the character of the town has changed markedly.
We have two images of the Mahla brothers. We know that they are German boys, but we do no know where in Germany that the boys are from. Their names are Wilhelm and Ernst Mahla. Wilhelm was born on eptember 29, 1888 and Ernst January 12, 1890. he earlier photo of them was taken on April 15, 1894, the later one is undated. The first photo shows the boys weaing matching sailor suits. The second portrait shows the boys wearing German folk costumes. Hopefully that might help our German readers idntify where the boys were from.
Here we have a portrait of 4-year old Kurt Mahlke in 1900.
The portrait was taken in Neustettin, Pomerania. Kurt wears a plain kneepanhts sailor suit, a popular choice for German boys at the turn of-the-20th century. He has a very short clipped hair cut, another popular style in Germany at the time. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this portrait is Kurt's patterened long stockings. Kurt holds flowers for his portait so we see that also boys got flowers as props.
Here we have an oil painting on canvas of a boy, having a landscape background typical of the old Georgian portraits. The portrait was painted in 1837 by an unknown artist. Some one has written posibly 1897 on the back, but the collar to us seems more typical of the 1830s. It bears an inscription verso which identifies the subject as William Henry Manley as a boy aged 9. It is framed in an old gilt wood frame with velvet trim. It is alovely portrait, but provides only limited information about clothing. It does show William's hair style and collar in detail.
We know that James Martin was 5 years old when he was breeched. His adoring mother had two photographs taken, before and after the big event. Before breeching he wears a white summer frock with hairbows and afterbreeching the hair bow was removed and he wears a sailor suit. HBC dates the portrait to the 1890s, but can not be more specific.
We do not have much information on individual Australians involved in the War. We have learned about Jim Martin. He was the youngest soldier that fought at Galipoli. We were told he was the youngest Australian soldier that fought there. Jim Martin was 14 when he volunteered to join the army. Jim, like so many others boys fibbed about their real age to join the military. There is an Australian War Grave Cemetery at Galipoli called Lone Pine. One of the names on the monument is Jim Martin. We have found a picture of him and found out a little more information. Jim was an Australian soldier. He served with the 21st Battalion Australian Infantry. Jim was only 14 years old when he volunteered to join the Army.
Louis G. Martin had his portrait taken with his mother in 1895. I am not positive about the date, but it was reported by the dealer. Louis wears a military uniform. We see these costumes more commonly after the turn of the 20th century. We suspect he was from a military family. Rather incogrously he wears ringlet curls with his military uniform. I have not noticed that before. The portrait was taken by the Stevens Studio in Chicago. Louis later in life reportedly joined the American Expeditionary Forces Medical Corps during World War I.
This reprint photo shows a little boy, dressed as a Union drummer boy. He wears a cut-away jacket with button work to give a military look. It is not really based on the uniforms worj by Uniin drummer boys. Note the long knee pants and white stockings. White or light-colored stockings were quite common in the 1860s. The little boy is identified at P.H. Martin. He was photographed in 1862. I think it is from a CDV, but I am not sure. The original is in the Library of Congress collection.
A HBC reader tells us, "These two photos, are of my uncle Cedric Arthur Mason, born Titchfield, Hampshire, on 7 March 1908, died Winchester, Hampshire, 27 December 1979. He joined the Shanghai Municipal Police on 7 January 1929 and remained at his post in Shanghai at the request of HM Government, until his internment by the Japanese in 1942. At that time he was a Captain in charge of the Fingerprint Bureau and Crime Branch Studio. He was also Official Handwriting Expert to the Shanghai Police, speaking fluent Northern dialect Chinese and Shanghai dialect. Returning to the United Kingdom in 1945, he joined HM Government Control Commission in Germany, where he developed fluent German and was promoted to Police Staff Officer in charge of some 600 men at Munster RBD. He was married three times. Firstly, to Elsa
Stehlneek, at Shanghai on 17 March 1934. Secondly to Muriel Vera Southerton, at Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire, on 8 March 1947. Thirdly, to Anita Gurowich, at Port Said, Egypt, in September 1952. Two daughters by third marriage."
This studio portrait of E. Masson was taken on May 11, 1897 in Montreal. The boy is Master E. Masson, who looks to be about 12 years old. He wears a very sporty spring outfit--a checked suit. These louldly paterned materials were much more popular for suits than is the case today. The boy wears a double-breasted knee-pants suit, with long black stockings and fashionable leather gloves. Gloves were an important part of proper clothing at the time. Notice the high starched collar on his shirt and the striped bow tie. If he were an adult instead of a child, he'd be perfectly dressed for the races or a fashionable garden party. The only juvenile part of his outfit is the kneepants and long stockings. The neatly center-parted hair style adds to the dapper effect. This boy clearly comes from an affluent. He clearly enjoys his celebrity in the photograph and looks extremely self-assured.
We note a wonderful Anbrotype portrait of Matsuda Komataro who looks ready to sett of for school in 1885. This Japanese Ambrotype portrait is of Matsuda Komataro. Japanese cased portraits were commonly done in wood without guttaperca or leather covers and plush interiors. As a result of the wood, inscriptions are more common than in Western cased photographic portraits. The case herev is inscribed " Taken by WATANABE Tomio living in Kotohira Village ( Ehime Prefecture, Shikoku Island ) on March 7, Meiji 18 (1885) ". The portrait was 5cm x 8.2cm. The boy looks to be about 10 years old. We would guess that the outfit he is wearing is what he wore to school. Note the school book and ruler. In addition to the traditiibnal outfit, note the separated toe socks.
We notice an ambrotype photographer in Boston who included some infoirmation about his studio in the cased ambros. The portrait was of Ralph W. Maxwell. The ambrotype, in gold color framing, after slowly removing picture, the white little letter and green advertisment were found, the white paper reads- (Roallph?) Ralph W. Maxwell August 19th 1861 aged 3 years 1 month". Ralph wears a dress abd has not yet been breeched. On the green piece looks like a small business card it reads- Ambrotype and Photograph Saloon! C. D. Healey, Artist, from Hale's Daguerreotype and Photograph Rooms, Boston. The studio had a sky and side light. Then goes on with more about Mr. Healey, where he would go out to you home to take photos of someone sick or deceased.
Franz Xaver Mayer was born in Ansbach, Bavaria in 1858. At the time Bavaria was an independent country, but would become pat of the new German Empire in 1871. His portrait here was tken about 1862. He looks to be about 4-5 years old. Unfortunately the portrait is very faded, but we can make out some details. Franz has short curly hair. He holds a brimmed-hat with a rounded crown. It seems to be decorated, but it is hard to make out the detail. There are no streamers. He wears a kneepants suit with a cut-away jacket. The sleeves come to just below the elbows and are cut and embroidered. His blouse has a ruffled collar and sleeves that blouse out. We hve no details on Franz's childhood or his family. His outdit suggests that the family was affluennt. Sadly Franz died at an early age in 1871 in Munich.
This photograph shows Simon Mellitto, age 10, selling newspapers outside F.W. Woolworth store, you can even see some of the prices. I'm not sure about Simon's name, I think it is Italian. We do not know just where the photographwas taken. As a newsie, Simon earned 25-75 cents per day. His father's occupation was listed as locksmith, making about $12 per week. Simon had a brother who also sold Newspapers. The photograph was taken by Lewis Wickes Hine in JUne 1910. Simon wears a suit, I'm not sure if it is with knee pants or knickers, but he wears the black long stockings that were so sommon at the time.
This boy's mame is Joe Meyers. All that we know about him is that he was from Anderson, Indiana. The nount and clothes suggest that the portait was taken about 1890. Joe looks about 5 years old. He is probably a Jewish boy whose parents immigrated from Germany. Give his elegant outfit, the family seems well established, probanlt immigrating during the mid-19th century. The most notable aspect of hos clothes is the military styled cap he is wearing. It is not a style we see being worn very commonly at the time.
This military-styled cap is a style we see more commonly in the mid-19th century. It also seems a bit incongrous with the curly hair. It is not clear what kind of outfit Joe is wearing, other than his large lace-edged collar. We note only occassional portraits in the late-19th century of boys wearing these caps
This cabinet photo shows a boy with a cane and a top hat wearing what looks like a tuxedo. .
The portrait may come from Mossuri. There is writing on the back indicating that the boy was Arthur J. Miller. He looks to be about 6-7 years old. He has long hazir which we believe have been done in einglet curls. The portrait is undated, but I believe was taken about 1870.
This cabinent portrait is of Ear Miller. We know little about him and his family other than he had a sister named Ruth. He looks to be about 3 years old. We do know where he was from. The photographer was Mulligan Bros., Columbus, Ohio. Earl is reading a book and has another Book at his feet. This is probably just staged, but perhaps Earl was a bit of a prodigy and already beginning to read. Earl has not yet been breeched, but he has his hair cut short. We can see much detail in his rather plain long dress, but there seems to be a small white collar. The portrait is undated, but was probably taken in the 1870s.
These two little Amerucan boys wear wide-brimmed hats and matching white tunic suits which they are wearing with white long stockings. They are posing with their loyal hunting dog in the garden. The outdoor setting, clothing styles, and paper fram tells us that the portrait was taken in the early 20th century, probably about 1905. The oval portrait is mounted on a 7-1/2 x 6 inch sturdy matte. The portrait was taken by the J. G. Stenger Studio. inscription on the back is a bit confusing--William Pevy is the son of Goldo Mitchell. Albert Henry Steigler is the son of Mary Mitchell". Surely the boys' last names are Mitchell. The dog's name is Wiser Mitchell.
Here we have another Canadian turn-of-the-century studio portrait, This one was taken of Master Molson in Montreal on January 24, 1900. The Molson boy, whose Christian name we don't know, is about 10 years old in this exposure. Notice that he wears what we might think of as a summer sailor suit (white), but that was apparently considered dress-up wear for boys even in frigid January.
The boy here is Sal Montasano. We are not yet sure if he is Italian or Italian-American. He wears a white short pants suit with white knee socks for his first communion. We thought the portrait might have been taken in the 1950s, but the background looks older, perhaps the 1940s. Sal looks to be about 10 years old.
Here we have a rather unusual cabinet photo of a little boy laying on a fancy sofa. Almost always boys were either standing up or sitting down for photographs. The photograph is undated, but was probably taken in the early 1900s. He has long ringlet curls and wears a velvet jacket with piping. I'm not sure if he is wearing knickers or kneepants. The portrait is enscribed H.R. Montgomery on the back. The boys is Lyman Montgomery. We do not know where he lived in America.
Here are four members of the Moon family (Volney, Robert, Grace and Edith, two of which were identified on the photo) in a school picture from 1907, according to the information available. The family came from Lincoln, Oklahoma. Two children in the center are wearing closed-toe double t-strap sandals. This is another example of these sandals first appearing in rural areas. We note these sandals being sold in period catalogs.
This postcard format snapshot with a AZO stamp box shows Harold Morrill in a wool sailor tunic. Tunics were a very popular outfit for younger boys in the early 20th century. This would have been a Fall-Winter suit. Unfortunately we don;'t know what color it was. It may have been grey. He looks to be about 5 years old. The postcard is postally unused, but looks like the 1910s to us. We do not know where in America Harold lived. Notice his home has a step, but no porch.
L. Wistar Morris, Jr. apparently grew up in Germantown, Pennsylvania. At least he was photographed there in a studio during 1921. He has a short cut and wears a clasic sailor suit with above the knee knickers and light-colored long stockings. He was 7 years old when the photograph was taken. This seems to be typical dress-up clothing for an affluent boy at the turn of the century. Molson is a famous Canadian Anglophone name, possibly connected with beer brewing.
The boy here is Tom Morris. We believe he is an altar boy rather than a chorister. The cabinent card portrait was made by Hellis & Son. This was a concern with stdios located throughout London. So we know Tom was from London, but we do not know where. Tom was born in 1886 and was 12 years old when the portrait was taken in 1899.
This cabinet card shows a a boy in a velvet suit that has piping and with long ringlet curls. He was photographed by A. W. Judd, Chattanooga, Tennessee. The boy's name was Willie Morrison, identified in pencil on the reverse. The portrait is not dated. It looks to us as if it was taken in the 1880s. It is an interesting image in that it is a side shot and show how ringlet curls were handled at the back.
Here we have a portrait of a Scottish boy wearing a Fauntleroy outfit. Unfortunately we have little actual information about the portrait. We believe that the boy's name is Morrison, but we are not positive. We do not know his first name. The portrait is undated, but we would guess was taken about 1910. He wears a cape instead of a jacket with a Fauntleroy blouse, knee pants, white knee socks, and strap shoes.
Here we see Charles Mosley, with his mother, the wife of William Mosley. We know nothing about the family at this time. Charles wears a classic, red velvet skeleton show. The skeleton suit had long pants. Men of the era wore knee breeches. This is an example as to how American fashions cpied those of Europe, at least the urban elite. Also notice Charele's long hair.
The four Momsen children were 8 year old Alica, 10 year old Dick and their baby brother called Billy. A little later Beatrice, their new baby sister came. This arrival was after the events in this story. The adventure that happened occurred to Alica, Dick and Billy. At its end they became known as the Zeppelin children. It was their luck to travel by airship from Rio to Akron. This took place in 1933. The airship was the famous and majestic Graf Zeppelin. The children were Americans who lived in Brazil with their parents. Their father was a lawyer. His law firm took care of the legal affairs of the Brazilian subsidiary of the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation.
This little boy was Lincoln Muenks. He is wearing a plaid kilt skirt and a fancy big-collared coat. He is also wearing what looks like a flat cap. It looks to be a plaid dress rather than a kilt suit. He is holding a toy pistol in one hand and petting his beloved pet black dog with the other hand. The photographer was Chas. F. Weeks, Linn, Missouri. The portrait is undated, but oval format card mounts and the boy's outfit is consistent with about 1905.
We note a portrait painted by Fortuné Dufau (1770-1821) of Paul du Musset and his younger brother Musset in 1815. The museum lengend for the portrait reads, "Le garçonnet once boucles blondes est Alfred (1810-1857), le futur cruteur des Capríces de Maríanne (1833), de Lorenzaccio (1834), de la Confessíon d'un enfant du siècle (1836), ect. Son frere cané, Paul (1804-1880), allallait hui cnissi devenir éncrivain et fut notamment l'cuteur d une Biographie de son cadet (1877). Legs de Mme Paul de Musset (1889)." Alfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay (1810–57) was an important French romantic author, writing plays, poems ans novels. He is best known for his poems and novel--La Confession d'un enfant du siècle (The Confession of a Child of the Century. It was an autobiographical study published in 1836. His older brother Paul wrote his biography.
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