Figure 1.--These American children appear to be Catholic. The photograph was probably taken in the 1910s. We are guessing that the older children here are doing their First Communion. I'm not sure why the younger children were included in the photograph. Unlike many photographs we know the children's names. Click on the image for more details.

Here we have another First Communion portrait, or at least we think it is a First Communion portrait. There are four children in the portrait. We think it is the older children having their First Communions. The older boy is Cletus Hullen. He wears a dark suit. You can not tell from the scan here, but he is wearing a knicketrs suit. The younger boy is Henry Oelschlagen. He wears a white shirt and white kneepants with white long stockings. Boys did not commonly wear white long stockings, but younger boys might werar them for special occassions. The unusual aspect of this portrait is the little boy is dressed up, even wearing white long stockings, but wearing them with canvas shoes--sneakers. HBC has developed some information on the color of long stockings during the 1910s. This is the only instance we have ever noted thast. The girls are Margatet and Jeneviene Budina. I'm not sure what the younger children are doing with the older children. The portrait is undated and do not know where in America the portrait was taken.

The Occassion

Here we have another First Communion portrait, or at least we think it is a First Communion portrait. There are four children in the portrait. We think it is the older children having their First Communions. I'm not sure what the younger children are doing with the older children. I don't think they were actually participating in the ceremony. Note the younger children do not have a little book like the older boy.It is also rather unusual for children from different families to have their portraits taken together like this.

Chronology

The portrait is undated and do not know where in America the portrait was taken. We would guess the 1910s, probably before America's entry in World War I. About 1915 seems a good approximation.

Cletus Hullen

The older boy is Cletus Hullen. He wears a dark suit. You can not tell from the scan here, but he is wearing a knicketrs suit. A reader writes, "A fascinating photograph. I assume the older boy in the dark suit is wearing knickets with long stockings, but it is hard to tell. I don't think he is wearing long trousers because we can see the tops of his shoes and ankles. Knickers would, I believe, have been the usual trousers at this period." Another reader writes, "I notice that the conclusion here seems to be that the older boy is wearing knickers rather than kneepants, although it does not seem obvious from the portrait itself. Clearly HBC assume you think the trousers are knickers, which they may indeed be. But the pants look quite form-fitting to me and not at all blousy, which is the reason I thought they might be knee pants. Do you think it is an open-and-shut case? Or could the pants be knee pants? Or were knee pants too old-fashioned by the date of this photograph?" Yes I don't think it is possible from the photograph to determine what Cletus is wearing. And it is possible that he was wearing kneepants. We are guessing, however, that they are knickers. We have seen hundreds of these First Communion photographs from the early 20th century in America. Virtually all of them show boys this age wearing knickers with black long stockings when they are wearing dark suits like this. Kneepants were still worn, but they were more likely to be worn by younger boys and sometimes, as was the case here, with white long stickings.

Henry Oelschlagen

The younger boy is Henry Oelschlagen. He wears a white shirt and white kneeopants with white long stockings. Boys did not commonly wear white long stockings, but younger boys might werar them for special occassions. The unusual aspect of this portrait is the little boy is dressed up, even wearing white long stockings, but wearing them with canvas shoes--sneakers. HBC has developed some information on the color of long stockings during the 1910s. This is the only instance we have ever noted that. A reader writes, "Is it possible that the canvas shoes on the younger boys are some sort of special dress shoes rather than sneakers? Sneakers seem so out of character with the rest of the children's clothing. I don't have a strong opinion myself. I'm merely raising the question." Well I think it is out of character. But peoplke or endlessy varied. Different mothers have all sorts of ideas about fashion. Also children often have their own ideas. Thus you get a many varies combinations as can be seen on HBC. I have no way of being sure, but they cerainly look like sneakers to me.

Budina Girls

The girls are Margatet and Jeneviene Budina. As was almost always the case. they wear white dresses for First Communion. The older girlwears a dress styled rather like a wedding dress. This was a common convention for First Communion. The younger girl wears a straight A-line frock without a waist.

Created: 2:34 AM 12/29/2004
Last updated: 2:34 AM 12/29/2004