Figure 1.--Here we see a Montreal boy who had his portrait taken in 1898. His name was Rankin. We don't know Master Rankin's Christian name, but it is obviously not a French family name. Master Rankin undoubtedly came from one of the affluent Anglophone families in turn-of-the-century Montreal. He wears an emaculare dark (presumably blue) saiolor suit.

Here we see a Montreal boy who had his portrait taken on January 8,1898. His name was Rankin. We don't know Master Rankin's Christian name, but it is obviously not a French family name. Master Rankin undoubtedly came from one of the affluent Anglophone families in turn-of-the-century Montreal. He wears an emaculare dark (presumably blue) saiolor suit. This sailor suit seems to have an unusually prominent starched white collar that is worn over the regular dark collar that is part of the suit. I have seen these white saolor collars in frontal portraits before. I had assumed that they were contructed as part of the blouse/jacket. Here it can be seen that the white sailor collar was in addition to the standard blue collar. Notice that there is both a white and blue back flap. Notice the plain white dickey also and the dressy breast pocket handkerchief worn on the boy's chest. The suit seems to have brass buttons down the front and at the wrists. Notice also the decorative nautical emblem sewn on the sleeve. I assume it is a rank patch, presumably based on Canadian naval ranks. The knee pants do not have decorative buttons at the hem. The boy (about 5 years old) wears rather loosely fitting black ribbed long stockings. He seems to be wearing long underwear underneath the stockings which have a slightly lumpy appearance. The photograph was taken at a Montreal studio during January 1898 so the long-handled underwear was probably to be expected. The black shoes have ties across the instep with a fancy bow decorated with a rosette. The rosette seems to be a permanent part of the shoes, so the instep fastener may have had a button or snap since the bow was probably pre-tied and fixed on the strap. The bangs seem to have been a fashionable hair style for younger boys of the period.

Created: 10:42 PM 9/30/2005
Last edited: 10:42 PM 9/30/2005