Boys Clothes: The 1860s--Family Scenes


Figure 1.--HBC has no information about the provinance of this image. We believe that it is American or British taken in the 1860s. The child on the floor is clearly a boy, notice the collar. The two older children are probably girls--notice there dresses do not have collars.

Through most of the 19th century, photography was primarily limited to the studio. We have very few home scenes. Snap shots were limited to the work of serious amateur photographers and required elaborate equipment and effort. Drawings do exist, although we are never sure as to hw accuate they were. Paintings of children exist, but were mostly portaits. While accuracy is also a problem here, often the painter provides interesting interpretations based on posing and painting techniques We will archive what we can find here to show how children were actually dressed at home and how the various garments were actually worn. Unfortunately, HBC does not always have details as to the provinance of these images.






Christopher Wagner






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Created: September 10, 2001
Last updated: September 10, 2001