Figure 1.-- Here we see an unidentifed portrait of an English boy and his little sister. The portrait is undated, but we believe was probably taken in the early 1910s. (Dating these old photographs is tricky, it could just as easily been the late 1900s.) The boy looks to be about 12-13 years old. He wears a three-piece suit, although because of the high lapels you can barely see the vest. He wers a stiff collar, although it doest seem to be an Eton collar (note that the points are somedwhat rounded).

A range of 20th century family portraits show us how boys and other members of the family and in many cases thed whole family dresssed. Clothing was still quite formal in the early 20th century for both children and adults. We note in the early part of the century that boys wore a variety of outfits, including tunics, Fauntleroy suits, and sailor suits. Older boys wore kneepants and knicker suits. Norffolk suits were popular, often worn with Eton collars. Long stockings were common. Girls wore different styles of dresses. Major changes occurred after World War I (1914-18). Clothing became more informal. Boys commonly wore short pants, often with kneesocks. Girls still mostly wore dresses. Clothes became even more informal after World war II (1939-45). Girls still commonly wore dresses through the 1960s. Long trousers for boys began to become more common in the 1960s.

The 1900s

Marshal Family (1900s)

Edward Marshal married Lucy Knight in 1879. He was the vicar of St. Andrew’s Church in Sutton. This was a large village about 6 miles from Ely in East Anglia, England. The children were born between 1880 and 1889. There were 9 children in all. The reason we know so much about this family is that the youngest daughter kept all the letters she wrote to her brothers and sisters. It was a correspondence that lasted 60 years and came to an end with her death in 1980. The correspondence began in childhood and these letters tell about the things the children did and the correspondence continued into adulthood. This story is about the beginning of the correspondence in 1900.

Gibbs Family (1906)

A HBC contributor has a collection of photographs of the family of Tory MP George Gibbs the Baron Lord Wraxall and his family. The collectioin of photographs were mostly taken at Tyntesfield (the family estate), Eton, and this currently unidentified prep school). This would of course be a wealthy Edwardian family. One of the boys in the prep school photo is George Gibbs, but we do not know which boy. He also appears in the Eton photos and some family photos. Their home Tyntesfield is a spectacular Victorian house. Follow the meet the family link for more information on the Gibbs family.

The 1910s

Unidentified Family (early 1910s)

Here we see an unidentifed portrait of an English boy and his little sister (figure 1). The portrait is undated, but we believe was probably taken in the early 1910s. (Dating these old photographs is tricky, it could just as easily been the late 1900s.) The boy looks to be about 12-13 years old. He wears a three-piece suit, although because of the high lapels you can barely see the vest. He wers a stiff collar, although it doest seem to be an Eton collar (note that the points are somedwhat rounded). The suit has kneepants (note the three orbamental buttons at the hem) with long ribbed stockings and high-top shoes. His little sister wears a hairbow and white dress. Notice the matching patalettes.

The Holroyd Family

Michael Holroyd has written a wonderful book about his father's family in the 1910s. His father Kenneth had a younger brother Basil and an older sister. This delightful book includes amusing glimses of ecentric relatives. It is just me are do English families seem to be especially well endowed with delightful ecentrics. Holroyd is of course a well-respected biographer (Lytton Strachey, Augustus John and, George Bernard Shaw). And for a writer, a nutty family is a gold mind of potential material. He begins the book by admitting that his literary career has been in part an effort to distabce himself from his relatives. He tells us, "My career as a biographer probably arose from my need to escape from family involvements and immerse myself in other people's lives." It is always fascinating to look at parents to see how their background has influenced the children. The Holroyds were not a typical English family. In fact, they were only half English.

The 1920s

Unidentified Family (1920s)

Here we have a family portrait which looks to us was taken in the 1920s. We are not sure about the country. We think it is British, primarily because of the bands on the boy's kneesocks. We have seen German boys with these kneesocks, but not very commonly. We note British boys wearing these socks for both school and Scouts. The socks here look raher like school socks to us. The family, however, could be German. The gentleman to the left looks German rather English to us. The womwn's dresses we think could have been worn in either Germany or England. Perhaps HBC readers might have some ideas here.

Unidentified Family (1920s)

Here we see another unidentified British family, a little boy about 5 years old and his big sister who looks to be about 13 years old. We might have thought that the portrait was taken in the 1910s, but the boy's short pants it seems to us are more likely a 1920s fashion. The boy wears a white sailor suit and white dickey with colored detailing. I assume the detailing is done in blue. The sailor suit was orginally a British fashion. By the 1920s, however, only younger British boys wore them. Sailor suits were more popular in Germany. A bit irionic since the Royal Navy had played a major role in Germany's defear in Wotld War I. The little boy's big sister wears a dark-colored dress with flounces. I'm not sure what color it would have been.

The 1930s

Jackson Family (1930s)

We think thee name of the family here is Jackson, but we are not sure. Written on the back of the post card is "JACKSON'S FACES". We don't know what this means, but are guessing that the family name is Jackson. We do know that the the photograph was taken in Lowestoft which is a channel coast port in Suffolk. At the time it was a fishing port of some importance, but also had popular beaches and a pier. The post card shows a lady in a cloche hat and her children. The curious aspect of this photograph is how the children were dressed. The boy looks like he is headed to school. His sister seems more dressed for the beach. We are not sure where dad is. Perhaps he took the photograph.

The 1940s

Working-class Family (Late-1940s)

Here we see one of the working-class families that made Blackpool so important. A huge number of inexpensiive accomodations were built for them, both hotels and bread and breakfast gues houses. The image here is a good example of how English workibg-class families spent their summer vacations. This photograph was taken in the late-40s after the War or early 50s. The boy appears to be taking a photograph of his Mum and grandparents. You will also see that adults often stayed fully clothed on the beach although Mum has kicked her shoes off! Given the temperature of the water, this is understandable. The 'sea-side' dress habits of the adults shown here is typical of the 1930s and this photo is a post-war hangover from that era. The strap on the boy's 'bathing suit' is to hold it up, but there are two straps. The other one is hanging down his back and is either broken or he has not put his arm through it. Again, this is a typical pre-war style.

The 1950s

Post Card Image (1950s)

We note what appears to be a postcard image. Postcards used to be used rather like greeting cards or note paper. By the 1950s they had become more of a vacation greting, but earlier they were more widely used. One popular type pf postcard were omes with children. This had becom less common by the 190s, but had not yet isappeard. The card here is undated, but we would guess was taken in the 1950s. It is clearly a staged photogrph, but the family probavly posed in their actual clothing.

Roberts Family (1950s)

Here we see the Robers family in the 1950s. They look to a a family of modest, but comfortable means. There are three children. I think the names are Alan, Wendy, and Ken. The family image here appears tio have been talen in the early 50s. All we know about them is that the family seems to have liked seaside vacations.

Created: 11:15 PM 11/4/2005
Last updated: 8:47 PM 1/13/2007