Figure 1.--This little Germany boy was photigraphe at the Karl Wahl studio in Berlin, about 1905. He looks to be about 1 year old. After the turn of the 20th century, it became uncommon to see German boys wearing dresses, except for very young boys like the one here. Notice the whip. This almost surely was added by father to make sure it was clear that the child was a boy. I can't imagine mother giving him the whip. But then again we have to remember that people felt differently about such matters. We have noted whips as props in American portraits, but not usually with such young children. Also notice the huge tam.

We see German boys of various ages wearing dresses. Of course it was most common for very young boys to wear dresses. The age conventions as in other countries varied over time. We have a limited archive of 19th century images, but have begun to collect some information. Generally speaking we see fewer older boys in Germany wearing dresses than in other countries. This appears to be the case in the late 19th century by the time of German unification (1870). We rarely see a German boy older than 4 years of age outfitted in dresses. We are unsure just when and where German age conventions concerning boys wearing dresses began to diverge from those prevalent in other European countries.With the popularity of photography we can follow German trends in some detail at this time. We know less about age trends in the early and mid-19th century before photography was widely available. Another complication we are unsure about age trends in the various German states before unification.

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Created: 8:17 PM 12/3/2005
Last updated: 8:17 PM 12/3/2005