Figure 1.--This Italian boy was photographed by Emile Zola during a trip to Rome in 1894. Note the enormous broad-brimmed sailor hat. He wears a stylish coat over what looks like a white dress. His strap shoes have little pompoms. |
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Italian clothes for boys involved the same fashionsd as those common in the rest of western Europe during the 19th and 20th centuries. Unfortunately, I have very limited specific informtion on Italy--nor have we been able to acquire many images on Italian boys clothes. HBC has been rather surprised at our failure to obtain information on Italian boys' clothes as Italy has in many ways been a leader in children's fashions. Hopefully some of the Italian visitors to this web site will provide some information and insights on historical Italian boys' styles and fashion trends. We've created this page primarily as a page to enter future information. Interestingly there have been numerous Italian visitors to HBC. The topic of historical clothe does seem of interest. Unfortuntalely no Italian visitors have yet made contribution to HBC. This is unfortunate as the topic of Italian boys' fashions is of some interest. We believe that the limited response from Italy may be at least partialy a language problem.
taly is a country that has been at the center of Western civilization. Italy is central for several reasons. It was the continuation of classical Greek civilzation and helped transmit it throughout Western Europe. Rome was not as innovative as classical Greece, but it effectively preserved and transmitted classical Greek thought. Rome's own main unique contribution to Western civilization was secular law. As imperfectly administered as it was, the legal tradition guaranteeing rights to the individual which even the state cannot violate, was perhaps Rome's greatest achievement. It stands to day as one of the central pillars of Western civilization. It is ironic that the origin of the Western legal tradition was a war-like state based upon conquest and slavery. Italy's importance is not limited to ancient Rome. It was medieval Italy that reintroduced classical thinking to the West through the Renaisance which played such a central role in the development of the Western tradition. Some of the great treasures of Western civilization come down to us from the Italian Renaissance which of course sparked a Renaissance throughout Western Europe. The Western Christianity and Islam share many of the same traditions. Where they diverge stems from the fact that Islamic culture did not experience the Renaissance. After the Renaissance, the focus of European history shifts north, in part because the Catholic Counter Reformation prevented the Reformation from entering Italy. Italy was one of the last major European states to unify. The country participated in the colonial scramble for Africa, but felt slighted. Large numbers of Italians emigrated to America. Italy fought with the Allies during World War I. The country afterthe War embraced Fascism under Mussolini and fought with NAZI Germany during World War II. Italy joined NATO during the Cold war despite having the largest Communist Party in the West.
HBC has very limited Chronological information on Itlaian boys' clothing. Our information begins in the 19th century, but we eventually want to develop information from paintings with boys clothing from eraly centuries. We notice most of the styles wore in other European countries like France and Britain. Italian boys appear to have worn tunic suits in the mid-19th century. We note velvet suits with knicker-length pants. Some boys wore belts over their tunics. Collars and bows were small until the 1870s. Shoes and stockings seem fancier than in Britain and America. Fauntleroy and sailor suits became popular in the late 19th century. Many boys wore wide-brimmed sailor hats. School children commonlu wore smocks, but I am not sure just when that began. I am not sure how common smocks were outside of school. Short pants became common after World War I and were commonly worn by Italian boys through the 1950s. Kneesocks and long stockings were not as common in Italy, especially southern Italy, presumably vecause of the climate. Long pants began to become more common in the 1960s.
We have begun to collect some basic information on the various garments worn by Italian boys. Younger Italian boys, like other European and American boys, used to wear dresses. Smocks were commonly worn by Italian boys, especially for schoolwear. They are still worn at some schools. Rompers were also popular in Italy. We believe Little Lord Fauntleroy and other fancy suits were popular in Italy during the late 19th and early 20th Century. Unfortunately at this time I have little real information on the popularity of this style in Italy. One of the most common outfits for Italian boys were sailor suits. I have few details, however, on the particular styles of Italian sailor suits. Based on images of Italian immigrants during the late 19th and early of the 20th Centuries, many of the styles were quite traditional. Italian boys have worn kneepants, long pants, knickers, and short pants. Short pants were very commonly worn by Italian boys through much of the 20th century. Jeans began to appear in Italy during the 1960s, a decade that saw substantial changes in Italian boys clothes. Italy today is renowed for its fashionable knitwear. Italy until recently, however, has been a poor country. Poverty was especially severe in southern Italy. In these areas it was very common for children to go barefoot, even to school.
I have no historical information on historic hair styles for boys in Italy. Available images suggest that long hair was popular for boys in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. I do not know if it was popular to curl the boys' hair into ringlets as was the case in America or to leave in uncurled as was the case in France. We note an image of a bnoy with ringlet curls, probably from the 1880s, wearing a sailor suit. Our Italian images are too limited at this time to draw any valid conclusions. Some mothers
apparently liked to add hair bows to their sons long hair as was popular in France. I am not sure when a boys long hair was generally cut in Italy. It appears it was usually done after and not before a boy was breeched.
HBC has collected information on a variety of activities in which Italian boys have participated in over time. Many of these activiities involve a wide range of specialized costumes. Other images show trends in German boys' clothing over time. Some of the activities include choir, choir, dance, games, religious observation, school, sport, and many other activities. Italy until after World War II, was the poorest of the major European countries. Given the poverty, especially in southern Italy, many Italian boys had to work often invoved in agricultural labor.
Italy like almost all European countries have very important regional differences. There are, for example, many impotant differences between north and south. Some of these differences reflect the fact that Italy after the fall of Rome was often ruled by a number of small republics and kingdom. Some areas were unfer the control of neighboring countries, including Audtria, France, and Spain. At this time we have very limited information on Italian folk costumes. Hopefull our Italian readers will assisst us in this area.
We have manged to find very little information on Italian school uniforms. Hopefully some of the Italian visiors to this web site will provide some information. I believe the pattern in Italy has been similar to that of France. Most schools did not require a formal school uniform like that common in England. Rather Italian elementary children have worn smocks over their regular clothes. Often a single style of smock was required. Many schools had a dark blue smock worn with a wide Peter Pan collar. At one time this appears to have been a national requitement. We do not at this time have any chronmolgical information on Italian school smocks. Gradually different colors of smocks appeared. Also schools eventually made the smock optional.
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Italian boys were earger particupants in the spreading Boy Scout movement during the 1910s. We have only limited information on early Italian Scout uniforms. After World War I, however, the Fascists seized control of Italy in the 1920s and Scouting was abolished. Most Italian boys participated in the Fascist youth organization the Baliall, which like the Scouts was a uniformed group. We have collected some information on the Baliall. Here we have a question. The Fascists were in control of Italy about 10 years before the NAZIs seized control of Germany. The NAZIs in 6 years using the Hitler Youth prpared German youth for war. The Fascists seemed to have been extrodinarily unsuccessful in preparing their youth for war. Why they failed is an interesting question. Scouting did not reappear in Italy until the 1940s and the defeat of Italian Fascism.
Here we will follow family fashions over time. HBC has decided to also gather
information on entire families. One of the limitations of HBC is that too often we just view boys' clothing in contex with what the rest of the family was wearing. Many HBC images are isolated portraits of individual boys that do not show the context of the time. This will help to compare boys' clothing with that worn by mothers, fathers, and sisters. These images will help show show differences in both age and gender appropriate clothing.
We have not yet pursued the topic of homes, but after working with images for some time now we have concluded that images showing the grounds, outside of the home, and inside of the home can provide us more valuable information. This can provide information such as demographic and social class factors and how they related to fashion. Many imges archived on are studio portraits with no information about the home environment. But in the 20th century we have large numbers of snapshots. We will eventually link some of those imges here, but this will take some time to accomplish. Our intention is to do this both chronlogically and demoraphically.
Italy before unification in the 1860s was divided into many different states. We have only begun to develop information on the states, some of which were of considerable historical significance. The modern Vatican was once known as the Papal States and for many years were an important temporal power in central Italy. At this time we only have pages on Naples and Venice.
Italy can be divided into three major areas: north, central (dominated by Rome), and south. The climate and historical experience of these different regions is quite different because Italy was only united in the 1860s and some areas in the north were added eben later. There are also some island territories. There are substantial diffrences between these regions. Northern Italy is the most industrialized area. The south is more agricultural and until after World War II, almost feudal. Naples and the south have historically often been associated with Sicily. Sardinia is another important island making up Italy. We have some limited on the island. Corsica was once part of Italy. It was seized from Carthage in the Punic Wars. Only relatively recently has it become a French territory. We do not yet have much information on the various Italian regions. One reader has provided us some interesting information about San Giorgio della Richinvelda, a small village in north-eastern Italy. Hopefully our Italian readers will tell us more about the different regions of their country.
Italy in the 19th century was one of the pourest countries in Europe. While the industrial revolution began to change northern Italy, economic conditions were still almost feudal in southern Italy and Sicily. The difference between northern and southern Italy was that northern Italy had been goverened by the Austrians (and the French for a brief era during the French Revolution). Southern Italy was ruiled by the Spanisgh Hapsburgs. Poor agragrian practices and the land and climate also affected crop yields in southern Italy. Italian emmigration began in the north. Many of these early immigrants went to neighbiring European countries and to South America, especially Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. Later emigration began in even greater numbers from the south. Italians in the second half of the 19th century began a mass exodus to countries with more promising economic opportunites. Southern Italy was almost entirely an agricultural economy, but crop yiels were low an few peasants owned land. The primary destination was the United States. At the same time the United States was expanding west led by rapidly growing railroads. The railroads played an important role in promoting immigration. The railroads received bonuses from the Federal Government in land, but the land had little value unless there was someone to sell it to that would generate cargos. Immigrants mean both customers and workers willing to work for low wages. American companies, like the Union Pacific Railroad sent recruiters to Italy. Other companies like stockyards did as well. They were especially iterested in young males age 14 to 25. Many early Italian emmigrants returned to Italy from America with money and boased of their success, which generated even more emmigration. The Italian Government also promoted emmigration, seeing it as a way of improving economic conditions.
We do not have a great deal of information on minority groups in Italy. There was a substantial Jewish minority as well as a small Gypsey population. There was also a small Austrian (German-speaking) population in the north a result of the Italian acquisition of the South Tirol as a result of the World War I Peace seattlement.
The popularity in Europe of using childrens as he subjects of postcards in the early 20th century provide us with interesting images. We have very limited information on Italian postcards at this time. We
do know that they did exist. We have seen Itlaian post cards with both Itlaian themes and cards made for export markets. We believe that Italy must have had a very large postcard industry, but have few details at this time.
Stereotypes gradually settled on all the major European countries. These represent how the Europeans looked on each other. Some of these stereotypes were not very flattering. As with most sterotypes, there was often an element of truth in these images, not matter how unfair or rude. These stereotypes emerged in private conversation and litwrature. One way they were illustrated were in postcards swhich began to become popular in the late 19th century, in part because of developments in photography and lithography. . An Italian reader writes, "
In Italy during last decades of 19th century some photographers created images showing stereotypical popular scenes. The photographs were made into post cards and proved popular. mostly with foreign tourists."
W e have learned a great deal about clothing fashion trends in several countries through an exmination of catalogs and advertisements. This information can be quite useful because it is dated and has information on sizes/ages as well as materials, colors and other pertinant details. Unfortunately, HBC has not yet been able to obtain many copies of Italian catalogs and fashion magazines.
We do not know of many boy characters in Italian literature, but there are a few. The one Itlalian classic we know of is of course The Adventures of Pinocchio: The Story of a Puppet. It is surely the best known Italian novel for children. The author is Carlo Collodi (pseudonym of Carlo Lorenzini). He was born in Florence in 1826 and died there in 1890. Pinocchio was published in Florence (1883). Here we have a picture from the first edition by Enrico Mazzanti. In the Tuscan dialect, pinocchio is the term used to refer to the pine nut. The novel as most children know is the story of a puppet that becomes a child. Another children's book very popular in Italy is Cuore (Heart) by Edmondo De Amicis (1846-1908). "Heart" (1888) is the story of a 3rd grade primary school class from the first to the last school day. The novel is written as the diary of a pupil (Enrico Bottini). In the novel we have also nine little stories that the teacher (Mr. Perboni) tells to the pupils. Perhaps the best known of these stories is "From the Apennines to the Andes". It is the story of Marco who travels from Genoa to Argentina looking for his mother. (Many Itaklians un the late-19th and early-20th centuries emigrated to Argentina.) A Japanese cartoon (52 installments) was inspired by this story (1976).
We have unfortunately been unable so far to obtain many personal experiences about Italian boys. For some reason realtively few Italians webgoers seem to visit our HBC site, I am not sure why. I think language is the main problem. Hopefully Italian readers will eventually provide some information on their experiences. What we have so far is images and information about Italian immigrants in America and American visitors to Italy. These are interesting, but of course not the same as asctual Italian accounts. The personal experiences concerning Italian boys clothes we have collected include:
1912: Calvo brothers: Italian immigrants in America
1925: American brother and sister: Italian immigrants in America
1950s: American boy: American Air Force family in Italy
1960s: American boy: Visit to Italy
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