|
We have bedgun to collect images of Brazilian families so we can assess the clothing worn by the entire family over time. Here our archive is still very limited. We note both long-time Brazilianfamilies as well as immigrant families.
Here we have a portrait of an unidentified Brazilian family (figure 1). We do not know when the portrait was taken, but would guess the 1910s. It looks lkike a wealthy family at some sort of family celebration. Notice that all three boys wear sailor suits. As the adults are dressed formally, we would guess that this is the boys' best outfits as well. Notice that they are a family of European, presumably Portuguese extraction.
This photograph was taken in 1911-12 in the region that in Tocantins State near the geographic center of Brazil. Tocantins is located at the edge if the Anmazonian Basin where the land makes a transition to semi-open pastures, known as the cerrado in Bazil. We see the family of a smartly dressed farmer He only had a small holding, although not tiny as the family is well dressed and looks rather prosperous. The photogrph was taken on the family farm, and we can just make out their home in the background. Because Tocantinsit is located in the central zone of the country, it has terraine in the north that is similar to the anmazzonin Basin and in the south bcomes semi-open pastures, known as cerrado. In rural Brazil even in a quite wealthy family it was not seen as inappropriate that babies were unclothed in fasmily portrits. This was common in southern Europe and Portuguese and Spanish colonies in the Americas.
This family portrait was taken in Parnaguá, Piauí, north-eastern Brazil during 1912. It shows Colonel O'Donnell de Alencar abnd his impressive family. The Colonel is depicted with his wife and their nine children (from a teenage boy to a baby boy). The man at the back is presumbly an adult son. The HBC reader who probided this portrait tells us, "We can assume that the Colonel was a fazenda owner." A Brazilian fazenda is a large plantation, comparable to the slave-based plantations of the Caribbean (sugar) and the United States (cotton). We have no information on the Colondel's fazenda, but the colonial and 19th century economy of Oiauí aas dominated by sugar and the plabtations there employed many African slaves. Slavery in Brazil was not abolished until tyhe lte-19th century (1888). Most of the Colonel's workers would hve been the decendents of the former slaves. The family's Irish nnme is interesting. We have no setails, but suspect it comes from the Irish noble dynasty of O'Donnell of Tyrconnell who left Ireland after the Battle of the Boyne--the Flight of the Earls. More recentyly Enrique José O'Donnell y Anatar, conde de La Bisbal (Henry Joseph O'Donnell) (1769–1834) was a Spanish general of Irish descent who fought in the Peninsular War. The family may have emigrated to Brazil.
We know nothing about this unidentified Brazilian family. We would say it was a middle-class family. The family is young. Therr are five children. The oldest looks to be only 6-7 years old. This was not an expensive portrait, the quality of the image is quite low. We are not sure when the portrait was taken, but would guess the early 1920s. Note the elder boy's dapper boater.
Alberto Quadri was born in Marzabotto, near Bologna, in the 1880s. In the late 1890s his family emigrated to Brazil. They worked in the fields and could save some money. After the First World War they went back to Italy and bought a little farm in the municipality of Vergato, also near Bologna.
However Alberto, already married, remained in Brazil. He had the concession of the land for a farm in the State of Minas Gerais. We can assume that his business was good, because in 1927 the whole family took a vacation to Italy to visit the relatives in Vergato and in Sasso, another village near Bologna, the birth place of Cleonice Sandri, Alberto's wife.
The photo was taken in Vergato during this vacation. We can see Alberto Quadri and Clenice Sandri, their twelve children and two Alberto's sisters. Cleonice was pregnant and gave birth during the vacation time. She died a few days later. Alberto took the famoly back to Brazil. We know that Alberto remarried and had three children by the second wife.
Related Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[The 1880s]
[The 1890s]
[The 1900s]
[The 1910s]
[The 1920s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1950s]
[The 1960s]
[The 1970s]
[The 1980s]
Related Style Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Smocks]
[Long pants suits]
[Knicker suits]
[Short pants suits]
[Socks]
[Eton suits]
[Jacket and trousers]
[Blazer]
[School sandals]
[School smocks]
[Sailor suits]
[Pinafores]
[Long stockings]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Page
[Return to the Main Brazilian country page]
[Return to the Main family country page]
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Portuguese glossaries]
[Glossaries]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
