Figure 1.--This tin-type portrait shows an unidentified American boy in his altarboy vestments. Notice the very simple surplice. We have no idea when the portrait was taken, byt suspect around the turn of the 20th century. |
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There seems to have been a wide range of vestment styles worn by the boys. Some boys wear very elegant surplices while others wear very simple garments. We assume that the primary factor here was the affluence of the particular church. Cathloics as new immigrants at first generally were laborers earning little money. Presumably some churches could not afford expensive vestments. While the basic outfit was a white surplice worn over a cassock, the style nd detailing of the surplice could vary significantly. The image on the previous page shows a boy wearing a very elegant surplice. Here we see an altar boy wearing a very simple surplice. We think the cassocks were commonly red, but we have few details at ths time. Some European boys wire red caps, but we have not noted this in America.
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