Figure 1.-- Here we have two identified tin-type portraits. The boys look to be about 5-10 years of age. The portraits were taken at the same time so the boys must be brothers. I'm not sure why they weren't posed together. The portraits are undted, but the clothing suggests to us the 1860s. This is the older brother. Click on the imae to see the younger brother. |
Here we have two identified tin-type portraits. The boys look to be about 5-10 years of age. The portraits were taken at the same time so the boys must be brothers. I'm not sure why they weren't posed together. The portraits are undted, but the clothing suggests to us the 1860s. The Civil War era is quite possible. It could not have been earlier. The early 1870s is possible, but the 1860s more likely. The younger brother wears a tunic suit. I'm not quite sure how to describe the outfit the older brother is wearing. We have no idea where the portraits were taken.
The portraits are undted, but the clothing and tin-type format and mount suggests to us the 1860s. Surely some time between 1862 and about 1875. The Civil War era is quite possible. The boys' outfits are reminiscent of the Zouave styled clothing popular during the Civil War era. The portrait could not have been taken earlier. The early 1870s is possible, but the 1860s more likely. Notice the stand behind the boy, a sure sign of an early portrait. (Early emulsions had slow speeds requiring that subjects be braced so they did not move.)
We are not sure about where the boys lived. A dealer tells us that the portau=ts were from an Ohio estate, so it is possible that the boys were from Ohio. Northern Civil War portaits are much more common than southern portraits.
The fashionable dress and separate portraits suggest to us that the family was if not affluent at least in comfortable circumstances.
The boys look to be about 5-10 years of age. The portraits were taken at the same time. The studio floor and chair are the same. There is something on the chair, but we cannot make it out. So the boys surely are brothers. I'm not sure why they weren't posed together.
The younger brother looks to be about 5 years old. He wears a tunic suit with diagonal trim. Note the pocket which seems to have a handkerchief. The trim is repeated on his bloomer knickers. Unfortunately we have no idea about the colors here. Note that there is no collar visible. Also note the stockings. They seem to have been made to match the suit. It is likely that mother both made the sew and knitted the stockings. At the time stripped stockings were more common, but store bought stockings would be more difficult to coordinate with the outfit. One interesting observation about this boy's clothing because of the clarity of the image. Note his shoes. At the time shoes were not made for left and right feet. This is one reason many boys found shoes uncomfortable.
The older brother looks to be about 10 years old. Note the very small colar. This was very common at the time. I'm not quite sure how to describe the outfit the older here brother is wearing (figure 1). I'm tempted to sy this is a tunic suit, but the boy had tucked the tunic into his pants. Note the diagonal styling which is also used on the younger brother's tunic suit. But I'm not sure boys actually did this. Many tunic suits in the 1860s were wrn with long pants. Knee pants wee not yet universally accepted, especilly for boys after about 8 years of age. Like the younger brother you can see the shoes are identical--not made for left and right feet.
France annexed Algeria in the early 19th century as part of European 19th century rush to colonize Africa. Military units were formed from Algeians sympathetic to the French. Later units were formed with French soldiers, but with uniforms with Algeian--baggy pants styling. These units and the styling was called Zouave. It became a popular style for French boys. After American units adopted the Zouave styling in the Civil War, it became popular witth American boys.
Here we have two identified tin-type portraits. It is a black and white with a slight brown/blue tint. Rose tint has been added to the faces. The portraits are sealed inside a paper mat. The tin-type process was developed in 1856 but we do not begin to see large numbers of commercial tin types until the early 1860s. The tin-type process as can be seen here is capable of creating a good quality image. Many of the surviving tin types provide rather poor quality iages, in part because they were harder to store. The shelac added to preserve them is another common problem.
The 1860s saw the most cataclysmic event in American history, the Civil War. Civil War battles were major bloodlettings with sometimes more fataloties in a sigle day of battle than whole World War II campaigns. In a country with a still fairly small population, few families were spared. HBC has noted that the impact of wars and social uphevals frequently are reflected in fashion. HBC, however has not yet fully determined the impact of the war on boys' fashions. Some fashions were inspired by the war. American boys' clothing styles, however, did not change radically in the 1860s. Little boys continued to wear dresses. The 1860s were, however, a dividing point between early and late 19th Century fashions. The styles such as skeleton suits had completely disappeared. Tunics were becoming less common. Victorian styles such as sailor suits and kilts grew in importance. Collars that had once been open were now universally worn tightly buttoned, except for small boys who still might wear dresses with low necklines. Some of the new styles such as kneepants began to appear. The Civil War in America engendered some popular fashion trends as well as initiating some changes in the image of childhhod. Pants styles were varied. Most boys wore long pants after breeching--even quite young boys. Other mostly younger boys from affluent familiesd began wearing kneepants cut at various lengths. Knickers blouced at the hem were also worn. The most readily observable trend was before the War American boys generally wore long pants after breeching. After the War kneepants begin to become increasingly popular. This does not, however, seem to be an impact of the War as the same trend is observable in Europe. It may be that American fashion trends were not as affected by the War as they were still largely influenced by European fashions.
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