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Here we have a portrait of a Chinese-American merchant family taken in New York City in 1925. We don't know the name of the family, but it is obvious that they are a very prosperous family of
merchants. We know that the family has been converted to Christianity because the photo, taken by the Fisher Studio of New York, derives from an archive of materials having to do with Christian missionary work in New York during the 1920s and 1930s. Christian missionary societies of
the time had a considerable influence upon the assimilation of Chinese imigrants to American culture. Not only were they encouraged to become Christians but also to adopt western styles of dress. This family apparently had eight sons ranging in age from about 23 to about
12 or 13. The older boys wear adult style suits, but there appear to be at least four teenagers. The two youngest boys sitting on chairs at either side of the picture are still in above-the-knee knicker suits with black long stockings. They seem to be about 13 and 15 respecitvely. Two slightly older boys are seated on the floor in the foreground. The one on the left (about 18) has already got his first long trousers, while his slightly younger brother (about 17) still wears knickers but is allowed to have them buckle below rather than above his knees. Here, apparently, we have an interesting example of age-grading. The boys sixteen or younger wear their knickers above
their knees; the middle teenager wears knickers below the knee; and the oldest teenager has finally got long trousers like his older brothers.
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