Figure 1.--This studio portrait came in a paper frame. The unidentified boy was probably photographed in the 1910s. He looks to be about 5 years old. He wears white long stockings and strap shoes with his Oliver Twist suit for a formal portrait. This may be the boy's Easter suit. A reader writes, "I must still be a little chilly. If you notice the boys right leg (left as looking at the picture) the boy is wearing knee-length union suit that comes just above the knee. It maybe that on the other leg it is just at the knee. It is hard to tell. The shiny strap shoes and white with contrasting trimmed blouse is very stylized."

These Oliver Twist suits were generally offered in sizes for pre-school boys. Sizing varied somewhat, but we generally see the age range in catalog offerings at about 2-5 years. A good example is the Oliver Twist suits offerdd by Stuarts in 1915. The sizes were mostly 2-4 years, but the middy (sailor) sizes went up to 5 years of age. We note some of thw wash suits offered by Best were done with Oliver Twist styling with the same basic age range. The middy versions were dione up to age 6 years. Occassionally we see them worn by younger school age boys, but the Oliver Twist style was primarily a pre-school style. This age range in the catalogs roughly corresponds to portraits we have archived in the photographic record.

Created: 10:08 PM 10/11/2010
Last updated: 7:33 PM 10/12/2010