Figure 1.--Here we see two unidentified American children, presumably siblings. They look to be about 5-9 years old. The girl wears a ginghm dress, apprently with a long bow at the back. Her brother wears a pattenned button-on blouse with a wide detachable collar and small floppy bow. The button-on outfit includes white knee pants. The white pants make it impossible to see the white buttons. Both children are barefoot. The cabinet card is undated, but the clothes and outdoor pose suggests the 1900s. The studio was the Commercil Photo Co. in Boston, Massachusetts. We suspect they printed snapshots taken by amateur photographers.

We notice button-on styling during the 19th and 20th centuries. Button-on styling was popular throughout the 19th century. Skeleton suits used button-on styling, although we think the skeleton suit was nostly worn by boys from well-to-do families in fashionable cities. Without photography, however, we have only limited information on the early-19th century. We see large numbers of boys wearing button-on outfits in the mid-19th century. A good example is an unidentified boy in the 1850s. Another good edxample is Frank Tuche in the 1870s. By this timed it was considered stylish to cover up the buttons. Commonly the button were hiden in the second half of the century or covered by suit jackets. The buttons are more apparent in the 20th century. Button-on styling was very popular in the United States during the early-20th century. Here we see a boy wearing a button-on patterned blouse and knee pants we think in the 1900s (figure 1). A good example a decade later is the Nethery boys in 1915. The boys wear a dressy button-onn outfit. Button-on styling was especially popular during the inter-War era in the 1920s-40s. We note large numbers of American boys wearing button-on outfits. We see both play and schoolwear outfits. Often this involved short sets, shorts and shorts sold together. A good example is the little boy outfits ioffered in the Wards' winter 1927-28 catalog. There were also long pants sets. It was common to sell the garments as sets as the buttons and buttons holes had to be coordinated. We note a Kindergasrden class in 1935-36 in which most of the boys wear button-on sets. A good example of a playsuit was a sailor outfit worn by Jackie Hardy about 1940.

The 19th Century

We notice button-on styling during the 19th and 20th centuries. Button-on styling was popular throughout the 19th century. Skeleton suits used button-on styling, although we think the skeleton suit was nostly worn by boys from well-to-do families in fashionable cities. Without photography, however, we have only limited information on the early-19th century. We see large numbers of boys wearing button-on outfits in the mid-19th century. A good example is an unidentified boy in the 1850s. And we begin to see large numbers of images ith the CDVs (1860s). Many boys wore button-on outfits, but often with the bittons covered up. Another good edxample is Frank Tuche in the 1870s. By this timed it was considered stylish to cover up the buttons. Commonly the button were hiden in the second half of the century or covered by suit jackets.

The 20th Century

The buttons are more apparent in the 20th century. Button-on styling was very popular in the United States during the early-20th century. And they were no longer hidden as was common in the 19th century. Here we see a boy wearing a button-on patterned blouse and knee pants we think in the 1900s (figure 1). The white buttons are a little hard to see because the boys is wearing white pants. A good example a decade later is the Nethery boys in 1915. The boys wear a dressy button-onn outfit. Button-on styling was especially popular during the inter-War era in the 1920s-40s. We note large numbers of American boys wearing button-on outfits. We see both play and schoolwear outfits. Often this involved short sets, shorts and shorts sold together. A good example is the little boy outfits ioffered in the Wards' winter 1927-28 catalog. There were also long pants sets. It was common to sell the garments as sets as the buttons and buttons holes had to be coordinated. We note a Kindergasrden class in 1935-36 in which most of the boys wear button-on sets. A good example of a playsuit was a sailor outfit worn by Jackie Hardy about 1940.

Created: 1:50 AM 6/27/2016
Last updated: 11:51 AM 12/21/2017