Figure 1.--This American boy is having his ringlets cut. The phorograph appears to date from the 1870s. His name may have been Beck and he looks to be about 5 years old. Notice two of the cut ringlets laid carefully on the table. The boy does not look very happy about it.

It was always a major rite of passage for a boy to finally have his curls cut and allowed to wear more closely cropped hair. While long hair for boys in the 1960s became very fashionable, it was certainly never curled. In previous years, however, long hair, even uncurrled long hair, was generally perceived as girlish. We have few examples of a boy actually have his curls cut. The actual process was not commonly commemorated with a photograph. This is in part because when ringlets were most common in the late 19th century, amateur snapshots were not yer common. Thus a photograph would have required a trip to the photographic studio. Often the results of cutting theccurls, sometimes a before and after photograph recorded the event, but rarely the event itself. Perhaps because photographing any kind of movement was difficult, especially the process of trimming the locks of a small boy. We also do not have any actual accounts. Younger boys do not recall and older boys report sometimes a difficult confrontation with their mothers. One would think that some kind of family ceremony may have been involved, but pergaps some nlother were too upset to have organized such an event.

Created: November 19, 2001
Last edited: November 19, 2001