Figure 1.--This unidntified Ambrotype was taken by "Webster & Bro. Artists, Louisville". It is undated, but we believe that it was taken in the late 1850s. Here the brother and sister have hair done the same length, but the boy's hair is done in ringlets. |
Conventions for ringlet curls changed over time, although our understanding of these changes is still limited. We have limited information on how mothers decided on ringlet curls in the mid-19th century for their different children. We have little written information from contemporary sources at this time. Most of our information comes from available photographic images. We have images of boys wearing ringlets while their sisters had other styles as early as the 1850s (figure 1). Thes may have ocurred earlier, but we note that it was a fashion by the 1850s. How common it was we can not say. Only in the 1860s do substantial numbers of images become available permitting some definitive assessment of conventions for styling the hair of siblings. Images from the 1840s are rare and still very limited in the 1850s. Very significant numbers of photographic images appear in the 1860s. We begin to note increasing numbers of boys with ringlet curls, especially in the 1880s after the publication of Little Lord Fauntleroy. Ringlets clearly from 1880-1900 became a style that could be worn by both boys and girls.
The images seen here from the 1850s shows a younger brother wearing elborate, but relatively short ringlets. Notice his siste's very plain hair style (figure 1). The boy wears a suit with a small white collar. Clearly his bother believed in breaching her son before cutting his curls. It is interesting that she did such an elaborate hair style on her son, but such a plain, short style for her daughter.
Most of our images are American, but there are also images from other counties where sisters with little brothers wearing ringlets have their hair done differently. An English 1882 portrait from Wordsley, Stourbridge shows 11 year old Mary and 3 years old Charles, both wearng dresses. Charles has ringlet curls. Mary has very long hair, but it is worn uncurled. Both children have lace collars, worn without bws. Mary has a kind of corsage rather than a bow. I'm not sure what color the dresses were.
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