Figure 1.--While most American boys with long hair had ringlets, some boys had long uncurled hair. Notice that this boy has one small ringlet on his shoulder. This portrait was taken in 1897 in Summit, NJ. The boy's name is Russell Emerson Cain. He was born in 1892 and was 5 years old in the photo.

Long hair was revived in the 19th century by Bennet's book, Little Lord Fauntleroy. As a result, Little Lord Fauntleroy suits in both skirt and knee pant styles were fashionable for a boy's part dress for a generation. These outfits were actually not an inovation, the fashion illustrated in Mrs. Bennet's book were in fact, fashions that had been worn by European boys for some time. The book, however, greatly popularized the style in America and also Europe. Although not dealt with to any extent in the book, Reginald Birch's illustrations in Little Lord Fauntleroy prominately featured the hero, Cedric Erol, with long shoulder-length hair. This created a sensation along with the famed velvet suits. Many but not all mothers delayed cutting their boys' hair to complete the Fauntleroy effect. Long hair for small boys was not unknown in the early and mid-19th century. Birch's illustrations, however, greatly increased the popularity of long hair for boys, at least among mothers, and increased the ages at which such long hair styles were worn.

Utility

Sausage curls or long hair with bangs have the advantage of keeping the hair off the face. However, without bangs or rigid curls the hair will be in the face most of the time. Thus, barrettes or hair ribbons are required. Have you ever noticed young girls or women with long hair parted in the middle or side. I good portion of their time was spent absentmindedly moving hair out of their faces. A distinctly feminine gesture to the modern mind.

Countries

Styles varied from country to country. There were three long hair styles for 19th century young boys: sausage curls, uncurled hair bangs, and loosely curled or uncurled long hair without bangs. The first two styles seem to be favored in the U. S. and Britain. Many available images of American boys show them wearing their long hair with ringlet curls. Uncurled hair was also worn, but it appears much less common. HBC has noted boys wearing both curled and uncurled hair in Britain, but insufficent information is available at this time. French boys also commonly wore long hair, but while HBC has only limited information at this time, it appears that ringlet curls were much less common in France. French boys appear to have worn long hair without curling it. Long hair appears much less common in Germany. Information on other important countries such as Austria and Italy is lacking at this time.

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Created: July 18, 2001
Last edited: July 18, 2001