Figure 1.--Costumes after World War II appeared for movie and TV characters and proved very popular. |
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Children love to dress in costumes and other imaginative play. Actually it is not just children. Masquerades or costumes balls were enormously popular in the 18th century. Costumes also intreagued the Victorians. Many 19th century portraits show Victorians in all manner of costumes. Historical costumes were popular, but Europe's colonial empires provided all manner of new ideas for these costumes. No country had more colonies than Britain and 19th century portraits show that these colonies inspired all manner of elaborate costumes. Some children in these families were also given elaborate costumes. We also notice children in folk costumes. Of course for the most part it was only the affluent class that could afford these elaborate and very expensise costumes. We note that in the 20th century that mass marketing like Wards and Sears offering a range of costumes like cowboys, Indians, policemen, soldiers, and others. These were not the elaborate, expensive costumes we have noted in the 19th century. They were, however, expensive enough to limit them mostly to middle-class families. After World War II, costumes came out for movie and television characters and proved very popular. There were no only full costumes, but all individual costume garments. Here nothing was more popular in the 1950s than Davy Crockett coon-skin caps as a result of the popular Disney series. Other popular costumes in America were Haloween costumes for trick-or-treating.
Children love to dress in costumes and other imaginative play.
The term "costume" has two different connotations. One is the semse used here as a kind of imaginative make believe outfit. The word costume is also used to describe clothing or fashion in general. We are less sure about usage in other countries. Q French reader tells us that costume as a child's play garment is " habit ". Costume as a theatrical attire is " costume ". A boy's or man's suit is also called a " costume ". An outfit is called an " ensemble ". A uniform is a " uniforme ".
Actually it is not just children. Masquerades or costumes balls were enormously popular in the 18th century. Costumes also intreagued the Victorians. Many 19th century portraits show Victorians in all manner of costumes. Historical costumes were popular, but Europe's colonial empires provided all manner of new ideas for these costumes. No country had more colonies than Britain and 19th century portraits show that these colonies inspired all manner of elaborate costumes.
Some children in these families were also given elaborate costumes. We also notice children in folk costumes. Of course for the most part it was only the affluent class that could afford these elaborate and very expensise costumes.
We note that in the 20th century that mass marketing like Wards and Sears offering a range of costumes like cowboys, Indians, policemen, soldiers, and others. These were not the elaborate, expensive costumes we have noted in the 19th century. They were, however, expensive enough to limit them mostly to middle-class families. After World War II, costumes came out for movie and television characters and proved very popular. There were no only full costumes, but all individual costume garments. Here nothing was more popular in the 1950s than Davy Crockett coon-skin caps as a result of the popular Disney series. Other popular costumes in America were Haloween costumes for trick-or-treating.
We begin to see children wearing costumes in the 19th century. The chronology varied somewhat from country to country. Early photographic portraits were relatively serious affairs. The first American costume portrait we have noted looks to be have been taken in the 1880s, two children in York, Pennsylvania. We are unsure if costume parties for children became more popular at this time or if this is a reflection on the greater availability of costume pgotographic portraits. Many of the costumes in the 19th cenyury seem to be expesive, tailor-made outfits. After the turn of the 20th-century we begin to see inexpensive tailor made costumes for children available from the major catalog stores. We nore that Indian costumes were very popular in the early 20th century and not just in America. It looks to us to be a Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher pose. The costume here looks like a massed produced costume from the 1990s.
Costumes cover a wide range of characters. They have varied greatly over time among boys as well as among countries. . Media have played a major role in popularizing characters. In the early 20th century it was books and magazines that popularized characters. We see cosrumes for cowboys, indians, policeman, and soldiers. Indian costumes seem to have been particularly popular. Movies and radio began to affect the popularity of characters and even more so television afrer World War II. Hopalong Cassidy was a big hit for a while. The Davy Crokett craze swept America in the mid-1950s vecause of the Disney program. The Zorro costume here was another Disney TV phenomenon (figure 1). The Starwars films created a whole new series of popular costumes.
We do not know a great deal about costume trends in different countries. Here our experience is largely American. We have, however, begun to collect some information on other countries. American trends before World war I seem similar to Britain. We begin to see ready-made costumes in the mail order catalogs. They were generial characters such as: clowns, firemen, Indians, policemen, soldiers, ect. We note Uncle Sam costumes in the early 20th century. Most seem home made.
There were more offerings for boys than girls. This changed further after World War I with the growth of the radio and movie industries. Children wanted costumes of favorite characters. Our ininital assessment is that Canadian costumes have a mix of American and British influences. We do not yet have any information on French costumes. We also notice German costumes. Folk costumes were especially popular in the years before World War I. These look like costumes the parents found charming rather than play costumes. Harlequin costimes were also popular. Children like to play Red Indian, but we don't note very many costumes.
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