Figure 1.--This Columbus, Ohio boy wears a long pants suit, we think in the 1870s. Note the jacket. It looks like an adult style, but is made with the influence of the cut-away jacket, a style for younger boys. |
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Boys at the beginning of the 19th century wore skeleton suits with long pants. Short Eton-like jackets were also popular with long pnts. Boys might also wear tunics with long collars. Collars varied. We have noted lace collars as well as open collars. A good example is a Swiss boy in 1840. Older boys graduatted to long trousers with proper suits. We note various jackets such as short black jackets. Younger boys might wear fancy suits. Cut-away jacket became popular in the 1860s. We note many younger boys wearing button-on pants. A good example is Charles JJ. Carter. After mid-Century knee pants began to become more popular. Even younger boys might wear long trousers through the 1870s. This became less common in the 1880s. American catalogs in the 1880s tended to show knee pants suits through 12 years of age and long pants suit begining at 10 years of age. By the end of the Century boys it was increasingly common for teenagers to be dressed in knee pants suits. Many boys might spend many of their teen years in knee pants. This varied greatly from family to family, but for teenage boys in knee pants, receiving their first long pants suit became a major rite of passage.
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