Figure 1.--This American boy, probably in the early 1880s, wears a plain blouse with some influence of sailor middy blouses. Notice the lack of detailing, long hair, and hair bow. He seems to be wearing some sort of shirt under the blouse. Image coutesy of the RG collection. |
We have no information on the identity of this boy. We believe that he is American. We do know that he had an older brother. The two were dressed identically, but the older brother had a larger hairbow. His curls also differed somewhat. The plain blouses show here has some influence of sailor styling, including a back flap or small back flap, but without sailor detailing. There does seem to be a small back flap. They seem to be wearing some sort of shirt under the blouse.
We have no information on the identity of these boys. We believe that they are American. We believe that the ringlets and hairbow indicate that they are from an affluent, but not necessarilly wealthy family. The fact that two separate photographs were taken of the two brothers, confirms that the family was relatively affluent. Estimating ages is a difficlt proposition, but the boys look to be about 5-8 years old.
We do not know where the photograh was taken.
No detals on the photographer are available. It does look like the boys were photographed on the same day, but in separate portraits. The similar hair styles ad clothes, pose, and identical chair are all strong evidence that thy were photogaphed on the same day.
The style of the photograph suggests to HBC that it was taken in the 1880s. The small size of the boy's bow suggests that it was probably the early 1880s.
The younger brother wears long ringlet curls and a hair bow. The ringlets are not tightly done (figure 1). The hairbow looks to be white and matches his small collar bow. His older brother seems to have more tightly done ringlers and a larger hair bow (figure 2). The bows are the same color.
Figure 2.--Both brothers were dressed almost identically for their portrait. Fr some reason, the older brother has a larger hairbow and collar bow. |
The plain blouses show here has some influence of sailor styling, including a back flap or small back flap, but without sailor detailing. There does seem to be a small back flap. They seem to be wearing some sort of shirt under the blouse. Notice the frills at his wrists (figure 1). There were also collar frills which can be seen in the photogrph of the older brother (figure 2). The boys wear classic kneepants with three buttons at the hem. Both wear them with long black stockings.
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