Boys Clothing Worn for Cowboys and Indians


Figure 1.--Nothing is more American than cowboys and Indians, but chidren in Britain and other European countries also played cowboys and Inians. They were called Red Indians in Britin to destinguish them from Aian Indians. This idealized illustration is from a Brtish Enid Blyton book and looks to be from the 1950s, "The Boy Next Door" (1958). Notice it is only the boys who are elaborately dressed--and clearlt the chiefs.

Nothing is more American than cowboys and Indians. We are not sure, however, just when this game began. It had to be the late 19th century as cowboys did not acome into their own in America until after the Civil War (1861-65). Of course children could have play frontiersmen and Indians, but I have never heard of that. Not only did the cowboys and calvary appear after the Civil War, but so did American family life. The industrial revolution had after the Civil War caused a huge economic expansion creating a significantly expanded middle class. These children did not have to work like the earlier generation of children. They spent more time in school and had more time to play. And one of their favorite games became cowboys and Indians. Here imaginations were fuled by the dime novels of Ned Butline and others. While associated wih American children, cheap book editions, Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, and after the turn of the 20th century the movies brought cowboys and Indians to even greater prominance in America and Europe as well. Mass marketers like Sears and Wards offered play suits in the 1920s and some of the most popular were cowboys and Indians.

Chronology

Nothing is more American than cowboys and Indians. We are not sure, however, just when this game began. It had to be the late 19th century as cowboys did not acome into their own in America until after the Civil War (1861-65). Of course children could have play frontiersmen and Indians, but I have never heard of that. There were heros like Daniel Boone and Davey Crockett by the 1830s. Cowboys and calvary appear after the Civil War. The famed battles of the India wars waged by Mad Anthony Wayne, Andrew Jackson, and William Henry Harrison were laregely fought by infantry. The plains Indians were in effect superb light calvary. The conflict with the plains Indians were thus largely calvary engagements. infantry The spread of the railroads made it economical to ship beef east to Chicago and then the big northeastern cities. The long cattle drives of the 60s and 70s were to reach the rail heads.

The Real (More Colorful) West

Most American kids grew up thinking that the West was won by white cowboy and calvary soldiers. As was the case of most Americans, my image of the West was formed by first the movies and then televion. Until the late 1970s, however, there were only white and red faces and an occassional Chinese cook or laundryman in mpvie westerns. To this day, because of this conditioning, seeing black faces as cowboys and calvary soldiers in Western movies seems strange to many white Americans. I remember teaching school in South Carolina, that my students laughed when I told them that there were black cowboys. Actually there were also black Indians, slaves who had run away from plantations in the South and joined Indian tribes such as the Seminoles in Florida. There were large numbers of black cowboys after the Civil War and the abolition of slavery. Even more important were black calvary troopers. The term "Buffalo soldiers" originated when the Indians commented that the hair of black calvary troopers was like that of the buffalo. The Chinese also palyed a major role as it was Chinese laborers that were largely respnsible for building the wstern Central Pacific portion of the transcontinental railway that connected America East and West in 1869 Promontory Point in Utah. Unfortunately many Americans still believe that blacks in Westerns is a kind of unrealistic Hollywood afirmative action program.

Background

American family life

American family life in the mid-19th century under wnt significant changes, the same changes that were under way in Europe. The concept of childrn and childood were changing. The concpt of the Victorian family ws one in which children were protected and child idealized. Childhood play became increasigly acceptable and parents even brought toys to encourage it. It is no accident that increasingly destinctive children's clothes became increasingly popular at this time.

Industrial revolution

The changing nature of family life anc childhood was in part a reflection of economic trends. The industrial revolution had after the Civil War caused a huge economic expansion creating a significantly expanded middle class. These children did not have to work like the earlier generation of children. They spent more time in school and had more time to play. And one of their favorite games became cowboys and Indians. The poverty of the working class is most often discussed in connecion with the industrial revolution. The conditions described by Dickens were in fact real. What is not often ralized is that the industril working class, depite urban squalor, were often better off than the rural poor. In addition, great wealt was created and many benefitted. Great fortunes were amassed. Many more families entered the middle class.

Dime novels

The imaginations of Americamn children were fuled by the dime novels of Ned Buntline (1823-80) and others. Buntline was a larger than life character who lived a life as adventuresomeof any of his dime novel creations. His real name was Edward Zone Carroll Judson. He chose his pen name Buntline from a nautical term for a rope at the bottom of a square sail. Unlike most authors, he actually lived a life of adventure himslf. He was born in 1823 and as a boy ran away to sea. At the age of 15 he had become a midshipman in the U.S. Navy. He resigned from the Navy (1842). He then participated in the Seminole Wars in Florida and later in the Northwest fur trade. He was accused of murder in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 23. Before his trial he was lynched by an angry mob, but cut down in time to be revived. He had many other scars, including a bullet hole in his chest, than any of the Western heros he chroinicled. Butline was never far from touble. If it was not the law and lynch mob, he had financial, romantic, drinking,and other difficulties. He was a stocky, red-bearded man with both many friends and enemies. ed Buntline had at least as many enemies as friends. He was both an imaginative writer and unscrupulous promoter. More than once he was accused of blackmail. he was a social reformer who was known o delkiver temperance lecures while drunk. He was a founder of the Know Nothing Party. It was in the 1840s that his publishing career began. He founded Ned Buntline's Own. It was quite a publication, perhaps the most sensational weekly of the day. The weekly included not only his adventure stories, but also racey stories about gambling, prostitution and drinking in New York City. He used the stories to promote the Know-Nothing movement. He signed up with Union Army when the Civil War broke out. He began as a sergeant, but was broken to private. After the War he claimed that he was colonel. On a trip out west met an Calvary Scout named William Cody. Buntline dremed up the name of Buffalo Bill and began writing dime novels based on his life. He also began a new career for Cody--a theatrical career. Buntline wrote a 4-hour play, "The Scouts of the Plains" and of course ody had the lead part. All these exploits not withstanding, it his Western dime novels that are best remembered today and he wrote mote than 400. [Monaghan]

Native Americans

Native Americans, in part because of the horendous treatment by white Americans as well as the exposure to European diseases, now comprise only a small part of the Americam mosaic. It is a rich, colorful traition, no matter how small. Native American dress is showcased at powwows and other gatherings held annually throughout America. The natives of both North and South America exibit a great variety of lingusistic, anatomical, and cultural characteristics. The discussion of these diverse peoples must thus proceeded by groups and subgroupings. The most advanced civilizations were those developing in Mexico, Central America, and South America. The civilizations in North America were primarily hunter-gather civilizations, but some were engaged in settled agriculture. The popular idea that all Native Americans are more or less alike has long been dispelled by intensice ethonological investigation which has discovered as many differences as similarities among tribes, those that are not contiguous exhibiting pronounced variations.

Country Trends

The mythology of both the cowboy and Indian are central to the American saga. There is something about the American West, however, that has an almost universal appeal. While associated wih American children, cheap book editions, Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, and after the turn of the 20th century the movie brought cowboys and Indians to Europe as well. The Americn Western saga and cowboys and Indians appealed to children around the world. Intrestingly, many foreign children seem most intreagued in the Native American aspect of cowboys and Indians.

Play Suits

Mass marketers like Sears and Wards offered play suits in the 1920s and some of the most popular were cowboys and Indians. We also notice Indian play suits in England, Germany, and other European countries. Here the Indian play suits seem more common than cowboy play suits.

Native American Lore and Scouting

The American author and illustrator, Ernest Thompson Seton, created the Woodcraft Indians in 1902. It was designed for boys aged 12 to 15 years and was based on North American Indian lore and outdoor life. In 1906 he added the Little Lodge of Woodcraft Indians for younger boys and girls, which in many ways was the fore runner of Cubbing, even though it took the Boy Scots many years to establish Cubbing--well after most other countries had established the program. Seton visited London in 1906 and met with Baden Powell to exchange ideas. Baden Powell eventually incorporated some of Seton's ideas and later credited Seton with being one of the fathers of Boy and Cub Scouting. His many volumes of Scoutcraft became an integral part of Scouting, and his intelligence and enthusiasm helped turn an idea into reality. Seaton's book, The Birch Bark Roll was another important source of Native American lore in Scouting. These activities include ceremonies, dancing, and handicrafts. Indian lore was a natural mix with Scouting give te focus on outdoor activities and camping. It was also more accrptable, especially for Cubbing than the Aftrican-based program developed by Baden-Powell. The American Scouting movement generally exclided or discouraged Blacks from particiating in Scouting and many parents would have objected to a Cubbing program based on African lore.

Sources

Monaghan. The Great Rascal: The Life and Advertures of Ned Buntline.







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Created: December 16, 2002
Last updated: 9:45 PM 10/4/2017