Figure 1.-- All we know for sure about the boy here is that his name was Freddy Bernard which was written on the back of the cabinet card. of course his true name could be Fred or Frederick. He looks to be about 12-years old. Freddy has the classic round wire rim spectacles of the day and wears what could be a military school uniform. This is what we thought at first, but we note that there are no badges or emblems of any kind. So we are not at all sure. The jacket is collar buttoning with two parallel rows of basically ornamental buttons. We have not seen jackets quite like this. The knee pants, long stockings, and high-top shoes were standard for the early-20th century. The portrait has Feddy's name on the back, but is undated. We would guess it was taken about 1910. The knee pants suggest the 1900s, but the lace-up shoes are more associated with the 1910s.

All we know for sure about the boy here is that his name was Freddy Bernard which was written on the back of the cabinet card. of course his true name could be Fred or Frederick. He looks to be about 12-years old. Freddy has the classic round wire rim spectacles of the day and wears what could be a military school uniform. This is what we thought at first, but we note that there are no badges or emblems of any kind. So we are not at all sure. The jacket is collar buttoning with two parallel rows of basically ornamental buttons. We have not seen jackets quite like this. The knee pants, long stockings, and high-top shoes were standard for the early-20th century. The portrait has Feddy's name on the back, but is undated. We would guess it was taken about 1910. The knee pants suggest the 1900s, but the lace-up shoes are more associated with the 1910s. A military school uniform might explain the knee pants in the 1910s. (School uniforms commonly lag a bit in being affected by fashion trends.) Also the cabinet card mount seems like the late-1900s or early-1910s. The portrait was taken at the Tucker Studios in Worcester, Masschusetts.

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries] [Topics]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]

Created: 4:52 PM 4/21/2017
Last edited: 4:52 PM 4/21/2017