Figure 1.--One of the problems we have in assessing color trends is the black-and-white photography of the 19th and early 20th centuries. There were tinted images, but the accuracy of the colors depicted is unclear. We are unsure, for example, about the accuracy of the light-blue colored suit depicted here in this American tintype. We are unsure how to date this portrait, but would guess the 1870s.

One of the problems we have in assessing color trends is the black-and-white photography of the 19th and early 20th centuries. There were tinted images, but the accuracy of the colors depicted is unclear. We are unsure, for example, about the accuracy of the light-blue colored suit depicted here in this American tintype. Here we have both the issue of the accuracy of tinting in general and this tin type in particular. Our basic assessment is that this boy wore a blue suit, but we are unsire if it was such a bright color.

Accuracy of Colorized/Tinted Images

We notice a variety of colors in these tinted portraits. Some look garish and unrealistc with color just spread over a garment or textile. Other portraits are much more carefully done and look realistic. The colors in some of these tinted portrait look plausible in these photgraphs, but we are not sure how the color information was conveyed to the painter who would have done his or her work long the subjects had left the studio. This same color tinting or painting process was also used on a much larger scale to produce commercial postcards. Here the colors applied often had nothing to do with the colors of the clothes the children wore. We think the portrait tinting may have been more accurate. We suspect that customers would have wanted their portraits to look something like their actual clothes, but we can notnot yet confirm this with period sources. It is of course important to HBC because the tinted photographs potentially offer information on the color of clothes worn in the 19th and early 20th century.

This Specific Tintype

The American boy here, we think in the 1870s, is shown as wearing a fairly brightly colored, light blue suit. I'm not sure how to describe the specific shade. This is an inteesting question because the black-and-white photography of the day leaves us wondering about the actual colors. The boy here looks to be about 7-8 years old. The kight blue suit strikes us as rather bright for a boy's suit, but of course we are conditioned by modern fashion conventions of generally more subdued colors for boys' suits. A reader writes, "Well, why not. If you take a look on coloured fashion plates they are also quite colourful." HBC is not saying that boys did not wear colorful outfits like this, I am just saying I do not know. Nor am I sure about the age conventions involved, just at what ages were bright colors like this worn. I am a little uncomfortable about using fashion plates as a definitive source. I see them rather like modern fashion magazines. And here I have seen boys in fashion magazines in outfits that were not very common, in fact that boys would never wear. I think black and sober colors were rather common for men and older boys beginning about the 1830s. Victorians were known for wearing black. Now younger boys may have been dressed in more colorful outfits, but I do not yet have a good feel for this. Color tininting and fashion plates are certainly two sources to consider. There are, however, other sources, including catalogs, paintings, and vintage clothing which provide useful information. And HBC at this time does not have sufficent information to know to what extent boys wore brightly colored suit and if so, for what ages this was deemed appropriate.

Created: 3:28 AM 9/6/2008
Last updated: 3:28 AM 9/6/2008