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We do not have much information about Canadian families in the 19th century. We know nothing at this time about the early- and mid-19th cetury. After the development of th inexpensive albument print (CDVs) and cabinet cards) we begin to see and incresing number of family images in the late-19th century. Unlike the Uniterd Statesd, we have not yet found many images from the 1860s (when CDVs dominated) and 1870s. This does not mean that gthee were no photographic portraits being taken. It does suggest that photography was much more limited in Canada than the United States. Of course Canada is a smaller country, but our inavility to find any images is notable. We have found images from he last two decades (1880s-90s). We see knee pants suits becoming standard for boys along with black longstockings. We also see Fauntleroy suits. We see the girls wearing a variety of dresses. Trends seem very similar to American trends. Usually it is impossible to destinguish the images from comparable American families, but our archieve is still too limited to make any firm assessments.
We do not yet have much information on Canadian families in the 1880s, but have begun to archive available portraits. . A reader has sent us an image of the Drummond children from Montreal in 1885. They are all dressed up and on a goat waggon. The boy wears a broad-brimmed hat and knee pants. The girls wear frilly bonnets and white dresses. We note the Burch family which lived in Ottawa. The portrait is undated, but was taken about 1886. The older brothers wear jackets with very small lapels and show the influence of the cut-away jackers that were popular in the 1870s. The youngest brother, Edward, wears ringlets and a velvet Little Lord Fauntleroy suit.
We have found several Canadian family portraits that we believe were taken in the 1890s. We note the Hoyt family from New Brunswick. We think the portrait is from the 1890s, but it could be the early-1900s. We also notice a portrait of the Fleming family which we believe was taken in the 1890s. We note an unidentified family portrait of five children by the Craig sudio in Owen Sound, Ontario. The children look like four girls and a boy, but we are not entirely sure about the youngest child. The cabinet card is undated, but the clothing styles clearly indicated that vthe portrait was taken in the 1890s. And we have a French-Camadian family which we know was photographed about 1895 in Quebec. It shows not only a boy and his sisters, but their great sheep dog. The girls wear smock dresses We can tell much about the boy's outfit other than it is a knee pants suit.
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