Figure 1.--The CDV using the albumen processappeared in the 1850s, but attracted little oubic attentin until about 1860. Suddenly we see a huge increase in he number of ohitiographic umages. Here we see an outdoor portrait showing an unidentified grouop with adults and children. We do not see a lot of detil, but notice the biys wearing militasry styled caops with leather peaks and long pants. The portrait is undated, but looks to us like it was taken in the latre-18509s, possibly the early-60s.

While photography was invented in 1839, we still have relatively few English images for the 1850s. As in the 1840s there are relatively few of the early photographic types like Dags and Ambros. We have, however, found some images. We see another Thornburm painting. This Thornburn portrait shows the grandchildren of the Duke of Wellington in 1852. Girls and younger boys continue to wear dresses. Here there was a social class factor. Working class children tended to be breeched earlier. Boys after breeching wore suits. We notice a painting of an idealized Victorian family in the early-1850s. The boy about 6 years old wears a maroon tunic with a black belt, lacy pantalettes, white socks, and strap shoe. Much of our information comes from studio photography. This shows how the privileges classes dressed. A photographic portrait cost only a fraction of that of a painted portrait. Still Dags and Ambros were not cheap in terms of contemporary wages. They were beyond the buying power of even the working poor. The Industrial Revolution was changing the face of England in the 1850s. The cities were rapidly growing. Much of the population, however still lived in rural areas. One amateur photographer has left us a wonderful collection of rural Britain in the 1850s with images of how ordinary boys and girls dressed at the time.

Created: 11:04 AM 5/31/2019
Last updated: 11:04 AM 5/31/2019