Figure 1.--This oval format portrait may be a cut out. It shows an unidentified English boy in an early sailor suit. The boy looks to be about 4 years old. The extensivewide stripe detailing a wide leg knee pants suggestthe portrait was taken in the 870s. Notice the small blue neck bow. His straw sailor had has a moderate brim and flat crown, looking like a boaater. Notice the wise short streamers.

It was the wide brimmed sailor hat that was first worn with sailor suits and was the main sailor ht style. Thus we see the broad-brimmed hat from the very beginning of the era in which sailor fashions were worn by boys. The Royal Family wore them in the 1840s. It is a little difficult to tell how quickly they became popular for the general public, in part because photoggraphy was just beginning to become popular. The width of the brim varied considerably. The Prince of Wales first wore a white sailor suit with a dark broad-briimed sailor hat (1840s). We can not see the crown on his hat. We also notice a shiny black hat with a narrow brim. We see it in the 1860s, but are not sure when it first appeared. It was a Royal Navy naval uniform style and we do not see many boys wearing it. For some reason the broad-brimmed sailor hat became an emensely popular. Even though it was rather an impractical style. We have few Dags (1940s-50s) and Ambros (1850s). With the appearance of the CDV we find quite a few examples for several decades. Here we sww a boater-style hat (1870s). We continue to see these wide-brimmed hats thriugh the 1910s. The boaters cintunued to be a popular style, but we do not see many boys in sailor suits wearin them after-the-turn-of-the 20th century. We mostly see younger boys wearing the broad-brimmed hats, especilly the larger wide-brimmed hats. Only with world war I is the wide-brimmed sailor hat phased out. After World War II, the sailor suit declines in populrity and we mostly see sailor caps.

Created: 2:41 AM 7/19/2010
Last updated: 2:41 AM 7/19/2010