Figure 1.--These Austrian brothers living in Budapest were photographed in 1900. Note the two older boys have hair about as closely cropped as possible. Only their baby brother still has his curls.
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Figure 1.--These Austrian brothers living in Budapest were photographed in 1900. Note the two older boys have hair about as closely cropped as possible. Only their baby brother still has his curls. |
Some families not only used age appropriate clothing for their sons, but also age appropriate hair styles. Note that while the youngest boy does not wear a sailor suit like his older brothers in this portrait, that all three boys wear similar short hair cuts. Unlike some families which breached boys before cutting their hair, this family believed in the same short cropped hair style for the boys beginning at a very young age. Interestingly. Both the Austrian and German royal families believed in breaching a boy first and curring his hair later. See for example Austrian Prince Otto as well as Kaiser Wilhelm II's family. The royal families may have been indluential in fashion, but clearly did not dictate such matters.
The cabinet card seen here is dated August 1, 1900. The boys names and ages at that date are given as: Pisti - 9 years, Viki - 5 years, and Fredy - 1 year. The suit Pisti is wearing is very similar to the one he is wearing in the 1898 picture but the buttons are higher up the sleeve--though looking at the cuff in the 1898 picture the sleeve may have been shortened somewhat. The pants are bloomer knickers. Their mother appears to have liked these sailor suits which had a kind of tab connecting the two sides rather than buttoning together. This rather reminds one of a lederhosen halter. These tabs were a popular stylistic element in Austrain and German clothing that is not as commonly seen in American and English clothing. A tab connecting the two sides of a jacket together can also be seen in figure 1 on the main lederhosen page. We suspect that this is a part of the German Sea Scout uniform, as we have seen it on other pictures of German "pfadis" wearing that navy blue garment with sailor collar. The boys here look quite tanned and their shoes are filthy compared to the earlier photo. Perhaps they have just returned from a family vacation.
Some families not only used age appropriate clothing for their sons, but also age appropriate hair styles. Note that only the baby has not had his hair croopped. Only the youngest boy does not wear a sailor suit like his older brothers in this portrait and has not had his curls cut. This familt believed in short cropped hair fopr the boys. Perhaps their father was a soldier. Other images suggest that the boys had their hair cropped at a very young age, probably about 3 years of age. One wonders if this was the mothers doing or if the father insisted on it. The boys had their hair cut well before they were breached. Only after the boys were approaching their early teens were they allowed to grow enough hair so they could comb it, although Fredy was an exceoption here.
The boys wore a variety of hair styles, but their parents apeear to like to have it cut very short. Here we are not sure who was responsible, but suspect it was the boys' father rather than their mother. Many of the available images show the brothers as younger boys to look virtualy bald.
The boys' hair when they were infants was allowed to grow. Some images show the boys at 1-2 years old with curly hair. We have only two photographs showing baby curls, bit it appaers to have been the general pattern. We see both Villy and Fredy with these baby curls. This was in contrast to their older brother or brothers who often wore hair so short that they almost look bald.
The boys in several photographs look to have shaved heads. Note the portrait here taken in 1900 (figure 1). The boys appear to have had their hair shaved or closely cropped at about age 3. We are not positive that they were actually shaved, but it cerainly looks like it. Boys wfrom poor families often had their heads shaved as a sanitary measure. This was not the case here as these boys clearly came from an affluent family that dressed well and took family vacations. We rather sispect that it was the influence of a father in the military. Interestingly the boys' hair was allowed to grow out when they approacched the age to enter military school.
Unlike some families which breached boys before cutting their hair, this Budapest family believed in the same short cropped hair style for the boys beginning at a very young age. Interestingly. Many other German and Austraian families believed in breaching the boys first andf thdn cropping their hair. Both the Austrian and German royal families believed in breaching a boy first and curring his hair later. See for example Austrian Prince Otto as well as Kaiser Wilhelm II's family. The royal families may have been indluential in fashion, but clearly did not dictate such matters.
Austria's Prince Otto wore long shoulder length hair for several years after he was breached.
Wilhelm II's boys also wore long hair after they were breached, but not for as long or as long as Austria's Prince Otto.
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