** United States boys clothes -- beautiful baby contests








United States Boys' Clothes: Beautiful Baby Contests


Figure 1.--The photograph here was taken in August 4, 1924. The occasion was 'Better Babies Day' at the Delaware County Fair in Indiana (near Muncie). The mothers of the area gathered their smaller children together to show them off by having their pictures taken collectively.

A popular event during this era were beautiful baby contests when young children were dressed in their best outfits. These contests had many different names. The one pictured here was "Better Babies Day". Not all actually were contests which selected the most beautiful children, but many did. There were all sorts of different settings and appraoches, such as royal courts and pagents. These were not precisely beautiful baby contests as infants and young children were involved. The precise age ranges varied from contest to contest. We are not sure when these events first developed. We believe in the late 19th or early 20th centuries. It is during the 1920s and 30s that they appear to have been most common. We notice them in Ameica, but they may have also been held in other countriues as well. They were held throughout America. A popular venue were county and state fairs. But this was not the only venue. We believe that some newspapers and magazines, for example, sponsored contests. Photographs of these events are good illustrations of how younger children were dressed during the era.

Better Babies Day (1924)

The photograph here was taken at the Delaware County Fair in Indiana (near Muncie) on August 4, 1924 (figure 1). The children were participating in "Better Babies Day". The mothers of the area gathered their smaller children together to show them off by having their pictures taken collectively. All the boys (about 5 years old) wear short pants. Several of them wear sailor suits, one with knee socks. Another boy wears button on shorts with white long stockings and sandals even though it was a hot day in midsummer. His mother obviously thought that the dressy white long stockings and sandals would make her son look special for the occasion. He is only boy among many who wears long stockings. This boy also wears and open-necked shirt in a style similar to a sailor suit but without the striping, with contrasting darker collar an matching cuffs.

Master-Snap Photo Contest (1932)

We see alot of beautiful baby contests in the inter-War era (1920s-30s). We do not see such events in the early-20th century. We are not sure why beautiful baby contests becme so popular after World War I. We wonder if the popularity of Hollywood child stares, especually Shirley Temple was a factor. We think the growth in popularity if the eugenics movement was an important factor. Perhaps readers will have some idea. The spread of amateur snapshots may be a factor. Ramom Keyser, a California boy, here is on example. Ramon won Third Prise with a a $100 award, a good bit of money during 1932 and the Depression. It was the Master-Snap Photo Contest. Ramon lived in San Francisco. His mother, Mrs. Ramon E. Keyser entered the snap shot. Ramon looks to be about 3 yeats old. He wears a beret, sweater, short pants, and white shoes.

Royal Pagent (1930s)

Beautiful baby comtests were not always called that, but his was basically hoing on. Some were done as royal pagents. Children's literature still included a lot of royalty stories, expcially princess and prince stories. These usually appealed more to girls than boys who preferred stories with a little more action. So it was quite natural that some of these beautiful baby contests as royal aogents. This is one such exaple. Unfortunaterly wee have no information about it, even the dates. This looks like it wa proabaly taken in the early-30s. Notice that the pages are girls. This is probalhy bcause boys were no intetestedvin such frivolities. Of course the interest in riyalty was higtened when King Edward the VIII decidided to renounce the throne because of his affair with a married divorcee and to make matters worse an American (1936).

Eugenics

Better Babies" contests were part of the Eugenics movement. Eugenics became a popular concept, and at its height, it infused many areas of American culture. There were magazines such as Eugenics Quarterly, and many state fairs featured contests searching for "Fitter Families" and "Better Babies". The topic even became the central theme of some movies. When turning over history's stones, sometimes you find some nasty bugs hidden underneath.






CIH






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Created: September 17, 2003
Last updated: 3:53 PM 1/26/2022