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We have found some images that we cannot identify other than they are American. The images raise all kinds of interesting questions as we try to understand the individuals, situations, and garments depicted. We can use the image to make assessments, such as chronological period or gender. These are images, however, that we have had difficulty assessing. This involves a range of image types. Sometimes we don't understand the garments involved. In other instances the chronology or age of the children is unclear. Also we have group images that we do not fully inderstand. Some of our readers enjoy detective work. We would welcome any insights that readers may be able to offer. HBC notes that the discussion of these subjects often inspired by reader comments helps to bring out useful insigjhts.
All we know about the snapshot here is that it is American (figure 1). As it seems to be a snapshot we would guess it was taken about 1910. A dealer suggested the child was a boy, but we are mot at all sure about it. The hat in particular seems more like one a girl would wear. Notice the elaborate lace collar and very plain dress. A British reader writes, "Looked at the picture. I thought it was a boy but foot wear might be the type worn by girls."
We see children in a wide range of group images. Some of the most common are a variety of church, party, school, sport, and youth organization groups. Often the group is identified or it is possible to figure out the type of group from the context of the photograph. Commonly the background offers helpful clues. But in many cases it us not entirely clear what the group involved is all asbout. These group images, even if we don't understand just what the association is, provide very useful insights into poplar fashions of the period involved. Individual portraits can be anomalies as mother is in total control. Groupn images on the other hand are more likely to involve the fashions that were widely worn.
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