Figure 1.-- This unidentified American boy wears a yellow rain coat with matchhuing cap. I think it snapped ionto rhe coat and seems to have a drawstring. The snapshot is undated, but was probably taken in the 1970s. |
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Capes were commonly worn in the 19th century, at least by the well-to-do. We do not have much information on the early-19th century, but we see capes in both the mid-and late-19th century. Our chronology of capes is incomplete. We note examples in the 1880s and 90s, but believe they were worn throughout the 19th century. They may have been most common in the 1880s-90s, but a factor here is the vasr body of the photigraphic record in the late-19th century. Another factor is the rising income levels as a result of the industrial revolution. Just how common they were for boys in the early-19th century, we are not entirely sure. Capes seem to largely disappeared after the turn-of-the-20th century. We do not see boys wearing them after the 1900s.
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