Figure 1.--This tin-type portraot shows a formidable-looking mother and her two sons. The family is unidentified, but the boys look to be about 8-10 years old. We are not sur hat the younger boy is wearing. The older boy wear a white blouse. The younger boy wears a small floppy blouse. The plder boy wears a T-style ribbon tie. Both boys wear knee pnts and long toockings. The portrait is undated, but looks like the late -1870s. Both boys have boater hts with dark hat bands.

We see a wide age range of American boys wearing straw boaters. It was not a major style for American boys, but we do see some wearing them, including younger boys. Some boys not yet breeched wore them, such as a 4-year old Minnesota boy wearing a fancy kilt suit in 1879. We see them being worn with a variety of outfits, The boater for boys was a dress up style. We do not see boys for the most part wearing them for play. The boater, however, was more common with older boys and men. Here we only notice boys who had been breeched wearing them. This would mean boys from about 5 years of age. The younger set were more likely to wear broad-brimmed sailor hats. We have not yet found younger boys wearing them still wearing dresses or kilt suits. Although we do see some girls wearing them. Most of the imageswe have found show boys wearing them from about 10-years of age. We think tht they were more common for teenagers and were a major style for adult men, especially younger men.

Created: 10:47 PM 6/19/2011
Last updated: 1:21 AM 12/11/2014