Figure 1.--This unidentified boy looks to be about 5 years old. The portrait is undated, but we would guess the 1870s, perhaps the early-80s. We are not sure how to describe the boy's dress here. Perhaps HBC readers will have a suggestion. The portrait does, however, illustrate the various accompanying items boys worn wirh dresses. This boy's wide-brimmed straw sailor hat is on the balustrade to the right. We are not sure, but it looks like the streamers are rolled up. His neckwear is a crosstie. A lace collar has been added to the dress. He has dark long stockings. The color seems to match the dress, perhaps navy blue. He wears high-top shoes. The studio was Cobb in Binghampton, New York.

The number of images before the invention of photogrphy are limited. Thgere are paintings we have found with boys wearing dresses for earlier periods. Unfortuntely for the most part, the paintings done before the invention of photography do not depict the boys with headwear. We have virtually no information before the 19th century. With the invention of photography we know much more, but of course this means that we have headwear informationn for a relatively narrow range for the time that boys wore dresses, only about five to six decades. Early photographic formats show boys wearing dresses, but headwear with those early images are still rare (1840s-50). Even so we have found a few images with headwear. This changes with the appearnce of CDVs (1860s). Suddenly we have huge numbers of images. Children in many instances were photographed without their headwear. But there are such a large number of CDVs and then cabinet cards that we have more information than ever before. We see a range of headwear from huge wide-brimmed sailor hats to relatively small caps shaped ratherlike pillbox caps. We think this was a common choice for boys wearing dresses. An example of what looks like a pillbox cap without the brim -- an unidentified Pennsylvania boy, we think about 1890.

Early Centuries

The number of images before the invention of photogrphy are limited. Thgere are paintings we have found with boys wearing dresses for earlier periods. Unfortuntely for the most part, the paintings done before the invention of photography do not depict the boys with headwear. And there are relatively few American paintings in the 17th century when American history began. We have virtually no information before the 19th century.

The 19th Century

The number of images before the invention of photogrphy are limited. Thgere are paintings we have found with boys wearing dresses for earlier periods. Unfortuntely for the most part, the paintings done before the invention of photography do not depict the boys with headwear. We have virtually no information before the 19th century. With the invention of photography we know much more, but of course this means that we have headwear informationn for a relatively narrow range for the time that boys wore dresses, only about five to six decades. Early photographic formats show boys wearing dresses, but headwear with those early images are still rare (1840s-50). Even so we have found a few images with headwear. This changes with the appearnce of CDVs (1860s). Suddenly we have huge numbers of images. Children in many instances were photographed without their headwear. But there are such a large number of CDVs and then cabinet cards that we have more information than ever before. We see a range of headwear from huge wide-brimmed sailor hats to relatively small caps shaped ratherlike pillbox caps. We think this was a common choice for boys wearing dresses. An example of what looks like a pillbox cap without the brim -- an unidentified Pennsylvania boy, we think about 1890.

The 1850s

With the invention of photography we know much more, but of course this means that we have headwear informationn for a relatively narrow range of the time that boys wore dresses, only about five to six decades. Early phitographic formats show boys wearing dresses, but headwear with those early images are still rare (1840s-50). Even so we have found a few images with headwear. One Ambro we have found shows a younger boy wearing a plaid dress with a rather decorated wide-brimmed hat. The Dags which first appeared in the 1840s are rather difficult to date. Ambros are relatively easy to date because they were done in such a narrow time frame. And they were done in coniderable numners, nothing like CDVs, but far greater than the number of paintings in the earlier periods or even Dags because class was much less expensive than the polished copper plates used for Dags. This is something we do not see later in the century, even very young boys. Unfortunately we do not have enough images from the 1850s to assess trends during the 1850s in any detail.

The 1860s

The numbr of available images changed dramticall with the appearnce of CDVs (1860s). Suddenly we have huge numbers of images. Children in many instances were photographed without their headwear. But there are such a large number of CDVs and then cabinet cards that we have more information than ever before.

The 1870s

Here we see a boy with a wide-brimmed hat (figure 1). We think this was a common choice for boys wearing dresses by the ;ate-1870s or early-80s.

The 1880s

We see a range of headwear from huge wide-brimmed sailor hats to relatively small caps shaped rather like pillbox caps.

The 1890s

An example of what looks like a pillbox cap without the brim -- an unidentified Pennsylvania boy, we think about 1890.

Created: 7:39 PM 10/19/2012
Last updated: 10:58 PM 3/24/2015